Sam Raimi got a new toy and its name is the hand held cam.
To be fair, Raimi used this in Evil Dead 1 (and throughout his career, including in Spider-Man (2002), but in no place is this more evident than in Evil Dead II.
For all intents and purposes this is a do-over of The Evil Dead in that the narrative is effectively the same. (Man goes to isolated cabin in the woods with friends and/or lover; isolated cabin is hotspot for evil demons; protagonist and/or cohort become possessed; evil hijinks follow).
A striking element of this film from the outset is that Evil Dead II</b/> is artistically better than its predecessor. Shots are framed with panache and even Raimi’s camera-come-to-life has more flair than before.
The humour has also come to the fore. It was poking at the seams in The Evil Dead</b/> but Raimi’s playfulness is given full reign here. After all, why not? He’s proven he can craft a cult classic and has nothing more to prove in that genre, so why not give (horrror) comedy a spin?
What is the lesson? Do something well, and then do it better and differently and with more confidence next time. Nobody cares about clichés anyway.
1987, Sam Raimi
7.5
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