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Evil Dead (2013 film)

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Evil Dead
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFede Alvarez
Screenplay by
  • Fede Alvarez
  • Rodo Sayagues
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAaron Morton
Edited byBryan Shaw
Music byRoque Baños
Production
companies
Distributed byTriStar Pictures (USA)
Sony Pictures (Int'l)
Release dates
  • March 8, 2013 (2013-03-08) (SXSW Film Festival)
  • April 5, 2013 (2013-04-05) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$17 million[2]
Box office$97,454,981[2]

Evil Dead is a 2013 American horror film co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez. It is the fourth installment of the Evil Dead franchise, serving as both a reboot and as a loose continuation of the series. It is the first not to be directed by Sam Raimi.

The film is the feature debut of Alvarez, whom Raimi selected. It was produced by Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Robert G. Tapert: the writer-director, lead actor, and producer of the original trilogy respectively. The film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest festival on March 8, 2013. On March 9, 2013, it was announced that the film will have a sequel, followed by a crossover with the original trilogy. Evil Dead was announced on July 15, 2013 to be adapted into a live experience as the first maze announced for Universal Studios Hollywood's & the second maze for Universal Orlando Resort's annual Halloween Horror Nights event for 2013.

Plot

Captured in the woods, an injured girl (Phoenix Connolly) is restrained in a basement with many people present. Upon revealing she is demonically possessed, her father, Harold (Jim McLarty), sets her on fire and shoots her dead.

Subsequently, a group of friends, Mia Allen (Jane Levy), her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez), Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci), Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and David's girlfriend, Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), arrange a getaway to an old, remote cabin in the woods, in order to help Mia recover from a severe heroin addiction. At the cabin, a foul stench leads them to discover a cellar, hosting animal corpses, a double-barreled shotgun and a book titled Naturom Demonto, a Sumerian variation of the Book of the Dead. Ignoring warnings on the book's pages, Eric reads a passage aloud, summoning a demon which enters Mia's body. Terrified, Mia pleads to leave, but the group refuses, believing her to be making up excuses while suffering from withdrawals. After killing David's dog, Mia burns her face in the boiling hot shower, fulfilling a prophecy from the book. David rushes to get her to a hospital, but a flood blocks the roads.

Upon returning to the cabin, Mia shoots David in the arm with the shotgun, and attacks Olivia before she is thrown into the cellar. Olivia then falls prey to the demon, becoming possessed as well, and is discovered by Eric in the bathroom carving her face with broken glass. She attacks Eric, stabbing him repeatedly before he crushes her skull with broken porcelain from the toilet. While David attends to Eric's wounds in the shed outside, Natalie is attacked by Mia in the cellar, and is bitten on her hand. Her arm begins to atrophy rapidly in front of her eyes, leading her to cut it off above the elbow with a meat carver. After David and Eric return to the cabin, they are attacked by Natalie, now possessed, and armed with a nail gun. She shoots them multiple times, and attacks David and Eric with a crowbar, nearly severing Eric's hand. David shoots Natalie with the gun, blowing off her other arm, and she bleeds to death as the demon leaves her body.

Eric attempts to destroy the book, but it is futile, as it describes a prophecy by which a demon, referred to as a Taker of Souls, needs to devour five souls in order to free the Abomination from hell. To achieve this, the demon has taken possession of Mia's body, and the three ways to release her are to burn her, bury her alive, or dismember her. David makes a plan to burn Mia, but cannot bring himself to do it. He then enters the cellar with tranquilizers, but Mia attacks him before he is saved by Eric. Eric finally dies from his wounds, and David immobilizes Mia and buries her alive in a shallow grave outside the cabin, hoping to free her from the demon. After Mia dies, he digs her up and uses an improvised defibrillator to revive her. Back at the cabin, David is attacked by Eric, whose body is now possessed by the demon. Mortally wounded, David gives Mia the car keys to leave and locks her out of the house. When Eric warns David about the Abomination's arrival, David shoots at gasoline to engulf the house in flames, killing both of them in the process.

Shortly after, the final stage of the prophecy from the book takes place. It begins to rain blood, and the Abomination crawls out of the ground and goes after Mia. During the pursuit, Mia is forced to rip off her hand when it becomes pinned under David's Jeep. Mia then manages to kill the Abomination with a chainsaw, and its remains sink into the ground, "back to hell". The blood rain stops as dawn breaks, and Mia wanders away from the aftermath, oblivious to the Naturom Demonto on the ground as the book closes on its own.

During the film's closing credits, audio is heard from the original film; Professor Raymond Knowby tells about his discovery of the Naturom Demonto. Then, in a brief post-credits scene, an older Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) recites his iconic line from Evil Dead II, "Groovy", under dim light, and turns to the audience suddenly to make them jump.

Cast

In addition, using audio from the original film, Bob Dorian plays Professor Raymond Knowby during the credits and Ellen Sandweiss plays a voice cameo as Cheryl Williams. Bruce Campbell plays Ash Williams in an uncredited cameo appearance.

