I watched, for the first time, Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult classic horror movie, THE EVIL DEAD, on Netflix last month and I wasn’t impressed. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. It’s silly and unspectacular. Fans can clamor about it’s low-budget and doing more with less, but I’m not buying it. Crappy acting and directing is the same whether someone spends $350,000 or $250 million. Frankly, I’m not surprised. With the exception of SPIDER-MAN and SPIDER-MAN 2 (and maybe A SIMPLE PLAN), show me a Sam Raimi movie that’s solid gold. You can’t. There isn’t one. We’ll see what he crafts with OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL this March, but my expectations are extremely low. I just don’t think he’s that good.
What’s my point? 32 years later and a remake is coming to theaters on April 12, 2013, directed by Fede Alvarez, and based on the trailer it looks creepier, bloodier and definitely scarier than the comedy that is the 1981 version of THE EVIL DEAD. Sam Raimi serves as producer of this remake (as does Raimi muse, Bruce Campbell), so maybe this is the vision and version he would have made, could have made, if only he had $15 million and today’s special FX to lean on back in the early 1980s.
Do I want to see this? Not really. What about YOU? Are you a fan of the 1981 version? Check out the redband trailer below.