Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn

Rating:
Summary: A Box Of Surprises
Review: I bought one of these a little time ago online, and I'm glad I did. If you find one of these babies, do not miss the opportunity to buy, because they're getting really rare to find.
It is a Limited Edition of 5000 copies only. It's a metal box, really cool to display in your collection... Opening the metal box, you find a 50-pages booklet, that explains everything about the Evil Dead II Makeup/FX... There is a mini-Evil Dead II UK Poster and a mini-ad of the second Evil Dead game (Hail To The King).
And, obviously, the DVD. The sound is great if you can support the 5.1 Surround Sound. You can choose between Widescreen and Full Screen. It can be captioned in English. The movie itself is a mix of horror and comedy. Ash comes back to the cabin and (again) ressurects a demon... It's rated R because of violence, lots of blood and gore, some language, but not much... Let's take a look at the DVD Extras:
- Audio Commentary: One of the greatest ever. Sam Raimi (director), Bruce Campbell (main actor, Ash), Scott Spiegel (Co-Writer) and Greg Nicotero (Make-Up Effect Artist) are together, so, lots of information. Be sure not to miss this commentary, funny and informative.
- The Gore The Merrier: It's the Evil Dead II Making-Of plus a little 2-minutes-or-so funny movie... It's mainly talking about the Makeup and FX...
- Hail to the King Game Preview: A little trailer, featuring scenes from the second Evil Dead game (the first was actually an unknown one for Commodore64)
There are also Still Galleries, Talent Bios, Theatrical Trailer, Scene Selection and cool animated menus...
If your DVD isn't adaptated for Region 1, don't worry, this one is Region O, worldwide.
Overall this Limited Edition Tin is totally recommended for Evil Dead Fans and also Horror Fans. If you find one of this babies, be sure to buy it, because it's a Limited Edition. I ain't selling mine, definetly!

Rating:
Summary: Evil Dead 2 (1987) d/w: Raimi, Sam
Review: Sam Raimi [Darkman (1990) / Quick and the Dead (1995); Gift (2001)] and co-writer Scott Spiegel's outrageous sequel / remake is splat-stick entertainment at its best. The Book of The Dead is reintroduced. Bound in human flesh, inked in human blood, the incantations contained therein again wield the power to awaken the demons of darkness. After a slightly different ten-minute recap of the first Evil Dead (1983) the movie picks up at the instant the first film ends. New characters are introduced and dealt with in the same manner as the original. Our hero Ash (Bruce Campbell) returns to fight off the zombie demons raised from the dead. Look out for flying eyeballs! We watch as he slowly goes insane with lamps and books giggling and talking to him. Ash's hand becomes possessed and he chops it off, replacing it A-Team style with a large chainsaw! Sam Raimi creates a special FX roller-coaster ride using prosthetics, reverse filming, stop-action animation, and hilarious sound elements. The Three Stooges (1934 - 1959) elements, cartoon references and blood and gore are a unique and original mix which later evolve into a new and more polished black comedy with Army of Darkness (1993) [aka: Evil Dead 3]. Wes Craven fans should look for Freddy [Nightmare on Elm Street (1985)] Krueger's clawed glove nailed up on the basement wall. Extras include the audio commentary from the Elite laserdisc, a short documentary about the FX team entitled 'The Gore the Merrier', and a video game preview. Comes in a tin with a color booklet with lots of photos

Rating:
Summary: Easily one of my favorite movies
Review: While the first Evil Dead was good, it lacked something, and Army of Darkness (sometimes referred to as Evil Dead III) had the most money, Evil Dead II is a comfortable medium. It has the best black humor of the series and is just cheap enough to work as a lovable "Hey guys let's see what we can do with what we have" movie. This film will always have a special place in my heart. I saw it with my best friend at the time way back in '87 at the theater. We both loved it. Shortly after that, he ran away from home and I never saw him again.

For those who love some humor with their horror, this is a perfect film. Bruce Campbell is loved by his fans, and he appreciates what he is. A B-movie actor who loves what he does. Who couldn't like a guy like that. His timing is perfect and as Ash he's a character many can relate too. I mean c'mon who else in Hollywood can play a guy with a possessed hand and beat the crap out of himself.