The initial letters of the five main characters' names (David, Eric, Mia, Olivia, Natalie) form an acrostic spelling out the word DEMON.[3]

Production

Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues co-wrote the script, which was then doctored by Diablo Cody in an effort to Americanize the dialogue since English was not the writers' first language.[4] The film was produced by Raimi, Campbell, and Robert G. Tapert — the producers of the original trilogy.

Raimi and Campbell had planned a remake for many years, but in 2009, Campbell stated the proposed remake was "going nowhere" and had "fizzled" due to extremely negative fan reaction.[5] However, in April 2011, Bruce Campbell stated in an AskMeAnything interview on Reddit.com, "We are remaking Evil Dead. The script is awesome [...] The remake's gonna kick some ass — you have my word."[6]

On July 13, 2011, it was officially announced, via a press release, that Ghost House Pictures would team up with FilmDistrict to produce an Evil Dead remake, with Diablo Cody in the process of revising the script and Fede Alvarez directing.[4] Actor Shiloh Fernandez was cast in the lead male role of David.[7] Bloody Disgusting reported that Lily Collins would play the lead female role of Mia, but on January 24, 2012, she dropped out of the role.[8][9]

On February 3, 2012, it was announced that actress Jane Levy, star of the television series Suburgatory, would replace Collins in the lead female role as Mia.[10] Lou Taylor Pucci, Elizabeth Blackmore, and Jessica Lucas later joined the cast.[11][12]

In January 2013, Alvarez commented on the ambiguity of the film's relationship to the original:

Now, the way I personally like to see Evil Dead (2013), it's as a story that takes place 30 years after The Evil Dead ended. The car is there, the cabin is there (a family bought it and did some work on it more than 20 years ago) and the book has found its way back to the cabin... New kids will encounter it and suffer its wrath. Is Evil Dead a sequel then? Maybe. But the problem with the sequel theory would be that there are too many coincidences between the events on The Evil Dead and the ones on Evil Dead to have happened on a continuous story line [...] But if you believe the Naturom Demonto can force these things to happen... then it could be a sequel... and I do believe in coincidences.[13]

Alvarez, who also has a background in CGI, also confirmed in an interview that the film does not employ CGI (except for touch-ups): "We didn't do any CGI in the movie [...] Everything that you will see is real, which was really demanding. This was a very long shoot, 70 days of shooting at night. There's a reason people use CGI; it's cheaper and faster, I hate that. We researched a lot of magic tricks and illusion tricks."[14]

Sam Raimi's 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 can be seen in an opening scene with David and Mia as they arrive at the cabin. The 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 has appeared in almost all of the movies that Raimi has been involved with over his career.

Release

TriStar Pictures released the film theatrically on April 5, 2013 in the United States.[15] Alvarez tweeted on January 28, 2013 that the film first received an NC-17 rating, which prompted cuts in order to obtain the contractually obligated R-rating.[16] The film has been rated uncut as an 18 by the BBFC for containing strong "bloody violence, gory horror and very strong language".[17] Evil Dead premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX on March 8, 2013.[citation needed] The music for Evil Dead, composed by Roque Baños, was released by La-La Land Records in a 40-minute digital form and a 70-minute physical release, on April 9, 2013.[18] The release of the film in Australia is restricted to five cinemas due to its Australian R18+ rating; one in Sydney, one in Brisbane, one in Melbourne, one in Adelaide, and one in Perth.

Home media

Evil Dead was released on DVD and Blu-ray, on July 16, 2013.[19] The Blu-ray exclusives include commentary from three of the cast, and screenwriters Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues, behind the scenes and a featurette, while the regular DVD will include three other featurettes.[20]

Reception

The film brought in $26 million in its opening weekend[21] and became a box office success, grossing over $54,239,856 in domestic as well as $97,454,981 at worldwide.

Upon release, Evil Dead has received generally positive reviews. The film has since earned a score of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 154 reviews with an average rating of 6.2/10; the consensus states: "It may lack the absurd humor that underlined the original, but the new-look Evil Dead compensates with brutal terror, gory scares, and gleefully bloody violence."[22] On Metacritic, the film holds a 58% rating, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[23] Criticism focuses on the characters and some of the story being spoiled by the trailers for the film.

Evan Dickson from Bloody Disgusting reviewed the film at SXSW, and went on to say that "Evil Dead is amazingly gory and fun" and gave the film 4/5 stars.[24] Chris Tilly of IGN gave Evil Dead 9/10, and called the movie a "terrifying, exhilarating and relentlessly entertaining new chapter in the Evil Dead story".[25] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review, calling it a "remake that will win the hearts of many of the original's fans."[26] Independent horror review site HorrorTalk gave the film four stars out of five saying it is "the most unrelenting and bloody horror film to come out of a major studio in a very long time".[27] Emma Simmonds of The List commented, "Evil Dead has ample cheap shocks and few bloodcurdling frights but it builds to something gorily bravura and, if that's your bag, you'll come away satisfied. It's a while before anyone picks up a chainsaw, but boy is it worth it when they do."[28] Matt Singer called the film "an assault on the senses" and "a success, one that out-Evil Deads the original movie with even more gore, puke, blood, and dismembered limbs. It may not be wildly inventive, but it is effective, and plenty faithful to the spirit — and tagline — of the first 'Ultimate Experience in Grueling Terror.'"[29]

