Evil Dead (2013) - ★★★½

Director: Fede Alvarez
Writers: Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues (Screenplay), Sam Raimi (Original Screenplay)
Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore

Evil Dead is the scariest movie I've seen all year (and yes, I've seen The Conjuring). It had me in a constant state of fear for the last 45 minutes, and few films have ever done that to me. It's your average Cabin in the Woods plot/story, done more gruesomely and effectively than ever before. The demonic possessions were almost as scary as that of The Exorcist (1973), and the acting was pretty good for the most part. There's no way I could form an emotional attachment to a movie such as this. All I know is that I never want to see it again... partly because it scares the crap out of me, and partly because it will never be as exciting as the first time I saw it. I don't know about you, but my faith in the horror genre has officially been restored in 2013!

Mia (Jane Levy) is a drug addict that decides to quit cold turkey. Her brother and her friends think it's a good idea to take her to a secluded cabin in the woods, so that she will have no way of getting back on the drugs. My first thought was, "Seriously? You're bringing a mentally unstable person to a location where she could run off and get lost easily?" It's that sort of logic that you learn to leave behind when it comes to modern horrors. You've got your classic characters in order. There's the intelligent nurse/scholar (Jessica Lucas), the brother/jock (Shiloh Fernandez), the hippie/guy that complains a lot (Lou Taylor Pucci), the slut/dim-wit (Elizabeth Blackmore), and the virgin/heroine (Jane Levy). When one of them reads from a satanic book found in the basement, a demon is unleashed and reaps havoc on the poor, unsuspecting group of friends.

Linda Blair eat your heart out!

After watching Evil Dead, my esteem for The Cabin in the Woods (2012) has gone way up! They got the parody of this plot spot-on, so a re-watch of that film is in order. Evil Dead was more than thrilling... it was petrifying! I gasped, I screamed, I howled, and embarrassingly, I squealed like a little girl. They got the timing of the scares PERFECT. There were plenty of basic 'jump scares,' and an array of different suspense building techniques used. When I thought it was over, BAM! It surprised the hell out of me! After that, I was prepared for the film to end, then BAM! Another surprise. I said to my sister "I can't take much more of this." When I was CERTAIN the film was going to end, BAM! A thrilling demon/human chase sequence nearly made me wet myself! This was a film that kept on giving, a horror that kept on horrifying me!

This is not a film for the faint-hearted, and especially not for the weak-stomached people! They must have used tons of fake-blood and limbs in Evil Dead, which was oh-so very effective. I have to give it to Fede Alvarez, he did a marvellous job at recreating a story that has been done to death. There are many small problems with Evil Dead, but nothing a truck-load of scares couldn't fix! If I were rating this movie on scariness alone, I'd give it five stars. As a horror-film, it's way above average.

This was my expression for much of the film!