 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1987 release Evil Dead 2 And yes, this is one I've owned for quite some time. This also much like the Evil Dead, which I recently reviewed I have not seen in quite a while Not nearly as much Evil Dead the original the Evil Dead and been like 20 years since I had seen that one This one probably closer to like 10, but still a lot of years. So the interesting thing is that Looking back before I had rewatched them, you know, just very recently I had been thinking man I really prefer Evil Dead 2. I like that so much more Well after watching them back-to-back now as I'm much older I really prefer the original a lot more and a lot of that has to actually do with tone of the film there are some things that I appreciate more about the second one like kind of upping of some of the gore and You know a little bit of the comedy I kind of like but overall the tone I like that it was more of a serious tone in the first one with a little bit of comedic hints to it in the second one It seems like I'm not really digging the slapsticky stuff after watching the first one because Watching the second one even though I do quite like it still It just makes me really want a sequel that was more like the first one. It was more Serious with maybe just little hints of comedy. I guess it's just like that three stoogey Slapsticky thing which it is three stoogey because as I've found in many places research-wise Sam Raimi was a big fan of three stooges So he intentionally when he was doing comedic stuff would kind of make it like that and you know Like speeding up the camera work is one of the ways that he did it with a lot of the slapsticky stuff. So anyway Evil Dead 2 Directed by Sam Raimi after his flop film that he did with the Coen brothers crime wave Which has been said almost killed Raimi's career. Thankfully, there were people still interested in doing the Evil Dead type films It was written by Raimi and also scotch Spiegel who did the films thou shalt not kill unless Which Bruce Campbell is in intruder the rookie the nut house and dusk till dawn to Texas blood money Which I've not seen that one, but maybe I'll do the whole series of dusk till dawns. Is that a bad idea? I don't know put a comment down there Obviously Bruce Campbell's back in this the other thing that's interesting to note is that Showing up in this film as the character of Annie is Sarah Barry who I thought did a pretty good job She only has one other real feature length film movie credit Acting wise and that's in chud to bud the chud and she's just in there as onlooker So what happened what happened was was Evil Dead 2 too much for her and then she was done I don't know the budget was three and a half million dollars and it ended up making ten point nine million. So yes still Quite profitable much like the first film. Oh, excuse me. I'll move my life just a little bit there Sorry fixing things while recording not the best but do it again Anyway, Stephen King brought the project to producer Dino De Laurentis Which is cool because if you remember when I was talking in the review the first one It was Stephen King who really got Eyes on the Evil Dead because he had seen it. He loved it He did a very positive review on it and really pushed it out there And then that's when New Line Cinema decided to pick it up because it gained so much steam now here's Stephen King again helping them out and Getting helping to get the second film made so he went to Dino De Laurentis for this who was a producer at that time on the film He was working on Maximum Overdrive, which was is it the only film that Stephen King has directed? It's at least the first that he directed. I think it might be the only film. He's directed I'm sure someone will have that info for me in the comments And after talking to him. He was able to get him to agree to bankroll Evil Dead 2 So Raimi had actually this is another interesting connection Raimi had previously been offered to Direct a Stephen King adapted film thinner by Dino De Laurentis and he had passed on that He just wasn't interested. I think he passed on that to do crime wave actually. Yeah Raimi wanted to go the root of the time travel aspect of it and take it back to the Middle Ages Which obviously is what we get for army of darkness But De Laurentis wanted something a lot more similar to what happened in the first film. So he steered away from that so Yeah, but thankfully we got another one and that's why we got army of darkness Which was going to be basically the second film if it wasn't for Dino De Laurentis saying hey my money Let's not do it that way. So pretty interesting which army of darkness came out in 1992 and I will be doing a review of that one as well One of the concept steps almost used for this film And I'm glad they didn't use it because it seems really stupid was the idea of a group of escaped convicts Who kidnapped Bruce Campbell and are holding him at the cabin? And then obviously things get crazy and they're apparently looking for buried treasure like that's a dumb concept But apparently it was almost used. I'm glad it was not what they used was better than that So Tom Sullivan returned for the practical effects, but he wasn't alone He also worked with Vern Hyde Doug Besswick and names people will know Mark Shostrom and Greg Nick Taro Much bigger names than Hyde and Besswick and Sullivan for that matter The possessed hand aspect of the film was actually derived from a short film that Spiegel had made when many years prior and Very this is very funny to me when I was reading it So that short film he made about that possessed hand was inspired by the advertisements for the hamburger helper You know, it's like the glove hand that like talks So he had this idea of like someone having possessed hands. So that's how it got there That's a weird so really you can tie Evil Dead 2 to hamburger helper, which is just It's very odd Ted Raimi plays Henrietta in this the Deadite Henrietta Which was the mother of Annie's character who became a dead item was in the basement of the place So Ted Raimi literally Sweated buckets when he was in that full outfit apparently it was insanely hot And it was so bad that in-between takes Greg Nickatero would come over and they'd