 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 2013 film Evil Dead and yes it is the remake of the Evil Dead, which is probably why they left the off of it to kind of Differentiate there. So just so you know since it is from 2013 there will be spoilers in this review So if you've not seen this and you want to see it without spoilers go watch it Then you can come back to this now. This one was directed by Fede Alvarez. I'm sorry I'm sure I'm butchering the names and I apologize Fede Alvarez who did films don't breathe and the girl in the spiders web written by Alvarez and rhodo Saegas Saegas Once again, I'm sorry Who also wrote the script for don't breathe with Alvarez? And Diablo Cody actually ended up doing revisions to the script because apparently because the two original writers Were not didn't have English as their first language They wanted to make sure that things translated the best since the film was going to be in English So it kind of makes sense that Diablo Cody then kind of you know did a pass at it So that's good. This produced by Rob Tappert Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell So yes the original people had buy-in on this they you know had input with it Which is a good thing, which is why I think you got a relatively good remake People do throw this in there when there's that You know debate that inevitably comes up in the horror community about are there even any good Horror movie remakes and yes, there obviously are ones like you know the thing the fly stuff like that but Evil Dead gets thrown in there a bunch and I don't know that I would say that it was it's like a great remake But it is a good remake. It's certainly you certainly don't watch it and be like oh man They definitely should not have made that film So that's yeah good for that. I had 17 million dollar budget and it ended up making 97.5 million dollars. So Cha-ching Worth the money I guess for the studio the shoot ended up being 70 days long because Alvarez chose Not to use CGI at all except just for some touch-ups here and there So this is this is one of the things I love about the film overall I like the film, but one of the things I love about the film is their Commitment to using practical effects and it just looks better. It always looks better. That's one of my soap boxes I like to get up on and say you should always use practical effects Especially in horror when you have the ability always go away from CGI because it's not going to hold up over time And even sometimes the year it comes out. It's not gonna look that good So it always looks more real because it is real when it's practical effects So I love Alvarez's commitment to doing that. Obviously it meant it was more expensive and it was a longer shoot But I think that's a big payoff with the film The theatrical release actually ended up getting cut down to our rating because it originally got an NC 17 So that's pretty nuts There was an idea at one point to have Alvarez and Syga's Do Evil Dead 2 and then at the same time Sam and Ivan Raimi do Army of Darkness 2 and then somehow come together in another film and weave The stories of Ash and Mia together which I would have been interested to see where that was gonna go Obviously, we're not gonna end up getting that that idea has been abandoned at this point But they did announce just this year that they will be doing another Evil Dead film called Evil Dead Rise Which is gonna be taking place in like a city So it's gonna be a very different setting for the film And I'm excited for that because as long as we're still getting entries that are done relatively well I mean at this point I've now gone through all the Evil Dead films Which I have reviews for on my channel and I may even made a playlist for all of it So they'll be there and there aren't any bad films So if they keep doing it and there aren't bad ones and this includes Ash versus Evil Dead the show I'm I'm for it And apparently for these this Evil Dead Rise at Sam Raimi's chosen Lee Cronin To be the director for it and he directed the film the hole in the ground that was an 824 film Which I haven't seen yet, but I hear visually. It's really good and story-wise. It's it's pretty solid So we'll see how that goes There will be no Ash apparently though in Evil Dead Rise which doesn't surprise me that much because Bruce Campbell Had said before he has retired from doing Ash Williams, which it's sad, but you know He's he's earned his his ability to retire and at some point it was gonna end so here we are So to the events of the film There's some confusion about who's good and who's bad initially with this film because of the way they started The way they started is basically Mia getting attacked by people in the woods and they seem like kind of like your hillbilly type people So it seems something menacing coming at her So it immediately puts you as an audience member in this viewpoint of oh something bad is happening to her But then she gets tied up and they have everyone around her and her father shows up And you start to question things because then they're talking about you know her having the evil in her You know, maybe being a dead. I they don't say dead. I at that point, but you know Knowing the storyline, you you know, that's what they're kind of getting at and then you just start questioning things You're like, oh, well, maybe she is bad maybe these are good people and they're trying to get rid of the dead I dinner and then but they do a good kind of back and forth of just really making you question up and tell the point and It's a really creepy and kind of scary point where Mia's or not Mia where the character says Makes the statement of what she say, I'll swallow your soul. I wrote it down there I'll rip your soul out is what she specifically says But she says it in such like a normal innocent way that it's more impactful when it hits you like that because Your brain has to process it like the the tone of how you initially hear it. You hear it is something very You know Blah, you know, it doesn't have impact But then once your brain is actually processed the words you're like, oh And the those things just don't match like the way it's being said and the message of the actual sentence Don't match and that's what's jarring about it and it's a great moment. So that's the point where you understand