“Evil Dead” (2013) is the fourth entry in the “Evil Dead” series (following Sam Raimi’s trilogy from 1981-92), but like many 21st century sequels, it’s an attempt to draw new fans, not so much to continue the storyline.
Toward that end, it dodges the series’ reputation for dark comedy, and I have to say it succeeds: Director/co-writer Fede Alvarez crafts a humorless film – except that some viewers (like me) might find the absurd level of gore and violence to be amusing, even if “Evil Dead ’13” doesn’t lean into it.
Gore-ific happenings
Certainly, when heroine Mia (Jane Levy, also known for the slightly less intense sitcoms “Suburgatory” and “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”) attacks a naked zombie-demon while being drenched in a rain of blood, it’s an iconic image. That’s the grand finale to a striking series of gore-ific happenings.
“Evil Dead” (2013)
Director: Fede Alvarez
Writers: Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas
People hack at their own faces and limbs, trying in vain to avoid possession by a Deadite. And the way Mia is possessed is particularly wiggins-inducing, although the obvious CGI effect here softens the blow.
Alvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues tip their serious intentions early as Mia’s three friends (Jessica Lucas’ Olivia, Lou Taylor Pucci’s Eric and Elizabeth Blackmore’s Natalie) and brother (Shiloh Fernandez’s David) meet her at a rotting cabin for her three-day drug intervention. The relationships and personalities are basic, but it’s nice to have a little something.
A blunt metaphor
I suppose the whole film can be read as a drug withdrawal metaphor, but it’s a blunt one. Mia’s possession happens awfully fast, so it’s up to the others to recognize that these aren’t withdrawal symptoms. Then she hides in the basement, looking like Pazuzu-Reagan in “The Exorcist.”
The appealing Levy (later of the superior horror flick “Don’t Breathe”) is the film’s heart, so it gets dour when Mia is cast away under the stairs.
Meanwhile, “Evil Dead ’13” moves through its mythology in rote fashion as Eric pages through a demonic spellbook, not remotely heeding the “Buffy” lesson to not “speak Latin in front of the books.” Kudos to the props department for creating a scary book, though, filled with warnings written in blood.
Once the gross-out imagery, gore and violence starts, that early notion of friends trying to help a drug addict mostly goes out the window, and it feels like the movie needs something more. I begin to understand why Raimi leans into the humor when his plots get to this point.
Helluva ‘one last fight’
“Evil Dead ’13” recovers with its “one last fight,” although it arrives after we emotionally feel the movie is over.
I can’t slam this add-on as much as I normally would because Alvarez and his team go all-out, highlighting the battle with the aforementioned iconic shot. This also affirms that the film was always about the special effects, and that everything else was window dressing.
As such, this fourth “Evil Dead” movie might be loved by people who still subscribe to Fangoria (I looked it up; it’s still being printed).
For those who want scares or to become attached to characters, this isn’t your film — although Levy shows star quality and it’s never boring. “Evil Dead ’13” will just leave you drained.