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Evil Dead Remake is No Evil Dud

So, is the Evil Dead remake/reboot the most terrifying film you will ever experience,as some of the commercials and marketing materials are breathlessly touting? Hmmmm. Well, it all depends on what terrifies you. If demonic possession flicks get under your skin, then this could very well be in the league of The Exorcist for you. All of the Horned Ones usual movie tricks are on display here. Characters who become possessed get the freaky eyes, the ashen skin, the distorted voice. They develop a shrill cackle and inflict physical pain on those around them without conscience. Some audience members I saw it with were clearly wigged out. As for me personally - eh,sorry. This kind of thing stopped scaring me years ago. If you wanna scare me, show me a movie about a double-dip recession. Show me a flick in which one person gets sick on a plane traveling from remote Asia to - oh, I don't know - Baltimore and starts a pandemic. That's the kind of flick that disturbs me now! But the Devil himself coming down - or, uh, rather up - seizing my soul and ordering me to kill, kill, kill? Puh-leze. Ill be honest with you, folks. From what I've seen on screen, I think Id be a better man if I was possessed by a demon. Id be more confident, more assertive. Id have more fun at cocktail parties and family get-togethers. I could probably get a book deal. But I understand why the young unsin the new Evil Dead try and fight against the malevolence. These are some pretty evil, murderous spirits that come calling. This might not be one of the scariest movies ever made. But for those who gleefully pay to see blood and guts, this is certainly one of the goriest flicks to hit screens in years. On its own terms, its sensationally effective, basically structured as a three-act play whose Acts II and III are almost unrelentingly intense. Thankfully, in that first act, there is some decent character work done to give audience members a rooting interest. Jane Levy has a future as a Scream Queen if she wants it. She plays Mia, a cocaine addict whose slacker brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), and three childhood friends take her to a remote cabin in the woods to stage an intervention. When she becomes possessed by a demon that one of them unleashes from a book of evil they find in the cabins cellar, its believable when her companions simply think she is having withdrawal effects from the nose candy. By the time they realize her odd behavior is the result of something far more sinister, its toast for pretty much most of em. The absolute best thing I can report about this reboot of the 1981 cult classic is that it relies very much on old-school practical effects, makeup, prosthetics, even actual stuntwork in its horror and action sequences. Very little CGI. Give credit to original Evil Dead-heads Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, who as producers here have surely given the film its retro kick. But was I ever really scared? Nah. Not this guy. Part of the reason, of course, is that I would just never be in MIA and David's situation. I guarantee you, there is one headline you will never, ever read. And that is East County Times Film Reviewer Teddy Durgin Dies in a Remote Cabin the Woods. That's just not how I'm going to be taken out. Now, one day, you might read: East County Times Film Reviewer Teddy Durgin Dies While Choking on Room Service at the Hyatt. If that does come to pass, just know I've been one lucky devil for much of my life and that I was hopefully having a Hell of a good time when the Reaper came. Gorehounds will definitely have a good time with this flick! Evil Dead is rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, sexual situations and language.