Evild Dead II (1987)-"R"

Run Time:85 minutes

3 and 1/2 stars out of 4

First of all, to get things straight, Evil Dead 2 is not a sequel to The Evil Dead; it is merely a loose remake, put into production so that a third Evil Dead movie, Army of Darkness (1993), could be made later. I guess that the idea for Army of Darkness didn't match with the original Evil Dead, so Raimi had to do a re-make to fit the plot for Amry of Darkness. Either way, I think that Evil Dead II is much better than the original Evil Dead, so I'm glad that Raimi did the remake. The plot is basically the same as the original, with a few characters taken away and added here and there, and the violence is tad less, just enough less to gain an "R" rating. Once again Bruce Campbell plays the hero, Ash, who takes his girlfriend, Annie (Sarah Berry) up to cabin deep in the woods for the weekend. While there, Ash discovers the owner of the cabin, Professor Raymond Knowby, famed archaeologist and father of Annie, has disappeared and left only a tape recorder and an ancient Sumerian book of the dead, called the Necromicon. When Ash plays the tape, we hear the Professor reading out some ancient words, words which release evil spirits in the forest. These evil spirits have already claimed the Professor soul, and now possess his wife's body, turing the pleasant old lady into a Deadite, a cannibal that can only be stopped by total body dismemberment. Ash spends the rest of the night battling off Deadites, and trying to fight his way back home. Much more fast-paced than the original, Evil Dead II only spends time on details vital to the plot, and spends the extra time with more Deadites and more fighting scenes. This film is also much less subtle with its jokes, no longer trying to bill itself as a horror film, but more as a comedy/horror, filled with jokes and content on making fun of itself. It's more enjoyable than the original for that reason, but also because Ash comes across as much more of a badass hero this time, instead of a desperate guy just trying to get home. Bruce Campbell is great, as always, with his hilarious facial expressions and catch-phrases. This film is fun to watch, but only if you can get past the dismemberments. If excessive gore disturbs or offends you, it is unlikely you will enjoy this film at all, but I do think it has some value as something besides just "shock cinema". If you've seen the original Evil Dead or Army of Darkness and somehow missed this second installment in the trio, you are missing out on a lot. Definitely a must-see for Evil Dead fans, or any fans of the horror/comedy genre.