This DVD has an outstanding behind the scenes making that is as entertaining as the film itself. It looks like so much fun, the average Joe would want to pick up his camera and make a movie with his buddies.

Though the extras show the tribute to Freddy Krueger in the shed, (right above and center to the door on the inside), his glove appears in one other scene. When Ash is in the celler to get the pages, there's one shot of the door he has to open and go through. On the left Freddy's glove hangs again.

ALso no one mentioned it, but when Demon Ash throws the professor's daughter against the wall and is about to kill her, he turns back into normal Ash atthe sight of his dead girlfriend's necklace. Check out the chain before he picks it up. Someone placed it in the shape of a skull.

For a frightening good time with the guys, or on the couch with that special girl, you can't go wrong with Evil Dead II. As Ash would say 'Groovy'.

Rating:
Summary: A great sequel to an O.K. film
Review: Finally, someone made a sequel that was better than the first movie! People always make the case that this is simply 'Evil Dead' redone on a better budget; but while the plots are consistent in some instances, 'Evil Dead' was never as good a film as either of the sequels it spawned. Indeed, this is a sequel to the first film with notable differences. Saying 'Evil Dead 2' is a remake is akin to saying 'Evil Dead' is a remake of 'Night of the Living Dead'.
The plot is familiar; several people caught in a secluded house surrounded by the undead. What does make this film different from other such films with similar plot and budget is the humorous slapstick fashion intermixed with some truly surprising and uncomfortable moments. The special effects in both movies set them apart from peers. 'Evil Dead', on the other hand, added no notably new elements to the horror genre. 'Evil Dead 2' does indeed add more to the genre, and should be in any horror collection that includes films made after 'Exorcist'. If this isn't in your collection; you don't have a collection.

Rating:
Summary: Dead By Dawn!
Review: Warning: some spoilers.

The first Evil Dead movie was awesome but this sequel blows it away. While it isn't really a sequel (it's more like a remake), it's still great and given the choice I'd much rather watch Evil Dead 2 than Evil Dead 1. It's very fast-paced and is much more enjoyable and more fun than ED 1, perfectly mixes Horror and Comedy, and Bruce Campbell is the best! For the story of Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, it's a little tough to explain because ED 2 virtually has no plot, but I'll sum it up like this: Ash along with his girlfriend Linda take a vacation at some cabin where Ash discovers a tape recorder and a weird book called the Necronomicon (a book made of Human flesh and inked in Human blood that contains spells on how to resurrect Demons and the like). He plays the tape which summons Monsters and Demons from the forest that wreak havoc and try to either possess or kill Ash. The story is basically just a rehash of the first film (I've heard that director Sam Raimi had some trouble directly following the first film because of the new distributor, so he decided to remake the first. I'll let the story problem pass because of Sam's troubles), but ED 2 is still awesome! Bruce steals the show as Ash and he just rocks here! I loved the scene where he smashed a lot of plates against his Head, sawed off his possessed Hand, got showered with lots of differently-colored blood, and when he got his Chainsaw arm! How can you not love the scene where he saws off the Deadite's Head and blows it's Head off with his Boomstick Shotgun? His lines are also very funny and memorable and their so cool (Swallow This! Groovy! Let's Go Carve Ourselves A Witch!). I liked the other characters as well. I really liked Deadite Ash and Evil Ed and the whole Henrietta storyline was great and fit in very well. The special F/X were awesome and the gore was GREAT! The finale is very exciting and way tense and the Monster (supposedly that thing that we see from it's POV in the first ED movie and early on in Part 2) is finally revealed and is way cool and is definitely worth the wait. Sam Raimi's direction is very top-notch and the camera angles are very good and the film's Atmosphere is strong and the feel fast and furious. There are a ton of fun and memorable scenes and the whole movie just kicks butt from start to finish. WAY better than the first (which is still cool) and definitely better than Army Of Darkness. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn is truly one of the best Horror Films ever made, and simply put, it's a must-see experience. The Special Edition DVD is excellent and simply makes the movie all the more fun. Nice extras include a really funny and enjoyable commentary by Sam Raimi as well as Bruce Campbell and the Co-Writer and one of the special F/X guys, a fantastic behind-the-scenes featurette which shows how a lot of the special effects were done and some funny outtakes and bloopers. You also get a very nice still gallery which has a ton of still photographs that are very clear and have great quality, and there are plenty more extras. And yes, the transfer is great. Evil Dead 2 has never looked and sounded better and it will probably never be better than it is here. Unfortunately I couldn't get the Limited Edition DVD like I wanted, but both DVDs seem to be the same (at least, judging from technical aspects I've read).