have to like dump the sweat Out of the suit into Dixie cups and then go and like throw it out because they didn't you know It would start ruining the suit if it was so waterlogged and apparently if you really pay attention in some of the scenes where Henrietta Where Raimi's in the Henrietta outfit you can see like sweat running out of the ear hole one of the ear holes I couldn't see that when I was watching but apparently can So rumor has it there was a Freddy glove that appears in the film Which a lot of people talk about now rumor has it that it was actually borrowed from the set of Nightmare on Elm Street 3 Dream Warriors because Mark Shostrom at that time was working on that for practical effects So I don't know if that's accurate. It's like this rumor thing that he just took it from the set Use it for the day for shooting and then took it back. I mean that would make sense But then again, maybe they kind of like just made their own I don't know now something to kind of clarify from my review on the Evil Dead Is that I was talking about the how in the basement scene when they first go down there There's a partially ripped poster and it's for the Hills have eyes So I didn't know the connection at that time To the Hills have eyes, but there is this series of connections So apparently in the Hills have eyes There is in the trailer a ripped poster for Jaws Now as a nod to Jaws, you know, West Craven really liking Jaws So in the Evil Dead Sam Raimi decided to do the same thing and he put the ripped poster in the basement for the Hills have eyes As a nod to West Craven. So after that and what ended up happening is in a nightmare on Elm Street They had a West Craven had Evil Dead showing on the TV I think it's part when one of the characters is falling asleep I think Johnny Depp's character maybe and then after that in return was the Freddy glove showing up in Evil Dead 2 So I thought was this cool kind of back and forth if people didn't know about it But maybe you did I don't know in which case sorry to bring it up again I Don't really like the narration in the beginning of the film The stop motion that goes along with the narration is cool And I always appreciate old-school stop motion any time I could watch like a Ray Harryhausen film I'm down I'm gonna be watching the original Clash of the Titans in the next few weeks just for fun because I Love the stop motion stuff. Plus. That's just a fun movie But I do think they really should have stuck just for revealing backstory for this film They should have kind of did it the way they did in the first one, which is just go through those recordings Which they do it a little bit a little bit or later on in the beginning of Evil Dead 2 But I just it then reinforces to me like why do you have these two ways that you're revealing backstory? So to start it with that narration and the the stop motion once again stop motion is cool But you just don't need it and it's a weird way to start and I just I didn't like that aspect. Sorry. It's not my thing I'm not sure why They chose to change the events of the first film. It just seems like a really odd thing to do like The friends are gone. They don't even exist I guess some people could say that it was like a time travel type thing then Although there's really no indication that that's the case It just seems like they just kind of rewrote history with the first film You know, they do show that he had you know Linda's a girlfriend and she turned into a deadite And he had to kill her but there's no friends involved or anything the house isn't all screwed up The bridge thing never never happened. It happens later Or no, it did happen actually that actually did happen, but Just the fact that they changed some events. I don't understand I think it just would have made a lot more sense if they just picked up where the first one literally left off Where the the evil is rushing through the woods rushes through the cabin and hits Bruce Campbell. They do that again In Evil Dead 2, but I don't understand why they had to recap that and change the past. I just I just don't get it but Subscriber uncle Pete to my channel has told me that what he does is he watches the Evil Dead And then when he watches Evil Dead 2 he just skips the beginning portion and just starts where Bruce Campbell gets hit with the evil Smart idea. I think I'm gonna do that going forward So the puddle at the ash ends up in when he's kind of like the evil is trying to take him over After he gets hit with it It seems like a callback to the mirror that turned into a puddle in the evil dead Now it then is used again When mirror when ash sees himself in the mirror and then the mirror ash jumps through and starts choking him and then it reveals That he's choking himself Then ash turns back to normal when he sees a mirror that mirror like pendant that Linda had on her as her necklace so I think it's a very interesting thing where they're using this mirror concept of Turning from good to evil and evil back to good Which is interesting too because it then shows that there's the ability for people to be reminded of something and basically Force the evil out of their body Because the pendant is what kind of does that for ash and it happens again later I'll talk about that but it happens with Henrietta as well So I'll just bring it up again then Like in the first one the curled up bridge is a cool visual especially the wide shot. They didn't do a wide shot in the First movie but in this one like that wide shot just looks so cool It gives you an idea of how big the chasm is that they would have to get past You get so much more of the evil rushing through the woods and it still looks great It's still amazing and one of my favorite things that is kind of more of a slapsticky thing was When it's chasing ash throughout the cabin in the beginning, that's fun. You know it's slapsticky It's funny, but it's fun too. So I quite like that The the piano playing itself and then it turns to kind of background music for ash Getting sentimental and sad about the fact that he lost Linda I thought that was kind of a cool transition because at first it's like oh the deadites are here They're playing the piano and then it just like transitions to like his emotions and him