Dilorenzo
09-06-2005, 09:53 PM
The Evil Dead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/)
Evil Dead II (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/)
Army of Darkness (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106308/)
The easiest way to review this trilogy is all together- plus, it saves me making three new topics.
These films are all lumped together at number 1 in my "Guilty Pleasure Top 5." And with good reason- every once in a while, I like nothing better than to sit down with a couple of beers and laugh at what are possible the best oddest horror movies ever made. Plus, it features The Chin, aka Bruce Cambell. He is the King, oh yes.
If you haven't seen these films, the only question I have to ask is "why?" Admittedly, the first one isn't great. It wasn't made with a lot of money, and it played more like a straight horror movie, with the odd comedy moment. It's low-fi trappings show occasionally, but are more than made up by the innovations Sam Raimi and the crew came up with. But, really, this film, while great, almost doesn't fit with the second two, and arguably better, films.
The first half of Evil Dead II seems almost like a remake, with less characters. In the commentary of the film, they actually say "Yes, Ash was stupid enough to come back here"- but this seems like an excuse to me. This time around, it's played more for laughs- with plenty of slapstick comedy. Ash fighting his own left hand, flying eyeballs, and some odd fights with creatures of the nights- all are just funny as hell. This film also gave us the Ash that most of us know and love. Groovy. Woodshed. Chainsaw. Ah, Mr. Cambell, you are a B-movie genius. The Deadites design is imaginitve, as in the first movie- and while theres something genuinely creepy about them, part of you wants to shake them by the hands... er... tentacles... er, appendages of some sort. There's very little here of "typical horror movie," quite a bit of "action hero extrodinare" and a lot of laughs- if you don't watch any of the others, make sure you see this one.
The final part of the Trilogy (for now, we can but hope), sees Ash catapulted back in time to the 1400s, caught in the middle of a battle he really doesn't want to be in. Again, he has to overcome his cowardly ways, and defeat the evil of the Deadites. This one is just pure action comedy slapstick. There really isn't anything more to add about this film, only to say that if you can, watch both endings- they each add a little something.
Surmise: The Guilty pleasure B-movies you won't mind admitting to liking, these films gave us Sam Raimi, Bruce Cambell, and a slew of wannabe films.
A very, very guilty 5/5
Evil Dead II (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/)
Army of Darkness (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106308/)
The easiest way to review this trilogy is all together- plus, it saves me making three new topics.
These films are all lumped together at number 1 in my "Guilty Pleasure Top 5." And with good reason- every once in a while, I like nothing better than to sit down with a couple of beers and laugh at what are possible the best oddest horror movies ever made. Plus, it features The Chin, aka Bruce Cambell. He is the King, oh yes.
If you haven't seen these films, the only question I have to ask is "why?" Admittedly, the first one isn't great. It wasn't made with a lot of money, and it played more like a straight horror movie, with the odd comedy moment. It's low-fi trappings show occasionally, but are more than made up by the innovations Sam Raimi and the crew came up with. But, really, this film, while great, almost doesn't fit with the second two, and arguably better, films.
The first half of Evil Dead II seems almost like a remake, with less characters. In the commentary of the film, they actually say "Yes, Ash was stupid enough to come back here"- but this seems like an excuse to me. This time around, it's played more for laughs- with plenty of slapstick comedy. Ash fighting his own left hand, flying eyeballs, and some odd fights with creatures of the nights- all are just funny as hell. This film also gave us the Ash that most of us know and love. Groovy. Woodshed. Chainsaw. Ah, Mr. Cambell, you are a B-movie genius. The Deadites design is imaginitve, as in the first movie- and while theres something genuinely creepy about them, part of you wants to shake them by the hands... er... tentacles... er, appendages of some sort. There's very little here of "typical horror movie," quite a bit of "action hero extrodinare" and a lot of laughs- if you don't watch any of the others, make sure you see this one.
The final part of the Trilogy (for now, we can but hope), sees Ash catapulted back in time to the 1400s, caught in the middle of a battle he really doesn't want to be in. Again, he has to overcome his cowardly ways, and defeat the evil of the Deadites. This one is just pure action comedy slapstick. There really isn't anything more to add about this film, only to say that if you can, watch both endings- they each add a little something.
Surmise: The Guilty pleasure B-movies you won't mind admitting to liking, these films gave us Sam Raimi, Bruce Cambell, and a slew of wannabe films.
A very, very guilty 5/5