I have watched the original trilogy films more times than I can count. They remain some of my favourite movies, with Evil Dead 2 being the peak of the trilogy. The added humour elevated 2 over The Evil Dead for me. I was hesitant to watch this film when it first came out, it had a lot to live up to, but in time I had to watch it. And, it wasn't as good as those that had come before, but neither was it a bad film. With a new young cast, the cabin in the woods, and a familiar book in place, this film kept close to the core elements of what had been done before. There are a few issues, but I'll get into those later on.
The film opens up with a young woman being pursued in the woods before she is quickly taken captive. The scene switches to some interior with the young woman bound to a wooden post and her father before her. It quickly becomes clear the young woman is possessed, having killed her mother, and is set alight before being shot. We then move to the opening credits. We are introduced to our main characters and learn that David is here to support his sister, Mia, as she attempts to go cold turkey. Mia's friends Eric and Olivia are determined to ensure she kicks the habit this time. Olivia tells David that Mia overdosed and clinically died, that they might have to force her to stay and work through this against her will if it came to that. David is reluctant to agree to this as he is here to repair his relationship with her. As Mia begins to feel the effects of her withdrawal, she becomes sensitive to smells, convinced that the cabin has a foul scent within, though the others cannot detect it. It isn't long before their dog Grandpa is scratching at the carpet, pulling it back to reveal a trapdoor and blood smeared over the wood. Obviously, they are shocked, and they proceed down into the root cellar to investigate. They find dead cats strung up around the main room, with signs that something has been burnt, and a book bound in black bags wrapped in barbed wire. This is the Necronomicon.
For anyone that has seen any of the previous films, this book is a doorway to a supernatural force that lives in dark places. A kind of entity that wants to possess and destroy the living. And it is inevitable that some idiot, in this case, Eric, has to read from the book. If I find a book wrapped up in barbed wire and depicting some horrible stuff, I might use my common sense, wrap it back up and put it out of reach to be safe. Eric doesn't do that, and we have something summoned on our unsuspecting group. And poor Mia is the one it goes after first. What follows is Mia's initial spiral as she sees something watching in the woods before she flees into the woods, crashes her car, and has an encounter that always makes me very uncomfortable. It is a scene taken out of the original Evil Dead, and it was never a scene I enjoyed, something passing from demonic Mia and slithering into the bound Mia. They find Mia but don't believe her story, convinced this is just her withdrawals and desire to use overwhelming her. What follows is a descent into chaos and bloodshed as Mia succumbs to her possession and the demonic force moves through each of our protagonists. A minor point, but the evil force coming to life after claiming five souls seemed convenient, given that there are five of them, but it works given the premise and isolated location. There are callbacks to the original trilogy throughout, with the use of the chainsaw, shotgun, and removal of a hand gone bad. They use a lot of fake blood in this film, an almost obscene amount, with the film's finale featuring blood raining down on Mia as she fights against a vile reflection of herself.
The film's pacing remains constant throughout, and its runtime is short. Once it gets going, it doesn't relent, moving from possession to the next. The character development is handled well, as we see changes in David through the film's events, along with Mia as she is faced with this evil alone upon the death of the others. In all, the film is good, with decent characters, a tight storyline, and tension maintained throughout. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoyed the original films and the series, along with any horror fan. This is an easy 7 out of 10, a solid entry worth watching.
