I thought this was actually better than the original. Sure, it wasn't as gory or anything but it was a lot more fun and much more faster. I'd definetely buy this but if I bought this then I'd want to buy the original. Oh well, I will :razz:

8/10 (B+)

A


Essentially, Evil Dead II is a remake of the original movie. The story and the set-up are very similar with five people being stuck in the cabin. It is still a different movie, takes a different route than the original and works very well as a stand alone flick. While the original was a creepy and claustrophobic horror movie with a gore excess, this one already has the humorous undertones that fully manifested in Army of Darkness. Evil Dead II is the movie that actually made Ash the iconic character that he is now (Bruce Campbell rocks in the role). The horror is stil present and so is the suspense, but it is not as intense as in the first movie and the film is more tongue-in-cheek this time around. It's an immense fun to watch, is insanely rewatchable and is good for any film night with friends. This is what horror dreams are made of.

Overrated, but still extremely enjoyable. It's very much the "middle" film in the series - not nearly as scary as the original, and not nearly as fun as Army Of Darkness, it kind of finds itself in an odd limbo. Still, Bruce Campbell is pitch perfect as Ash, there's some fantastic direction and camera work by Sam Raimi, and it manages to strike a nice balance between all out horror and comedy. B+

Heretic!

Hehe. I know. It's my one opinion that can get me into some trouble at horror message boards. Whenever I say Evil Dead II is the weakest in the trilogy, I get some angry kids on my hands. I dunno... I consider the original to be one of the best horror films ever made. It's truly frightening. And Army Of Darkness is easily one of the most fun films of all time. So, yeah... it's not that it's (EDII) bad. It's just that the other two are near perfect films.

I can live with that

I think the first film, Evil Dead, is the best of the bunch. While it has no real humor, it is the most sickening and the creepiest of the three. It is also one of the creepiest and most unsettling films I have ever seen, very superbly shot. It's in my all-time Top 10 of horror flicks, definitely.

I consider the second just slightly worse, but mostly just...different.

The third is the weakest, IMO (which still means it'd probably be the best horror flick of 2005 if it was released then, hehe). It just is not quite up to the standards of the first two. I think at times it went a little too overboard with humor.

Totally agree about the first Evil Dead. I've seen it probably over a hundred times, and there are moments that still make my skin crawl and make hair stand up. What a great film. You know what's fun? Grab a friend that's never seen it before, tell them it's from the guy who directed Spider-Man, have them borrow it, and watch them hate you for the rest of your life. Seriously, Sam Raimi was a sick fuck.

Hehehe, I did something similar. The two of my friends who borrowed it were freaked out by the fact that actually someone came up with the idea for a girl to be raped by...a tree.

As you can see with Raime and Jackson, horror can bring you pretty far. Oh do I love Braindead...

No other film contains equal moments of horror and comedy quite like this one. You'll be cowering under a table 1 minutes and laughing you're head off the next. Poor old Bruce Campbell really does get used as a human punchbag and who knew the rapidly closing camera trick could be so frightening.

A

absolutely brilliant. bruce campbell is my hero.

A+

It's nearly as good as the original, and it has the same problems as well. It's just as fantastically directed, has better effects, and Bruce Campbell truly personifies Ash in this one, but the supporting cast is weak at best, the story is lame, and the pacing is even more strange. The beginning of the flick, with just Ash alone in the cabin doing his best horror slapstick, is so excellent that you just want it to span the entire film, but, unfortunately, it does not. Another silly story and some more stupid characters are in store, instead. From that point on, it just feels like a remake of the original, making it rather boring and somewhat of a chore to sit through. The scene where Ash 'becomes' Ash is brilliant though.

yeah... no. I really didnt like it at all

C-

I give it around a similar grade as the first... in other words, it pretty much rocks. What I liked is that even with the dark comedic side of it, it never went over the line of ridiculousness and slapstick. It treats itself just seriously enough for the mix to work perfectly. My favorite scene was definitley the one where the deer and lamp and books are laughing, just classic.

Bruce Campell steps up his game in this one, and Raimi's direction is similarly fantastic throughout. I did love the "ram-cam" and other close-up effects he used. I also thought the setting of the cabin works really well, it really captures the feeling of no way out from this freaks.

One criticism, I thought the dead in the first film were much creepier and disturbing. They were still a bit creepy in this one, but the comedy side of them took over this time, whereas in the first film I was just plain frightened out of skin of them.

4.5/5

What you wrote in your last paragraph is right on, Shack. This film represents the fitting transition between the first Evil Dead film and the third. The third is more or less pure campy comedy with major horror elements, but essentially, it is comedy. The second film mixes both well, while the first is pretty much straight horror (with some absurd, funny moments) that can be very creepy and scary at times.

You can certainly see in Army of Darkness where Hercules and Xena were developed by Raimi.

I liked it but the middle half with the hand just went on too long and did not work for me. Also the final act with the tree was a bit disappointing to me because the first movie was creepier with just humans I thought it would do something more with the personification of the "devil". Bruce Campbell is decent here and gives his all. I have never watched this movie before but I feel its inferior to Part 1 but I have not seen a movie that mixes horror and comedy this effectively.

B