Richard Roeper rated the film one star out of four, criticizing the film's unoriginality, the characters' lack of intelligence, and the films reliance on gore for what he felt were cheap scares. He concluded his review by saying, "I love horror films that truly shock, scare and provoke. But after 30 years of this stuff, I'm bored to death and sick to death of movies that seem to have one goal: How can we gross out the audience by torturing nearly every major character in the movie?"[30]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2013 Golden Trailer Awards[31] Best Horror TV Spot TriStar Pictures and mOcean for "Everything's Fine" Nominated

Sequel

At the SXSW premiere event, Alvarez announced that a sequel is in the works.[32][33] In addition, Sam Raimi confirmed plans to write Evil Dead 4 with his brother; it was later specified that this film would be Army of Darkness 2.[34] At a WonderCon panel in March 2013, Campbell and Alvarez stated that their ultimate plan was for Alvarez's Evil Dead 2 and Raimi's Army of Darkness 2 to be followed by a seventh film which would merge the narratives of Ash and Mia.[35]

References

  1. ^ "EVIL DEAD (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  2. ^ a b Evil Dead at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ "Review: Zeitgeists & Demons: Fede Alvarez's 'Evil Dead'". 20 April 2013.
  4. ^ a b McIntyre, Gina (July 13, 2011). "'Evil Dead' remake: Diablo Cody polishing script for first-time director". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ "Bad News: No 'Bubba Nosferatu'. Good News: No 'Evil Dead' Remake!". JustPressPlay.net. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  6. ^ "ImBruce Campbell comments on I'm Bruce Campbell: AMA". Reddit. April 12, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  7. ^ "Fernandez to haunt 'Evil Dead'". Variety. February 2, 2012.
  8. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Two Possible Lead Actresses for 'The Evil Dead'". Bloody Disgusting. January 4, 2012.
  9. ^ "'The Evil Dead' Remake Loses Lily Collins". IndieWire.com. January 24, 2012.
  10. ^ Fleming, Mike. "Jane Levy Is New Star Of 'Evil Dead' Remake". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  11. ^ Sneider, Jeff (February 10, 2012). "Lou Pucci in talks for 'Evil Dead'". Variety. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  12. ^ "'Melrose Place' Actress Joining 'Evil Dead' Remake". The Hollywood Reporter. March 7, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  13. ^ Vespe, Eric "Quint" (January 7, 2013). "Quint visits the set of Evil Dead and holds the book of the dead, sees a ton of gore and even spots a classic cameo!". aintitcool.com. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  14. ^ Dickson, Evan (January 6, 2013). "No CGI At All In The New 'Evil Dead'?!!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  15. ^ Evil Dead Official Website, Sony Pictures (January 20, 2013). "'Evil Dead' Rating". MPAA. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  16. ^ Fede Alvarez, Twitter (January 28, 2013). "'Evil Dead' Rating". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2013. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  17. ^ "EVIL DEAD | British Board of Film Classification". BBFC.CO.UK. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  18. ^ "'Soundtrack Details for Evil Dead Revealed, La-La Land to Distribute'". Bloody Disgusting. March 27, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  19. ^ "Evil Dead Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  20. ^ "'Evil Dead' To Bloody Up Blu-ray On July 16th!! -". bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  21. ^ "'Weekend Box Office Numbers'". April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  22. ^ "Evil Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2013-04-05.
  23. ^ Evil Dead at Metacritic
  24. ^ "[BD Review] 'Evil Dead' Is A Thrillingly Gory Blast". BloodyDisgusting.
  25. ^ Chris Tilly 9 Mar 2013 (2013-03-09). "Evil Dead Review - IGN". Ca.ign.com. Retrieved 2013-03-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "Evil Dead: SXSW Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 2013-03-09. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  27. ^ HorrorTalk.com, Website (March 13, 2013). "Evil Dead 2013 Movie Review". Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  28. ^ Simmonds, Emma (March 26, 2013). "Fede Alvarez's horror remake doesn't better the original, but is still satisfyingly gory". The List. Retrieved March 26, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ Singer, Matt (March 9, 2013). "Evil Dead Review". Screen Crush. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  30. ^ Roeper, Richard (April 03, 2013). "Evil Dead'". rogerebert.com. Retrieved April 05, 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  31. ^ "The 14th Annual Golden Trailer Award Nominees". Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  32. ^ Douglas, Edward (2013-03-09). "No Evil Dead 4…. Army of Darkness 2!". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  33. ^ "Evil Dead Remake: New Characters, New Story, & Bruce Campbell Cameo". Screenrant.com. 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  34. ^ "Sam Raimi's Next Project is Army of Darkness 2′' Not Evil Dead 4". Screenrant.com. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  35. ^ Fischer, Russ (March 30, 2013). "Bruce Campbell and 'Evil Dead' Director Fede Alvarez Would Love to Merge Original and Remake Storylines". slashfilm.com. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
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