Evil Dead (2013)
Official Synopsis
Evil Dead follows Mia, a young woman struggling with drug addiction, who travels to a remote family cabin with her brother and three friends to undergo withdrawal. After the group inadvertently discovers and reads from a mysterious Book of the Dead, they awaken a dormant, malevolent demonic entity that possesses Mia.
William’s Review
I’ve always appreciated Evil Dead because it never tries to recreate what made the original trilogy special. Instead of chasing Bruce Campbell’s charisma or Sam Raimi’s slapstick energy, director Fede Álvarez asks a different question: what if The Evil Dead were played completely straight with modern filmmaking and absolutely no restraint? The result is one of the most relentlessly brutal horror films of the last twenty years.
One of the smartest changes is giving the characters a believable reason to stay at the cabin. In the original film, it’s easy to question why people don’t leave once strange things begin happening. Here, Mia’s heroin withdrawal gives everyone a logical explanation for the increasingly disturbing events. Her friends dismiss the hallucinations because they believe she’s detoxing, and that single narrative change makes the story feel much more grounded.
Jane Levy is outstanding as Mia. She has by far the most demanding role in the film, shifting between vulnerability, terror, possession, and ultimately becoming the survivor the audience rallies behind. She carries nearly every emotional beat of the movie, and I think she succeeds in making Mia feel like her own character rather than simply trying to become a female version of Ash.
The practical effects deserve just as much praise because, even now, the gore remains shocking because it still feels real. Every Deadite attack is brual and vicious, and the filmmakers rarely pull the camera away. It’s excessive, but intentionally so, and it fits the harsher tone the remake is aiming for.
I understand why longtime fans struggled with the absence of Ash, but it never bothered me because I never viewed this as replacing Bruce Campbell. I saw it as another story within the Evil Dead universe, one that honors the original while confidently establishing its own identity. It doesn’t have the charm or humor of Raimi’s trilogy, but it was never trying to.
For me, Evil Dead (2013) remains one of the best horror remakes because it respects the source material without becoming trapped by it. It’s brutal, confident, exceptionally well made, and earns a Buyer.
One of the smartest changes is giving the characters a believable reason to stay at the cabin. In the original film, it’s easy to question why people don’t leave once strange things begin happening. Here, Mia’s heroin withdrawal gives everyone a logical explanation for the increasingly disturbing events. Her friends dismiss the hallucinations because they believe she’s detoxing, and that single narrative change makes the story feel much more grounded.
Jane Levy is outstanding as Mia. She has by far the most demanding role in the film, shifting between vulnerability, terror, possession, and ultimately becoming the survivor the audience rallies behind. She carries nearly every emotional beat of the movie, and I think she succeeds in making Mia feel like her own character rather than simply trying to become a female version of Ash.
The practical effects deserve just as much praise because, even now, the gore remains shocking because it still feels real. Every Deadite attack is brual and vicious, and the filmmakers rarely pull the camera away. It’s excessive, but intentionally so, and it fits the harsher tone the remake is aiming for.
I understand why longtime fans struggled with the absence of Ash, but it never bothered me because I never viewed this as replacing Bruce Campbell. I saw it as another story within the Evil Dead universe, one that honors the original while confidently establishing its own identity. It doesn’t have the charm or humor of Raimi’s trilogy, but it was never trying to.
For me, Evil Dead (2013) remains one of the best horror remakes because it respects the source material without becoming trapped by it. It’s brutal, confident, exceptionally well made, and earns a Buyer.
Amy’s Review
Watching Evil Dead immediately after the original trilogy completely changed how I felt about it. The first time I saw it years ago, I remembered thinking it was scary, incredibly bloody, and a really fun horror movie. This time, though, I had just spent three movies falling in love with Ash Williams, and that made this experience very different.
My biggest issue wasn’t that the movie stars a woman or introduces a new lead. I actually think Jane Levy is fantastic, and Mia is easily the best part of the film. She has a difficult role because she spends so much of the movie making everyone question whether she’s experiencing supernatural events or simply suffering through withdrawal. Jane Levy sells every stage of that journey, and by the end I completely understood why so many fans wanted to see Mia continue as a franchise lead.
My problem is that the movie puts me back in the same cabin with almost the same setup as the original while asking me to forget about Ash. After watching Bruce Campbell evolve over three films, especially after Army of Darkness, I wasn’t ready to leave that version of the franchise behind. I kept waiting for that sense of humor, charm, and personality that Ash brought to every scene, and this movie intentionally refuses to provide any of it.
That doesn’t mean the movie fails, in fact, I think it’s incredibly well made. The addiction storyline is a smart update because it gives everyone believable reasons to dismiss Mia’s warnings. The acting is excellent across the board, and the practical gore is absolutely relentless. If your goal is to create a movie that feels painful, disgusting, and uncomfortable, it succeeds better than almost any horror film I can think of.
For me, though, horror is about more than just gore. I missed the fun, the humor, and most of all, I missed Ash. Watching this immediately after the original trilogy made those comparisons impossible to ignore, and that’s ultimately why I landed on a Renter. I respect what the film accomplished, but when I want Evil Dead, I’d rather revisit the original films.
My biggest issue wasn’t that the movie stars a woman or introduces a new lead. I actually think Jane Levy is fantastic, and Mia is easily the best part of the film. She has a difficult role because she spends so much of the movie making everyone question whether she’s experiencing supernatural events or simply suffering through withdrawal. Jane Levy sells every stage of that journey, and by the end I completely understood why so many fans wanted to see Mia continue as a franchise lead.
My problem is that the movie puts me back in the same cabin with almost the same setup as the original while asking me to forget about Ash. After watching Bruce Campbell evolve over three films, especially after Army of Darkness, I wasn’t ready to leave that version of the franchise behind. I kept waiting for that sense of humor, charm, and personality that Ash brought to every scene, and this movie intentionally refuses to provide any of it.
That doesn’t mean the movie fails, in fact, I think it’s incredibly well made. The addiction storyline is a smart update because it gives everyone believable reasons to dismiss Mia’s warnings. The acting is excellent across the board, and the practical gore is absolutely relentless. If your goal is to create a movie that feels painful, disgusting, and uncomfortable, it succeeds better than almost any horror film I can think of.
For me, though, horror is about more than just gore. I missed the fun, the humor, and most of all, I missed Ash. Watching this immediately after the original trilogy made those comparisons impossible to ignore, and that’s ultimately why I landed on a Renter. I respect what the film accomplished, but when I want Evil Dead, I’d rather revisit the original films.