Director Fede Alvarez was met with a tall task when he took on the responsibility of helming Evil Dead as his directorial debut. Hand picked by Sam Raimi himself, Alvarez crafted a stylish tribute to a cult classic that I believe only he could have made. While Alvarez gave nods to the original film as well as adapting Sam Raimi’s fast pace camerawork, he still managed to put his own stamp on it as if to say, “I may be bad… but I feel gooood.”
Much like the original, there’s no messing around in the world of deadites as it doesn’t take long before things get covered in blood and souls begin to get swallowed. Once the horrors start they never let up — giving horror fans just what they asked for. If you stepped into a movie titled Evil Dead and were expecting anything more, then I’m sorry, you got it wrong. Alvarez knew exactly what he was doing when he stepped behind the camera. Why spend half the film developing characters when you could be terrorizing and dismembering them instead? This is an in your face gore-fest that moves at a relentless pace making you wonder if you should be screaming or laughing. Evil Dead is a horror film for horror fans, plain and simple.
Sure, it might not have the same B-movie cheesiness and charm of Raimi’s classic — something that could have only been achieved if Alvarez would have instead directed this entire film with a potato — it’s an entirely new beast and one that successfully revitalizes the franchise. Let’s face it, there is no denying that this was the version of the film that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell simply could not have made back in 1981 due to the shoe-string budget and limited practical effects. Alvarez took us back to a time where practical effects were a must in the genre and because of that we got 90 minutes of pure cringing terror that left a smile on my face from start to finish.
Evil Dead is the perfect homage to a beloved classic and one that should be proud to be part of Raimi’s world. It was dark, fun, kicked ass and poured on the blood. From people cringing in their seat and screaming for it to stop to the gore hounds laughing in pure joy there wasn’t a quiet seat in the room. When is the last horror film to achieve such a reaction? It’s the horror film fans have been asking for and if I had to sum it up in one word, I’d say that it was f*cking GROOVY!
4.5/5
themissingreel.com 
BOOM. Absolutely. Totally agree Ryan.
Cant believe how many poor reviews of this I’m coming across. All I can think is “WTF do people WANT?”
This delivered for me in every regard. Really glad to see that you rate it so highly as well. 😉
Nice review!! 😀
Thanks man! I don’t normally do reviews because I suck at them but I had to give my 2 cents for one of the biggest horror films in quite some time. You’re right, the bad reviews are mind boggling. There really is no pleasing everyone.
[Glumly nodding…]
Still, whatever, to Hell with them. LOL WE got it! Heh 😀
I’ve only seen one bad review. That was Dan’s. other than that it’s been positive.
I’ve actually seen some negative reviews but they seem to be from people who were expecting something totally different.
I was expecting something different to be truthful. I was hoping to be a little more scared than I was. It’s a great film and the gore was impressive, but I wanted it to be the most terrifying film that I’ve ever seen. I guess I was expecting too much. Still liked it but the original is still superior.
Right on man! In the end, Alvarez delivered a horror film that you just dont see on the big screen anymore and I think that’s the most important thing to take away from it. Hopefully this promotes more ballsy horror films down the road instead of watered down PG13 crap we get thrown at us.
Really great review, of a really good movie. I agree with a lot of what you say here. The gore is fantastic. It’s got nods to the originals, galore. Mostly, it feels like an old school horror movie.
Glad to see the scales start to tip towards a more positive reaction today. It was a pretty even split at first, but after what I’ve seen and read today, I think its been better received than I initially thought it would be.
You’re totally right, the feel of an old school horror movie is spot on. They dont make them like they used so it was really great to see a first time director like Alvarez go to work on the audience. The reviews are confusing, I’d say that horror fans across the board outta be very pleased with this, which is who this film was made for. Thanks for stopping by!
Definitely want to check this out ,sounds like it will be excellent! Loved the review! You really should give yourself more credit, you do not suck at reviews at all!
😦 Your posts aren’t showing in my feed anymore, I only see what is new through your Facebook page.
Thank you for the kind words! I hope you like it as much as I did, it’s really a great time.
Yea I’m currently trying to get my posts to show up in the feed again, not sure what’s going on but for now (if you haven’t already) just click that “follow” button on the bottom right and put your email address in and you’ll get an email when something new gets posted!
When I watch it, I will definitely let you know what I think 🙂
Yep, I am following via email now, but I really hope it comes right soon! I was wondering for a while where it is that you went, at least we know now!
Haha yea, all is good!
Nicely done Ryan, great review man! Hoping to catch this ASAP but good to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
BTW – you not part of wordpress.com anymore?
Thanks man! I can’t imagine you not enjoying this film, there’s just too much to like!
Nope, I made the switch. Got sick of the lack of things you can do with the blogs over there!
Yeah I really think I will like it, this is right up my street!!
Ah right, fair enough! Suits my simple needs but Im all subscribed here now anyway 🙂
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts! Thanks for re-subbing, I figured the true readers would stick around and keep checking back and all that jazz, means a lot man!
My pleasure bud 🙂
Awesome review man. You should do more of them. You have a spectacularly detailed scoring system for someone who doesn’t review many films.
Hahah thanks so much man! I’ll definitely try to do more I think, but only newer films that I get around to seeing. Thanks for stopping by!
First of all, I’d read reviews like this all day. You’re just telling it like it is.
Glad to read this because I was scared that it wouldn’t live up to the extremely high standards I have for the original. Figured I would get the opinion of a horror expert.
Right on! Glad you dig the review, going to try and do more of these in the future. I’ll tell you how you’ll enjoy this movie the most — go into it not thinking of it as a remake because honestly, it’s hardly a remake at all. It’s its own beast and it’s one hell of a good time and honestly, a perfect tribute to the classic.
Great review. I absolutely loved this film. It is truly a remarkable remake. Nice site bud, I am now following.I recently reviewed Evil Dead on my film blog, would love for you to check it out. I only recently got started out so be kind lol.
Thanks for the kind words and for stopping by, it means a lot! I’ll head over there and check it out!
Just watched it and I am very disappointed, laughed more than I was scared 😦
Good Review but I disagree 😀