COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 5-“EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN”

GROOVY!

Article by Adam Mast

In honor of Halloween, we’ll profile a new horror film every day throughout the month of October.

EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN (R)–1987

Back in the day, my friends and I would always receive invitations to test screenings in that magical land called Hollywood. One day in 1986, I was approached by a representative for a company called “Movie View.” “Movie View” was fairly well known for approaching random movie goers outside of theaters and inviting them to test screenings of upcoming movies so that the filmmakers behind those particular films could gauge what was and what wasn’t working in their projects. It’s a process that many filmmakers swear by, particularly when it comes to comedies and horror movies.

On this particularly uneventful day in 1986, this representative asked me if I’d be interested in attending a special screening of an upcoming horror sequel. He wouldn’t divulge the title, but he didn’t need to. Being the horror junkie I was at the time (hell, who are we kidding? I still am!), I enthusiastically accepted the movie passes. Later that week my pals and I entered the AMC Burbank without much of a clue of what we were about to see. The lights in the house eventually dimmed, and the film started.

IT WAS “EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN!”

Our little group was ecstatic because we had all seen the first EVIL DEAD on video and we were pretty big fans of the indie horror flick that Stephen King famously called  “The most ferociously original horror film of the year.” when it was released in 1981. So yeah…To say that we were excited for EVIL DEAD II, would be a gross understatement.

The thing is, back in those days, there was no social media, so plot information was scarce. Sure, there were popular horror publications like “Monsters” and “Fangoria” but it was much easier to go into a movie blind back in 80’s, and as much as we loved THE EVIL DEAD, nothing could possibly prepare us for the sheer awesomeness that was EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN.

Sam Raimi’s follow-up to THE EVIL DEAD isn’t so much a sequel as it is a hyper kinetic remake. In Evil Dead II, lovable goofball Ash (played by lovable goofball, Bruce Campbell) takes his beautiful girlfriend to a “cabin in the woods” where he hopes to romance her over the course of one glorious weekend. While rummaging through a collection of odds and ends throughout the cabin, Ash comes across various items including a creepy looking book written in blood and an old school reel to reel audio player. Ever the curious individual, Ash hits the play button. The voice on the player speaks of unspeakable evil in the woods. An unspeakable evil that Ash inadvertently unleashes by way of sinister passages in the aforementioned creepy book.  Ultimately, that unspeakable evil turns Ash’s glorious weekend into a weekend of Deadite plagued terror.

Simply put, Raimi directed the ever living shit out of this movie! There are moments in this picture that are so creative. The evil dead p.o.v. shots through the woods, the tree rape, the fruit cellar, Ash’s transformation, etc.  And while we’re on the topic of Ash, you can’t have an EVIL DEAD discussion without talking about the vital importance of Bruce Campbell’s go-for-broke performance in this film.  This gifted performer is funny and charismatic to be sure, but the physicality he displays in this picture is the stuff of legend. The moment Ash waged war with his own hand and beat the shit out of himself in the kitchen, I knew I was baring witness to the birth of a cult icon.

As for my first experience watching EVIL DEAD II, there’s not much I can say about it that would truly do it justice. You simply had to be there. It was quite the indescribable feeling. EVIL DEAD II generated a real electricity amongst the crowd, and it was clear even at that point, that Sam Raimi was going to have a long, fruitful career. Whatever excitement the young director generated with the original film was multiplied by 100, in the follow-up.

Oddly enough, news began to spread that the MPAA had issues with what they deemed an over abundance of gore in EVIL DEAD II. To this very day, it boggles the mind that this very funny movie was initially slapped with an “X” rating because anyone whose seen it will tell you its crazed, slapstick nature owes more to the likes of the “Three Stooges” than anything else. Yes, there’s a ton of gore in this film, and yes, there are plenty of scares and perverse situations, but at heart EVIL DEAD II is completely comical in nature.

Now, folks look upon EVIL DEAD II precisely the way Raimi envisioned it. Furthermore, it’s a film that’s stood the test of time. I’ve seen it nearly 100 times and I still marvel at its manic nature and innovative style. It still holds up and even though I know now how Raimi pulled off some of his stylistic tricks–thanks to behind the scenes clips and various commentary tracks–I still watch EVIL DEAD II with the same reverence and sense of awe that I did back in the 80’s. In fact, I loved this picture so much, that following that initial test screening, my friends and I attended another test screening a month later, an experience made all the more exciting because Raimi was actually in the house!  The energy in the crowd was every bit as palpable as it was the first time around, but for our little group, is was even more exciting because we knew that the man responsible for this brilliance was sitting two rows behind us.

What can I say? I love me some EVIL DEAD II! It is not only one of the best sequels ever made! It is not only one of the best horror movies ever made! It is simply one of the best movies of all time, period! On a final note, not that I feel compelled to justify my love for EVIL DEAD II any further, but any film that inspires a follow-up as great as ARMY OF DARKNESS deserves mad respect!

Side note: Ash is making the leap to the small screen! Starz premieres the highly anticipated “Ash vs. Evil Dead” on October 31st, 2015!

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN

October 4th- “Phantom of the Paradise“-Click Here
October 3rd-“Poltergeist“-Click Here
October 2nd-“The Babadook“-Click Here
October 1st-“John Carpenter’s The Thing“-Click Here

About Author

Adam Mast

Adam Mast has been a lifelong film enthusiast dating back to age 6 when his parents took him to see a little movie called JAWS at a drive-in theater in Northern California. This would lead him to several writing stints for various publications and outlets. Mast would also have a hand in several film projects of various shapes and sizes. In 2014, Mast would join forces with colleague John Pugh to create Cinemast.net as a means discuss film from a fan and analytical perspective. Together, Mast and Pugh would also create the 501 (C)(3) nonprofit, Film and Media Alliance of Southern Utah (FMASU) in 2017. FMASU’s mission is to encourage, inspire and educate filmmaking talent and to preserve film history. Adam currently resides in southern Utah with his amazing wife, Tonja, and their four wonderful children.

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