The original Evil Dead came out in 1981 and is a sacred cow of the horror genre. It pushed the genre at the time, was made with nothing but sweat, blood and passion and started more than one long lasting career in the industry. Two more sequels came out over a few more years and then nothing. People have been bugging Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell to make another one ever since. Last year, a remake was announced which raised a few eyebrows.

With the release coming up, I re-watched the original to refresh myself and keep a better eye on what new vision the new kids had come up with. Now, I think this 2013 movie is one of the more successful horror reboots (John Carpenter’s The Thing and 2004’s Dawn of the Dead topping that list for sure). This new movie respects the original while going into new directions that make it stand on its own. It’s not an exact retread of the same material, but a new extension of it.

Evil Dead helped make the ‘cabin in the woods’ horror trope and the remake sticks with that. They use the set up that Mia is addicted to heroin and her friends (one is a nurse) and her estranged brother bring her up to an old family vacation cabin to detox. They’re gonna keep her there for a last ditch effort to get her clean as she nearly overdosed on her last bender. It’s a weird set up that I can’t make up my mind if I like it or not. It does work as in I could see someone actually doing this thinking it would work. Plus it has the added bonus of explaining the early paranormal events as, “she’s crazy from the dope with drawl, she’s having fits and we just have to ride it out with it.” So that adds to the audience tension as the movie slowly and steadily slides down a hill into hell on Earth. But on the other hand it just seems like a crummy idea to think that it’d be okay for someone to detox away from professionals, aside from one person who says they know what they’re doing. Someone might end up dead just from that, never mind waking the evil dead that hangs out over there.

Now, for he actual evil, the book of the dead is used again (it has a different cover though). It’s found in the basement under shady circumstances and of course an idiot has to read the incantation that lets demonic evil out to possess the living. This is probably my biggest complaint, as Eric goes through some extra leg work to read the text. In the original, it’s a tape recorder that they find and play back, completely oblivious to what’s on it. The incantation is read aloud and cue horror. Here, there are warnings scrawled all over the book, in English with notes around the horrific pictures. The instructions are even scratched out and Curious Eric rubs them with a paper and pencil to read what was clearly meant to be buried and lost forever. Obviously there would be no movie without this, but the way it goes down makes me nuts. The “Oh, come on!” factor while watching him do it is crazy, but I think that is the point. There’s no way for him to know the devil is actually cracking his knuckles on the other side of the door, only the viewer knows. The 5 actors were all fine, no one really jumped out as me as terrific or bad to me. Although the blonde girl was more of piece of the background until she got possessed, I think she stood around and blinked more than talked in the time she was on screen.

So what follows is madness of the greatest kind. Just like the original, the evil goes after each kid one at a time, possessing one more at each horrific encounter. This movie touches on the infamous moments of the original with the tree and chainsaws, but changes them to make them new and inventive. Plus they came up with some really inventive showpieces which are something to see. The gore effects are really phenomenal with all practical on set work. If they snuck some CG touches, I couldn’t tell. It’s really effective stuff and sits right in line with the spirit of the Evil Dead films as they go wild with the gore and splatter. In fact, I love the way this movie looks and sounds. I’m really impressed with Fede Alvarez’s direction. He’s got a great eye, there’s a lot of awesome camera work and shots that match with the madness. He’s got a few Sam Raimi wood run cams (which is a must) sprinkled throughout, the spooky and tension is often held together with great blocking and camera movement. The end is an absolute scream, they came up with a great finale set piece that makes a new hero for the franchise.

I can see why Raimi and company gave this movie a green light, they trusted these new film makers with their world and it worked. It would be great if this spawned a direct sequel or got Raimi and Campbell the jump they need to bring Ash back one more time for another run through hell. I’m curious to see what someone would think if they saw the remake before seeing the original. Have them see a similar story with the same intentions but with modern movie making techniques compared to the dated visuals of 1981. The suspense of the original is still there, but it looks so crusty and fake, which makes new viewers roll their eyes and dismiss it now.