experiencing these intense emotions And then it becomes just the the soundtrack to that and it was just an interesting cool moment Linda's dancing body outside is kind of that next level of the deadites messing with people I talked to my first review about how I think it's so cool that this is like a new type of evil when the movie came out That the deadites aren't just in one mode where they just want to kill kill kill They want to screw with people they want to mess around they want to instill fear and just have fun And then they'll try and kill you or convert you to a deadite and I just I love that aspect of it now The dancing body is the next level of that next craziness more fun more messing around and I just like that. I think it's cool Keeps it fresh and fun The struggle with Linda's head is the first real slapsticky thing in the film You could argue that him being chased through the cabin is kind of slapsticky But like a real slapsticky is him like trying to like whack in the head against the walls and everything And then he takes it to the shed and does his thing Which is a good scene but The slapstickiness is just It doesn't jive with the first film to me The speeding up of scenes adds to that comedic aspect like I was talking about it's three stooges esk But for me, I kind of prefer to go without that nowadays Ash chainsawing his own handoff shows his level of fight and that he's just unhinged enough to do whatever it takes To overcome these deadites and survive and that's kind of the point you get with ash in this film Like he does what it takes to survive in the first one But it's taken to another level in the second film obviously seen by that scene Where people don't see coming if you're watching it the first time where he just like saw right down And how maniacal he is when he's doing it and like laughing basically He's like he's on it's like I was saying he's unhinged at this point and he will just do whatever To go forward Like it iconic scene the whole sequence of his fight with his hand Feels very tom and jerry cartoon to me Do you guys think that put it in the comments like it's it totally feels like slapsticky to a point where it's a tom and jerry cartoon And then it's awesome how he like shoots into the wall. There's a little bit of blood that comes out and then it's just this Gushing of blood just flying all over the place like those types of things Like crazy amounts of blood in scenes are things that I always appreciate. I always find funny. I always find entertaining Uh good times It's such a demanding role for camble is one thing that occurred to me while i'm watching this It's very it's very physical role for him. And the other thing is he's a large focus of the film Even though there are other characters who show up. He's carrying the film and for the first 40 ish minutes or so It's just him pretty much and tell people the other people make it to the actual cabin It's mainly just him, you know, they do kind of have those cutaways where they're showing the other people getting there But they're so quick The idea to have deadites change in many ways keeps things feeling extremely fresh And you really don't know at that point, you know, what's coming next and that's cool Like you want to be watching a film like that where it's like, I don't know what's gonna happen next Like what's coming and that's great that they do that because all the changes that were done in the first film They do a little bit of that in the second film, but then they go further Uh biggest example is, you know, henryetta, you know, when her head like turns into this other Weird-looking demon and then it elongates into this huge neck, you know things like that Just cool keeps it fresh and cool The idea or so I don't understand how the deadites blood is green all of a sudden and that's that's when it came when Uh ash was chopping up ed after he turned then he's just like, you know, chop him up with the accent It's just this green blood flying I don't understand that it seems very out of place because at no other point Was the deadite blood Green so I don't under Like it just doesn't make sense. I don't understand why they did that They could have just used the red blood they've been using. I just don't I don't get it. I don't get it The reappearance of the hand is awesome when it eventually happens when it's holding, um Oh shoot, what's her what's her name? Bonnie joe when it's holding Bonnie joe's hands She's like, why are you still holding my hand jake and he's like, I'm not holding your hand and you see it's the hand That reemergence of the hand is awesome because you forgot about the hand at that point Like you literally thought that ash took care of that problem When he shot it through the wall But you didn't see it die and then it shows up again And I love that and then it plays a role later when it stabs annie in the back with a candarian dagger Love it. I love the reemergence of the hands very smart When the tree ends up going out after bonnie joe outside You think they're headed to another rape scene and they kind of elude to it with the way it kind of like touches Her face and kind of like rips or clothes a bit, but then they back away from it So it's kind of one of those things where it teases you where it's like You're like, oh no, are they going to do the same thing again? And then they don't then she just gets dragged through the through the forest There's always that character that has to force everyone else into an even more dangerous situation And that ends up being jake in this film. There's always that really stupid stupid character who does exactly what you shouldn't be doing in that situation and that's jake taking ash and um Annie at gunpoint and taking them outside, which is where all the evil is and he knows that he's a moron But what you don't see coming about that is that ash then ends up getting turned again And he becomes evil and that's something that doesn't really happen in films I wrote about that the main hero the hero The main hero being controlled by evil as much as ash is in this film is a very very uncommon thing in horror It's a very uncommon thing in film in general when you have the protagonists are usually very very very pure We've gotten away from