[Film Review] Evil Dead (2013)

Foregoing The Evil Dead formula of slapstick and comedic gore, Fede Álvarez’s feature directorial debut Evil Dead (2013) is a gut wrenching and richly subtextual reimagining of Sam Raimi’s cult classic. Five friends take a trip into the woods to an isolated cabin and accidentally release a demonically supernatural entity intent on devouring all of their souls.

Co-written by Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues, with script revisions by Diablo Cody (Jennifer’s Body), Evil Dead has honestly one of the greatest cold opens in horror. Opening in the all too familiar creepy and misty forest setting, a young and bloodied girl is stalked by rural folk who capture her. As she is chained to a stake, it is revealed she is possessed by a demonic force and after telling her father she will rip his soul out, she is set alight and shot. The blood red opening title, entwined with tree branch silhouettes is then revealed in a jarring crescendo.  This introduction is dark, desaturated and utterly soaked in despair, an indication of what is to come in the next hour and a half.

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Daniel and his girlfriend Natalie join his drug addicted sister Mia and her friends school teacher Eric and nurse Olivia as they convene at an isolated cabin in the middle of the woods to attempt to drag Mia into sobriety, completely cold turkey. Despite failed past attempts, this time, Eric and Olivia are intent on seeing Mia ride this out no matter what. As Mia goes through withdrawals, she complains of a foul smell. This turns out to be the smell of rotting animal carcasses in the basement of the cabin, which is where David discovers the Naturom Demonto, a book bound in human flesh, containing repulsive and terrifying illustrations detailing demonic possession. Refraining from every horror film warning ever, Eric reads the latin from the book aloud, awakening the malevolent spirits that focus their attack on Mia, causing her to become possessed much to the detriment of everyone within the cabin.

Although originally slated to be a remake of the original 1981 The Evil Dead, Evil Dead is a continuation of the Ash Williams saga, with hints that this film exists as part of an Evil Dead universe. Nods to the original are interwoven throughout, because what’s an Evil Dead film without the inclusion of a chainsaw and the dismemberment of certain body parts. Whilst initially, it seems Shiloh Fernandez (David) is the Ash replacement complete with his Ash Williams uniform of a blue denim shirt, it is actually Mia played by Jane Levy who successfully fills the Bruce Campbell boots. Gender swapping the final boy into a more than competent final girl and centering the film on Mia, who also takes on the original’s Cheryl character, adds layers and subtext that the original film was (although in no way negatively) devoid of.

The film is a stark and gruesome representation of addiction, its effect on the addict themselves, as well as the trauma it inflicts on their loved ones who surround them. The utilisation of a doppelganger, which is in itself a hark back to Army of Darkness (1992),  represents the confrontation of oneself that Mia has to do in order to begin healing, and the final confrontation is very much a depiction of the hell that people suffering from addiction and destructive behaviours have to go through solitarily to come out of the other end successful and triumphant.

Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead, while not entirely following the Evil Dead traditions the cult classic is famous for, creates a further sprawl into the Raimi-verse, bringing the world of the Deadites firmly into modern day. Its relatable yet sickening physical injuries, such as eye trauma and broken fingers, evokes the most visceral reactions, and is even more impressive learning that next to no CGI was employed in their creation.  Twisted and just downright nasty at times, Evil Dead is a worthy contribution to one of the most beloved and consistent franchises in the horror genre.

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