What are you waiting for? Buy the Special or Limited Edition DVD of this film and enjoy it and it's extras!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Format.
Review: Not quite as genuinely scary and bizzare as Evil Dead I, but more polished and humorous.

I was surprized by the picture format in this DVD. Like with Evil Dead I the movie doesn't seem to have been shot in widescreen. You can select widescreen or fullscreen when viewing it, and are made to believe that the widescreen version has more picture at the sides and that the fullscreen version has been matted at the sides to fit a regular TV screen; but when viewing the movie it is actually the other way around!!!! The widescreen version has nothing added to the sides, and has been matted to the top and bottom to look like a theater film. So don't be fooled by this lame sales-trick! You get more picture when watching the fullscreen version!! (Both versions have the same excellent sharp picture quality.)

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't ask for a better horror / comedy.
Review: Lately I've been craving to find a truly good horror film, and with Evil Dead II, I've finally found it. If you're a comedy fan and even a casual fan of horror, you simply need to watch Evil Dead II. It's such a perfect mix of comedy and horror that you just can't go wrong. I haven't jumped so many times at a horror film in ages, and I've never laughed so hard at the same movie.

On the horror side of things, this movie is truly a horror film. I jumped and squirmed so many times I lost count. From start to finish it's filled with gore and disturbing creatures of all sorts. The effects may be cheesy by now, but it really doesn't matter. You'll take a sick pleasure in watching poor Ash scream in borderline insanity. Yet, it thankfully never crosses the line from dark fun all out sick. It's gruesome gore filled fun, but it stays on the right side of the fine line between fun and sick.

On the comedy side of things, Bruce Campbell has become a cult action comedy hero from this movie. You'll laugh so hard at his utter breakdowns of emotion you'll wonder what side your rooting as good and bad blur into smear of insanity. The laughing room scene cracked me up and freaked me out all at the same time, and Bruce never misses a beat of the hair trigger fun.

- Rirath_com

Rating:
Summary: The best sequel!
Review: First off, I would like to say that this movie IS a sequel, and NOT a remake (Bruce Campbell mentioned this in his web site)! The reason why the beginning of this film was kind of similar to what happened in Part 1, was that they wanted to do a re-cap of what happened in the first film.

Anyway, this movie continues where the first one left off, where we see Ash alone at the cabin with the Evil presence. Later, a woman (accompanied by three other people) arrives, looking for her parents to get some help translating more pages she found which belongs to the book of the dead.

Unlike the first one which was pure horror, this one is horror with a comedic touch. The special effects are excellent (due to the bigger budget)... The zombies now look more terrifying than ever! A lot of fans (especially die-hard horror fans) might disagree with me, but I find this to be the best out of all the Evil Dead trilogy. I strongly recommend this film.

Rating:
Summary: Cool
Review: Well, we've got a comedy here my friends. Lotsa people like to throw around the term horror-comedy when describing this, but I don't think that's quite appropriate. While it uses a horror setting, it virtually never seems to be trying to work on a horror movie level, so I'm not really comfortable using the term horror in the description. On the other hand, calling it a spoof or parody doesn't really decribe it either, as too much of the humor seems to be unrelated to the horror setting. But, all that aside this is a pretty funny movie, and a rather 'cool' movie as well, for lack of a better term.