that over time, but back in 1987 it was still geared more towards that So the fact that there are substantial amounts of time in this film where ash is evil ash Is crazy. It's it's it's a cool concept though It's something that people probably didn't see coming and it messes with your head because you're just like wait But he's the good guy is he's done being the good guy now because he's trying to kill these people as a deadite But gets rid of that I laugh at I laugh at the scene when Annie holding jake's Annie's holding jake's legs when he got pulled down into the basement under the hatch by henry edda And she's just like holding his legs and there's just like an insane amount of blood just gushing out gushing out gushing out And she keeps holding his legs like she's gonna like save him or something. Where do you think all that blood's coming from? He's done. He's done. I love that scene. Maybe my favorite scene in the film One of the most badass scenes in movie history is when ash ends up attaching that chainsaw to his wrist His stump of a wrist and then he uses it to cut the barrel off of that shotgun making a sawed-off shotgun And just that image of him with the chainsaw hand and the sawed-off shotgun One of the most badass things in film period Do you agree with me? You should Between ash going back to normal from looking at the necklace which I talked about before And henry edda pausing for annie singing the lullaby because that's how It doesn't you know, it doesn't turn henry edda back But it there's a moment where it's kind of like it's henry edda Repossessing her body to a degree because it pauses the deadite That establishes that there is a way to turn people back from being deadite, which is interesting because It it then goes back to what was introduced in the first film of the deadites being more of like a possession thing Not so much as like getting bitten and it's like a zombie even though I do talk about In my first review about this feeling like the next Evolution of zombies It's just got that possession aspect to it and especially because it could be driven out somehow And what it has to do with mainly it seems like it's something very sentimental having to do with a loved one So it's interesting and then if you know if ash would Kind of understand that I think it would make it even harder for him to come to terms with the fact that he killed a bunch of people Who had who were you know possessed by deadites? Ash is the only survivor at the end Yet again, which I don't know if people saw that coming or not I think when I first watched it I assumed that annie would probably end up living because she kind of Becomes a love interest so I was like oh she'll live but then she gets stabbed in the back with the hand I was just like okay, which I like, you know keep people guessing And then the the medieval ending Um, it's so wacky. It is so out there I think that's another thing that kind of just made me not love the tone of this as much as the first one But one thing that I think The very end with the medieval times does indicate and does demonstrate that I think is a cool thing Is that it basically states that ash is doomed to an eternity of battling the deadites? Which is basically what ends up happening Because you know army of darkness and then the show Obviously he adds a stint of not dealing with that stuff, but you know it happens again. So I like that Um and then some my final thought so what pervades this film much like the first one is a deep fear of nature Because of the unknowns at harbors now. I'm not saying that from the aspect of that reigning meant this. I'm just saying as one of the things that ends up being in horror films In general is a kind of fear of nature and that ties into human nature It's used a lot in horror and is most likely due to a long-standing human fear of nature Because it can't fully be controlled. It's this kind of unknown of nature You know humans can control things to a degree when they're in an actual like city or suburbs or whatever When you get out into the middle of the woods and it's just you and a bunch of friends You're kind of at the whims of nature and nature from the aspect of animals there in this case a you know Ants uh an ancient evil that people didn't know existed or you know the elements, you know A hurricane a you know Storm whatever, you know So it it's just something that's embedded in humanity of kind of having a bit of a fear Of nature and mainly you know not as much people who live in rural areas But mainly where we've gone for you know people living in suburbs and people living in the city So it for that reason ends up serving as a good backdrop for horror Just because it brings this element of kind of like anything can happen because it's not very well controlled Whereas if it's happening in the city a lot of the horror elements would probably be tied more to Other humans or human stuff or at least they're in an environment where things are controlled human wise If that makes any sense, but just my theory Anyway, thanks everyone for checking this out. I need to give this a rating So I I gave a four and a half to the evil dead. So this is definitely not a four and a half I think for me Yeah, I think it's I quite like it, but I don't know that I can give it a four. So I'm gonna go Three and a half Yeah, I'm gonna go three and a half Obviously you can tell between a three and a half and a four I just feel like it's a little more appropriate for a three and a half. I think it is one less Than the evil dead But still good, obviously. So, um, yeah, that's my rating Anyway, uh, do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button That's your best way to repay me if you like any videos. I do this one or any other one It's really quick for you to do and it means so much to me It really does and it means a lot for my channel growth So I would appreciate that and if you are going to do that also hit the notification bell that way you know anytime I'm putting up new videos for reviews or doing live streams or sometimes I do other types of videos, which you know Haven't done any of those in a while, but it'll happen Anyway, uh, regardless, thanks for taking your time to watch this and until next time. Keep it brutal