Okay, now I know really what's going on The shots of the woods in this look very very beautiful And the kind of journey that they take through it is great because it really helps to show you how secluded They are at that point even before the flooding happens and takes the road out You you understand that they really can't get away at that point And help will not be coming. That's the other thing so mention of me as previously failed sobriety attempt is a very important thing in this film because it gives a Real reason for their friends to not believe meal when things start to actually happen And also it lets the audience know that the objective is to make sure everyone stays there Especially when they can't believe that what's going on with her is actual, you know Deadite things going on because first of all, they don't know about that stuff They already think she's just losing it because she's getting off of drugs So they did a great job of creating a believable scenario for the characters where the audience isn't like Why wouldn't they do this? Why wouldn't they do this? There is a slight bit of that later on that I'll talk about but for the most part the way they set it up It's very believable what's going on and I thought they did a good job So I like that The scene of me a puking buckets directly into Olivia's face when she when Olivia's on the ground face up is an awesome Scene I think that's really fun. I love when there's like buckets of stuff, you know Like buckets of blood gushing or buckets of puke being spewed. I love scenes like that They're just fun and funny to me and I thought this played both ways. So I enjoyed it the shot pulling up from Olivia's body laying in the bathroom floor and the music that goes along with it is very over the top and That was a moment where I like it took me out of the film because of how over the top it was and this kind of Speaks to one of the issues in general that I have with the film, which is the music that soundtrack is too much It's very very heavy-handed. It hits you so hard. It gets loud. It gets overly dramatic all the time I'm more of a fan and I know this is very much just a personal thing But I'm more of a fan of really toning it down making it a lesser score And the way I look at the use of music in film is kind of the way I look at Certain ingredients that can be strong in food if you like it like you like that on its own But when you add it in with the film it needs to blend instead of standing out or overpowering it And when it's a situation where I really notice the score and it takes me out of the actual events of what's happening on screen Which happens in this film quite a few times in my opinion That's when I think the score is too much and it really needed to be toned down. Yes The music sounds great, but the level that they do it. It's just too much It's it's just overwhelming and not in a good way because it becomes distracting and once again It's like that food thing, you know If you put if you love pepper the flavor of pepper, but you put too much in with you know A chicken dish that you're making you're going to taste mainly just the pepper And that's what the music in this film does when the music gets crazy and heavy-handed You're mainly just hearing the music and focusing on the music at least I am and it takes me out of the events Of what's going on when those things just need to blend a lot better You should not notice the soundtrack until the film is over and you're thinking about it like thinking back like how was the soundtrack? You should never be taken out of it and been like and be like oh my gosh You know this this music is very strong and it's very loud So that's one of my biggest problems with the film. I think if the music was toned down a lot I think it would have been better for building tension. I think it would have been scarier I think there's a lot of power in allowing people to Have uncertainty because the music obviously Tells you what they want you to feel like what what what the events are supposed to be doing for you And I think there's a lot more power and ambiguity in how you can build tension with a horror film in particular through you know more dial-back music or silence even because the person's left with Confusion like how should I be feeling what's gonna go on right now? But when you have that auditory cue that's telling you exactly how things are supposed to go There's no Ability to really build tension because you already know what's going on There's no ability to kind of make people confused or I think it actually Does a disservice to jump scares as well. So I'm just saying My once again, just my opinion I Can smell your filthy soul That is a quote. I laughed at there's too much of a serious tone For a comedic injection like that into the film and especially because that I smell your filthy soul line came in at like Halfway through the film and there was like really nothing that was intentionally funny up until that point And it felt like that line was supposed to be intentionally funny and it didn't jive It didn't match if you're gonna have comedy to it You need to introduce that very early to let people know this is how it's gonna be You can't just inject it later because it really takes people out of the film and makes them feel like it just doesn't it clashes It's like a speed bump on the road and you're just like wait what? The tongue bifurcation scene with the box cutter is something that people Sight all the time with this film. It is very iconic as far as this film goes and it's a gnarly scene It's really well done This is one of those moments that I would point out and say look practical effects so much better Than doing CGI for something like that That's not my favorite scene in the film, but it is a good scene. It's well done the electric meat cutter scene might be my favorite gore scene actually and The reason for that being it looks very real the way they shot it Also the sound design that they use with it when she gets down to the bone and you hear like that crack It is stress inducing. It's anxiety inducing. It is Gross out. I cringed when I see that like when you see a scene like that a gore scene like that and you Are like because you can kind of feel it It means it's done. Well, and so that for that reason That's one of my favorite gore scenes in