Evil Dead 2 (1987) Review

Evil Dead 2 released in 1987 opens with a brief overview of the first Evil Dead (For those unusual types who have never seen the first film and think it’s okay to jump into the 2nd film?). Ash Williams takes his beloved Linda to a cabin in the woods for a romantic weekend. Ash finds and plays a tape containing an an incantation from the book Necronomicon Ex-Mortis…The Book Of The Dead (for those who had no clue at the back!) which releases a Kandarian Demon and possesses Linda turning her into a deadite. I encounter many deadites walking up the high street on a Saturday afternoon, who appear to all like to wear a leafy like substance as their perfume. Strange that. Anyway we’re veering off the track here so let’s get back to the story.

Ash is then thrown through the woods by the force and possessed by a deadite. He is only released from this possession when the dawn breaks and as he rushes to the cabin finds Linda’s head wants to play with him again. Linda’s body alone and separate from her head, finds it and performs an erotic dance for him (cheaper than going to Spearmint Rhino I think!). Ash has no choice but to dismember her (I know that feeling myself as I’ve had to dismember people many times).

He is then found by Annie Knowby, and research partner Ed Gentley in a state of what can only be described as insanity and confusion. They believe he has wilfully murdered Annie’s mother Henrietta and Linda, but Ash explains what has been going, even though is sounds unbelievable. It is only when they are confronted by Henrietta in deadite form in the cellar that they believe Ash’s story and battle with him to defeat and prevent becoming one of The Evil Dead.

Will they win their battle or will they perish at the hands of the kandarian demons? Are they destined to live in 1987 forever or have they been given the chance to travel to another place and time? All will be revealed when you pop in your 4K, Bluray or DVD into the player! Hurry up before it’s too late and you’re Dead By Dawn!

So what did you think of the film?

The 4K restoration is amazing and the colours of the gore and blood are exquisite. This in turn draws you further into the film than perhaps you would have done if watching it on DVD. There has been a fair amount of time taken in restoring the film into the vision it deserves to be. However this in turn makes the Bluray version dull in comparison with a dark image. Particulartly disheartening is the the transition from outside and inside scenes which really lack depth and vision. Whilst Evil Dead 2 has never really looked amazing, it has been given a chance to shine with the 4K restoration, so I recommend if purchasing the film that you buy the 3 disc version including the 4K version and the 2 Bluray discs.

Do I get any extras?

Yes, you do! The first of these is called Bloody and Groovy, Baby! – Tribute to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 which is a fairly long tribute at 50+ minutes. The cream of horror directors are interviewed here: Guillermo Del Toro, Roger Corman, Edgar Wright, Marcus Nispel, Christophe Lemaire and Aurelia Mengin (and others) all give their views on both Evil Dead 1 and 2. If you like in depth conversations then this extra is for you. Be warned however a lot of this has subtitles as there is a lot of French spoken, so if you can cope with this then that’s great. I veered off at points as I was too busy concentrating on reading the words and not missing any of the conversation!

You also get the obligatory audio commentaries from the cast and crew, making of features and even a revisit to the shooting location. Groovy baby (See the list below for all the included features):

Special Features:

Audio commentary with Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Bruce Campbell and Greg Nicotero
Bloody and Groovy, Baby! – Tribute to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2
Shallowed Souls: Making of Evil Dead 2
Cabin Fever: A “Fly on the Wall”
Road to Wadesboro: Revisiting the Shooting Location with Filmmaker Tony Elwood
The Gore the Merrier: Making of Evil Dead 2
Interview with Bruce Campbell
Trailer

Would you purchase this special edition yourself?

I’m glad you asked me that! Over the course of 1987 until now I have purchased at least 6 versions of this film, VHS, DVDs and Blurays. I am happy to say that I would purchase the 4K restoration as it has finally done the film justice and should help guide the film to a prolonged cult status. Some of the effects haven’t weathered the storm as well as they should have done, but we are talking about a film now in it’s 32nd year.

I would recommend this film to lovers of the first Evil Dead and of Sam Raimi. He has come a long way since and is beloved by a far wider audience than back in the halcyon days of Within The Woods (which to my annoyance we are never going to see, even though it was promised as a bonus back in the days of the release of the Book Of The Dead Evil Dead 1). So annoying.

Thanks have to be given to Stephen King who gave The Evil Dead a push, calling it a ferociously original horror movie. He also pestered Dino De Laurentis into producing Evil Dead 2, so we probably have a lot to thank him for.

Get Evil Dead 2 before you’re dead by dawn and become a deadite yourself!!!!

Movie Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Trailer:

YouTube video
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Cut and Slash

A lot of horror films involve a lot of cutting and slashing, and so when we revived the curriculum vitae of the man known only as ‘Cut and Slash’ asking if he could write us some reviews, we emailed him back straight away... More

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