Unlike everyone else in the world, this is not my favorite of the series. In fact, it's my least favorite. However, it still stands up quite well, and is definitely worth your time. Despite the fact that it shares the setting of the original, this one has far more in common with Army of Darkness then the original, as it focuses on fast-moving and ridiculous comedic setups. It's largely a means for Campbell to do physical comedy and ham it up amusingly, and showcase lots of intentionally dated, but still cool special effects. Sadly, Ash isn't quite as amusing as he'd become in the next film. He's not nearly as angry/surly as he'd become, which I always thought was more important to humor of the film than the physical comedy. But he's still pretty damn amusing. Raimi's visual flair is as good here as ever. The 'force' shots are much improved from the already superb ones in the original. The famed scene of it endlessly chasing Ash around the cabin is especially noteworthy. He also does some nice stuff with the sky as well, particuarly a great shot of Ash in front of a ridiculously enormous sun.

The film starts off with a simplified recap of the first film, concluding with Ash's burial of Linda and his being assaulted by 'the force'. The briefly possessed Ash is exorcised by the rising sun, but the bridge is still out, and there is no other apparent means of escape, so he is forced to wait it out in the cabin. The first half of the movie, before the other characters arrive, is the better part. Most of the stuff involving Linda is quite amusing, particularly her stop-motion animated dancing out in the moonlight. The best part, however, has to be the scene where Linda's decapitated head attacks Ash. It's simple, mindless physical comedy, but his frantically running around trying to smash it off is just great. Probably the best scene in the film. I'm also especially found of how the head just spontaneously falls on him from above, without any explanation of how it could've gotten in the cabin, or up above his head, for that matter. The stuff with his evil and later severed hand is quite amusing too. The fact that it is inexplicably talking all the time is the real kicker to the whole set-up. The laughing house scene is quite cool as well, particuarly the disturbing deer head. It's not really funny or scary or exciting, but it's very, very weird, and works quite well.

The arrival of the other characters hurts the film a bit, partially because I find some of them to be rather annoying.(Most notably Jake, and, to a lesser extent, his girlfried, Bobbie Joe.) Of course, I think he's meant to be a bit irritating, but that doesn't really make him much more enjoyable to watch. Fortunately, he's largely redeemed by an extremely amusing death scene.

Despite not being quite as consistent or energetic as the first half, the second half still delivers. The fight with Evil Ed is a nice sendup of Shelley's death from the first film, and the final confrontation with Henrietta is delightful.(Film makers really need to use stop-motion animation more often these days) The fight with the rotten apple head isn't quite as good of a climax as I'd have liked, but it's still pretty decent, and does a good job of raising the stakes in terms of sheer ridiculousness.(particularly when Ash plunges his chainsaw into the creatures eye, and it sprays out hideous blue blood)

A few closing notes. First of all, as others have mentioned, although the DVD comes with both widescreen and fullscreen, the widescreen version just appears to have the top and bottom matted. (i.e. you see less in the widescreen version, not more) Since the Anchor Bay release comes with both it's not much of a concern, but it's good to know. Secondly, this movie has a reputation for being very gory, which is not exactly deserved. It's just too ridiculous to even be desribed as being gory in the conventional sense, as it generally uses ultra fake blood that isn't even red,(with either incredibly thick or incredibly water texture) and silly, incredibly plastery limbs.(That, and there just isn't all that much gore in it anyway) To say this is very gory is like saying that old Warner Brothers cartoons are very violent. You're technically correct, but you probably give completely the wrong impression to someone who's never seen the piece your talking about.

Anyways, this is good. Check it out.

Rating:
Summary: This Movie rules!
Review: ED2 has got to be one of the baddest, coolest Horror flick ever!
Bruce Cambell kicks ass in this movie!

The DVD is good too. But the movie was what you're looking for.
Im not gonna explain the story but I will say this is a very UNDERRATED FLICK! The story is original and the acters are pretty good.

It's much more funny than scary.

But a word of warning: This film is brutaly violent. Just watch when Ash has to sacrafice his arm and you'll know what I mean.

This is an over all Awesome flick to watch at home with the lights off. I personaly enjoyed this better than the first. This is also one of my favorite horror flicks.

GET IT!!

Later.....