7¾ Pies

Reviewed by Yankee

Plot Summary

Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.

Review

I have never been a big fan of movie remakes. For that matter, it is almost a stretch to call me a casual fan of them. This is not to say that I do not think remakes have their place in pop culture, only that we have been oversaturated with them for the past two decades. By now, I've rolled my eyes SO many times at the announcements of new remakes that I've managed to memorize the inside of my skull!

You need to have better reasons to remake a movie than just greed, current trends and "because you can". A good remake could have an update in effects, production, writing or commentary. A truly good remake doesn't copy the original nor does it completely deviate or bastardize it. A remake should respect the original but expand on it in some way. It should find a life of its own without losing its roots. And I can no longer accept “updated/re-imagined for today” when all they changed was when the story took place.

Given my strict criteria for what makes a good remake and my constant disappointment, I was understandably sceptical when I saw an ad banner for Evil Dead. Oh man, now they are going to ruin one of my all time favourite horror franchises too?!?! That was actually my first time hearing that it had been green lit. Yes, I do fall behind regularly.

But when I followed a link to the trailer, I have to say that I changed my mind pretty quick. It really did look good and dare I say, “scary”? This new information did not compute so I “hit the books” aka Google and learned that the three main gentlemen that made the original happen were the producers of this one and hand picked the director. NOW we are talking some sense here! With every new banner ad, TV commercial and trailer that followed, I became more intrigued; to the point where I made it my business to see it on opening weekend (where it reached #1, BTW).

I could go on and on about how satisfied and happy I was with this remake and wish that every one of you will see it, but I think that is better suited to fill our pie with today…

Quotes:

Mia: You don't understand. There was something in the woods... and I think it's in here with us... now.

David: Everything's gonna be fine!
Eric: Everything's gonna be fine? I don't know if you noticed this, but everything's been getting worse... every second.

Eric: I read a passage from that book. I released something from that book, something evil.

Mia: You're all going to die tonight!

Spook Factor: ½ Pie

To be honest, based on the trailers and TV commercials, I really thought this would have been scarier. This is not to say that it wasn't scary, just nothing like the original. Now, I tend to not scare as easily as the average movie goer, so I do have my special people that I can ask about these things and the consensus was that it was scary. So we'll keep to the middle road here.

Antagonist: ¾ Pie

This was a tough one to score. On the one hand, you have a force so evil and powerful that it threatens to consume the entire world if it reaches its full power. On the other hand, watching it in action, while definitely a force to contend with, I never felt the bleak overtones shared by the characters. In the original, I spent the entire movie wondering how much worse things could get for these kids. Here, I felt like things weren't as bad in general, just that the kids were too stupid to stand a chance. Still, just because the competition wasn't too harsh, doesn't mean that this evil did not have talent.

Story: 1 Pie

Here is one area where the remake surpasses the original! While the base story is the same, “five friends, two of which are siblings stay at a cabin in the woods and accidently unleash evil”, the details are fleshed out much better. There is a better connection to this cabin in the woods. There is an important reason for them to be there. We get enough background on how these people are connected to care but not so much that it interferes with the pace of the story. Even some of the smaller details that bothered me in the original, such as how the words awaken the evil, are dealt with better. Is it possible that Fede Alvarez read my review of the original?

Acting: ½ Pie

Overall, the cast here is vastly more talented than the original. Then again, this production had the means to choose and hire pro actors rather than pull together favors from friends. What this cast was missing, however, was someone with the raw charisma that Bruce Campbell brought to the first film.

Directing:1 Pie

For someone still cutting their teeth, I have to say that Fede Alvarez really brought it! While it's obvious that Sam Raimi had his mitts in a lot of it without taking the credit (ala Steven Spielberg), it's pretty clear where Fede's own style comes into play and it is damn impressive. Look for a lot of little winks and nods to the first two films sprinkled along the path left by Fede's own interpretation. I am hard pressed to find another remake where so much loyalty is shown to the original without being a copy of it.

Soundtrack: ½ Pie

As expected, the budget approved by a major movie studio allows for a vastly superior post production and hence, we have a movie score that is of superior quality and merit to the original film. It was good enough to enhance the feeling of each scene but not so much that it sticks in your head later.

Special Effects: 1 Pie

This is another area in which this version surpasses the original. Continuing the theme of being truly loyal to the original while still taking some of its own path, they used MOSTLY practical effects with some CGI sprinkled here and there, and hence a nod to even the technical fans.

Gore: 1 Pie

While there isn't less gore than the original, it isn't as in your face (or anyone else's). I wouldn't say the movie was gorier either but apparently the amount of fake blood used was astronomical. I heard someone quote a number of over 100,000 gallons! So yeah, it's a safe bet that there is plenty of gore to go around.

Replay, Rewatch, Rewind: 1 Pie

I feel that the most important goal that a remake needs to reach is entertainment. If you are going to retell a story, you have to make people happy that they bothered to pay attention to one that they already know, especially one that they know well. This was how Shakespeare made his bread and apparently the art is not lost centuries later. Everyone in the theatre had a great time and there were several moments of applause. I can easily see this one multiple times.

Pros

What you have here is a remake that ALMOST comes off as a distant sequel; a clever retelling of a cult classic that stays true to the (demonic) spirit of the original while still branching out into its own. It manages to be both a great remake AND a great horror film.

Cons

Although still smarter than their 1981 counter parts, the main characters are still painfully stupid. Even the bookworm of the group (someone the original group didn't have) was a moron.

Final Word

This movie was vastly entertaining, clever and satisfying. It had everything it needed for both the old fan and new. The good news is that Raimi and company plan to use this to springboard both a sequel to this movie AND the original trilogy. So we could be seeing the start of more greatness. Fans of the original should NOT leave until they reach the end of the credits for a cool little Easter egg. Seriously, go watch this!

Promise, you'll stay till the end.