Most franchises in the Horror genre have a couple of good films at most, and a lot of middling to terrible entries. By that measure, the Evil Dead series is the most successful Horror franchise of them all. You can nitpick some titles – I don’t like Fede Álvarez’s 2013 remake, but look forward to a 2nd look – and even if you include the short film that started it all (Within the Woods) and the TV Series (Ash vs Evil Dead), this is surprisingly dependable for a good time.
I first watched this film before the 1981 original, and a couple of times I’ve looked at both films back-to-back. It’s a pretty close call – I’ll get to The Evil Dead in just a few days – and while they follow similar beats, tonally they’re as different as their production budget. (Neither was expensive to make, but ED2 looks like a Hollywood blockbuster compared to the micro-budget of ED1.) The comic tone is what gives Evil Dead II the edge. This was the first unhinged dose of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell doing splatstick comedy. There’s a lengthy section that only involves Bruce and his possessed hand, and its Horror/Comedy gold at the level of the silent greats, only with a lot more fluids.
The Rewatchables Podcast has the question, “What piece of memorbillia would you want from the movie?”, and this has the deer head mounted on the wall that turns and laughs. I’ve wanted that in my house since I first saw the film.
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