the movie might be my favorite, but it's definitely one of my favorite After all that's been experienced It doesn't actually make sense that David would suggest that Mia just has some sort of mental illness manifesting There's this whole time where he's talking with Eric and he's just like, oh, maybe she's just you know My mother had mental illness and I worried all my life that that would pass on to me and you know, maybe it's in Mia But with all the events that they've been through it's not believable at all that he would bring that up at that point Like maybe it's this He's losing it moment and so he's in insane denial, but it just doesn't fit the character It doesn't fit the events of what went on that is another thing that kind of took me out of it I'm just like, why would he be bringing this up now because he clearly has seen that there's something else going on So it just didn't jive. I thought that should have been taken out and you don't need it. Like you don't need it at all So they should have taken that one out It is ridiculous that after all the physical trauma physical abuse that David and Eric Sustained they're at best just feeling uncomfortable. Well at worst Just feeling uncomfortable. Like the fact that they aren't in like insane pain and almost unable to do anything Or totally unable to do anything is very unrealistic with this film And this film seems to go for a lot of realism. So they go through so much They've been put through so much trauma yet. They just it just seems like oh man It's like I kind of sprained my ankle. That's basically it. They had nail shot through them I mean Eric in particular had his hand cut in half Or bashed in half. I think with the crowbar. I mean You would be in crippling pain. Both of them would be in crippling pain So the fact that that the way it's acted is that they're just like oh man, it kind of hurts is Another thing that doesn't make sense for what's going on. It takes you out of it or at least it does for me I do love the scene where David is burying Mia and the camera moves with the shovel As he's shoveling dirt in it's a really cool movement and motion of following Following it, but it makes it very impactful for the eventual reveal where you know, uh, there's a plastic bag over Mia's head as she's laying in there being buried And her eyes are closed and then it moves over you see her eyes closed and moves back Then it moves over again and you see that her eyes are open. That is such an awesome reveal. That's a great Uh trick that they do with with the camera movement and the shots. I Yeah, I really dig that moment. It works very very well Uh and after letting Mia down for so long David has finally Been there for her and in the biggest way possible So I do think that that aspect had good impact of the brother not being there for so long Which they worked on that aspect of the story slowly over the first like half of the film, I guess So it is a good payoff then because of all that all those breadcrumbs they left leading up to it It's a good payoff when he finally does the the biggest thing he can do Which is basically like I am going to die so you can get out of here like it's the ultimate love So it's impactful. It's good. It's it's a nice moment I do like Mia also ending up losing her hand in this just like ash But in a different way like it is She finds the chainsaw. That's like ash and then when she has it you're thinking. Oh, maybe You know, maybe if if someone told you she also will lose her hand someone may say oh, so they're gonna since it's a remake They're gonna do the same thing where she cuts her hand off to keep from you know the the dead item possession basically But I just like that it was You get the same end result of her having lost a hand, but it's done differently I just like that touch to it Jane levy who played Mia did an excellent job with this That is a demanding role a very demanding role and she did a very very good job with it She deserves applause She's been in other things like don't breathe and she was also in a bunch of episodes of castle rock Which is really good. I've only seen the first season, but I like what I saw there So overall lots of really good looking movements from the camera in general directing really good Cinematography really good. The acting is really good a lot of technical things. Obviously I already talked about the practical effects so good The gross dark and gritty look of it is extremely effective I like that they went for that angle with it. It looks good for that reason The use of light and shadows is very excellently done in this film They kind of hit that sweet spot of not fully showing things But enough for scares and gross outs to be really effective And there are those moments where you're just like You're For a moment You're not sure what you're seeing and then you finally have just enough light to see what's going on And it's either gross or disturbing or whatever like their use of lighting in this was very well done They obviously really had a grasp on that Already talked about the soundtrack thing, but I do want to reiterate the soundtrack was too much Uh and the last thing I have to say about it is there's clearly a metaphor for drug addiction here being like a possession As drugs end up making the user a person who they are not usually themselves So I thought that actually worked for the situation because if you think about it drug addiction alcohol abuse stuff like that Is very much like a possession, you know when someone's drinking when someone's high people say all the time That's not them. That's the drug. It is just like being possessed by deadites And so for that reason, I thought it was a smart choice to use that So yeah, I uh, I dig it. It was pretty good. So anyway, what am I going to rate this with an overall of five stars possible And half stars in play. It's not an outstanding film. It is well done Like I said, all the technical stuff is awesome You know, obviously soundtrack issues and some of the stuff that kind of took me out of the film, but It is quite good. Um, I'm gonna give it a three and a half stars total So that's a pretty good one. Um, but yeah, I'd love to hear other people's opinions down here You know, agree with me. Don't agree with me. Whatever. Let's talk about it. 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