The long-awaited remake of the seminal 1981 horror film "Evil Dead" is little more than a diluted reboot set to droning dubstep beats. Sure, the remake ups the ante on blood-soaked mayhem and overall violent carnage. However, there's a jarring discrepancy between the visually stunning "Kool-Aid"-tinged visuals and forgettably mediocre plot equipped with your standard young vapid leads.
I suppose the idea of teenagers vacationing in a cabin in the woods is a somewhat outdated premise, but the 2013 remake opts for a far more head-scratching alternative. As a last resort tactic, two couples drag their junkie friend and repeat offender, Mia, into the woods to detox her in the hopes that going cold turkey will set her straight. Despite finding the basement laced with dead cats hooked to the ceiling and a "Book of the Dead" with "DO NOT OPEN" scribbled in blood across the cover, the group blindly goes forth with their intervention.
The group's relentless dedication to the intervention is downright frustrating, especially once Mia turns "Regan" on everyone, leading the group to conclude that she's simply delirious from detoxing. The characters, aside from Mia, are each more insipidly forgettable than the last. Mia's brother, David, is most notably put to waste as he falls for nearly every dumb demon trick in the book, nearly setting his sister free on numerous occasions despite her having murdered nearly the entire group.
If you had never seen the original "Evil Dead," I feel as if the 2013 version would come off as a fragmented, Nomadic shell of a movie. The entire premise behind the reboot is hinged upon the fact that the audience has seen the original and making parallels to iconic imagery found in it (i.e., the tree scene, chainsaw, cellar, etc.). It's a reimagined plot with almost no imagination put forth other than what was already in place from the original.
If that wasn't enough, the Bruce Campbell cameo at the end of the credits is the definitive final nail that gets hammered down, coming off as a hackneyed last hurrah that reeks of desperation.
Even the trailers that came out for the film used the excessive blood-splatter as the main crutch for selling the film. However, I was rather impressed with the final sequence. Unfortunately, it's the only 10 minutes of truly thrilling action to be found in the entire movie. Considering the fact that the opening sequence is completely disjointed from the rest of the film, it's especially aggravating to see the film finally hit its stride in the final moments.
The highly anticipated DVD/Blu-ray combo release is packed with special features. There is a commentary featuring the actors and director Fede Alvarez, as well as a slew of featurettes. As part of such, there's a behind-the-scenes special-effects piece, a director interview, a look at the updated Necronomicon and a piece featuring Bruce Campbell as well. Unfortunately, the special features far outweigh the feature presentation.
I suppose Joss Whedon is ultimately to blame for my various qualms with this newest "Evil Dead," as "Cabin in the Woods" single andedly deconstructed the entire genre and held a mirror up to every glaring flaw and redundant cliche present over the last three or four decades. Simply put, horror movies post-"CitW" have higher expectations put upon them, and "Evil Dead" simply failed to impress. Then again, it had some big shoes to fill itself.
Film: 2.5 Yaps Extras: 4.5 Yaps