Evil Dead II

Rating:
Summary: Funny as "HELL"
Review: A mixture of comedy and horror. The concept is scary and the scenes are hilarious. I own all three evil dead movies, but this one is my favorite. Directed by the same guy who directed Spiderman, Sam Raimi.

Rating:
Summary: Best in the series
Review: Okay...to clear it up. "Evil Dead 2" is a SEQUEL...not a remake. The first part of the film is a recap to get you up to speed on what happened in the first movie. The story is simplified (this time only Ash and Linda go to the cabin...no sister, no other friends) in order to fit the constraints of a quick recap without losing the audience. And it works just fine. I wonder why no one ever mentions that the exact same thing happens at the beginning of "Army of Darkness" when it recaps both of the previous movies. Also, it's odd that people think this is a different Linda. Sure, it's a different actress...but who cares? I mean, Bridget Fonda played the same part in "AoD"...so what? Oh well, no matter. What matters is that this is a sequel, even if it does have a slight case of amnesia when it comes to certain facts portrayed in the first movie.

Now, with that out of the way...time for the actual review. I'd say that this is the best entry in the series, without doubt. Hilarious, surreal, and very violent, it's exactly what a horror-comedy should be. My only problem with it is the green slime that spurts out of dismembered demons. I much preferred the sickeningly realistic blood in the first "Evil Dead" movie. I guess that this time around, Sam was looking to get an R-rating...so he figured that too much SLIME wouldn't get him an "X"...which, at the time, was still a rating...and one that an overenormity of blood could land a feature film. This was, after all, still in the days before the "NC-17" rating.

So, slime instead of blood...my only complaint. Though there is still a great deal of blood in this movie...particularly when Ash removes his right hand with a chainsaw. This is one of many incredible sights that you'll be treated to when watching "Evil Dead 2"...check it out. It's one of the few horror flicks out there that get the full 5-star rating from me. "Evil Dead 2" is indespensible, and a truly unique film. You'll never see anything else quite like it.

Rating:
Summary: Great comedy/horror!
Review: Ok, this movie is a little over the top, but... you've got to see it! The bonus with all the Evil Dead movies is the commentary! OMG they're so dang funny! They tell you how they did different parts of the movies. (commentary is only on dvd) I own all 3! And I cannot get enough! 1,000 Stars+!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Bruce Campbell the chainsaw wielding,shotgun toting hero.
Review: What can I say?This movie is truely amazing.My favorite horror movie of all time is right here.Evil Dead 2:Dead By Dawn. Whats not to like about this movie?It's got comedy,a little horror,and sweet action.Tons of decapitations with the chainsaw and tons of blasts to the head and gut with the shotgun. This movie is very unique and will be forever hailed as an awesome cult classic on my book.

Anyways,enough of me raving on how good this film is.Let me get to the point here in my review.Ash is back again leaving off where the 1st Evil Dead left off.A short re-cap of what happened in the first one sets off the beginning of the movie following sohrtly with Ash's 1st decapitation with the shovel only 10 min. into the movie.After that,its back to Ash alone in the cabin in the dark woods fighting off zombies and his possessed hand.

The movie is filled with one liners and comic parts.The part with Ash's possessed hand beating him senseless is so hilarious.I laughed and laughed.Then with Ash beating the fat old zombie lady in the cellar.That was also very funny.

I love seeing just an average day loser type of guy,turn into a hero but not a huge hero.A hero that isnt all to brave but nervous and frightened.If the movie was just with Ash alone in the cabin the whole movie,I'd love it still.But hey,they gotta throw in more meat for the zombies!

But,anyways,this movie is probably the best one in the Evil Dead trilogy.If you saw the first one and you didn't quite like it,then pick this one up.I guarantee you that you wont regret it.It's a wonderful horror/comedy/action film.Enjoy! :-)

Rating:
Summary: "I'll swallow 'yer soul!" "Swallow this." - *BLAM!*
Review: Alright, you needa know somethin' first off. 'Evil Dead 2' is a hit-or-miss affair an' thas' all there is to it; you're either gonna love it for it's humor and gore, or you're gonna hate it for it's humor and gore. My thinking is that anyone who is a REAL fan of movies, an' that recognizes that we watch movies first and foremost, for entertainment, will more than likely enjoy this. And I happen to be one'a the latter so I jus' enjoy the hell outta this flick, an' always have. 'Evil Dead 2' took the original to a whole 'nother level completely, an' solidified it as a cult series with a loyal legion of followers.

Okay, okay, so the amount of bloodshed an' the relentlessness of the violence has been toned down a bit, but thas' to make way for some over-the-top humor and to help truly shape Bruce Campbell's Ash character into the chainsaw-weilding, shotgun-blasting, ultra-cool, and ultra-CHEESY superhero that we all know an' love. With this sequel, the filmmakers pulled out all the stops. They took their shoestring budget, cut a few corners, pulled off a few miracles, an' created what is, in my opinion, one'a the best an' most influential movies of the '80s.

Picking up right where the first 'Evil Dead' left off (after a brief rehashing of how this mess began, with a few inaccurate details), this one gets going right away, as Ash, still holed up in the cabin deep in the woods, struggles to defend himself against an ever-growing legion of demonic spirits, while also trying to maintain a grip on his own sanity. He watches his decapitated girlfriend's corpse rise from her grave an' do a ballet dance, he has a conversation with his own reflection in the mirror ("We jus' cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw... does that sound FINE!?"), then winds up in a murderous brawl with his own hand. And if that isn't crazy enough, a group of outsiders are on their way to the cabin as all this is happening hoping to translate the lettering in the Book of the Dead. Too late, huh?

With an even more clever and fun script than the original, 'Evil Dead 2' will keep you hanging on every word, even when you 'bout to split your side laughing. Some real interesting revelations come to light regarding Ash an' why he's involved in this, but I don't wanna give it away for those who ain't seen it. I'll jus' say this; it's no coincidence that Ash has survived this long an' seems to be the lone warrior waging this battle against these bloodthirsty zombies an' demons. Outside of the story, director Sam Raimi's camerawork is a masterwork in itself, an' you can see how his stylistic approach was quickly developing an' becoming more an' more professional between the first two movies.

Anchor Bay gave the DVD special edition of this movie a terrific treatment, the best part of which is the audio commentary from Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, co-writer Scott Spiegel and special make-up effects artist Greg Nicotero. Now THESE guys know how to make a voice-over interesting an' know how to make you actually WANT to hear it all the way through, because instead'a boring you with mundane details, they entertain you with their camaraderie, their ridiculous on-the-set stories, an' their constant blame placing. These are not uptight stiffs, these are a bunch'a guys who grew up with working-class families, that were lucky enough to stumble into the world of motion pictures, because they have a real, pure an' unabashed LOVE for cinema. The featurette 'The Gore the Merrier' is also pretty interesting, if only for the home videos that were taken on the set during filming, an' the theatrical trailer is great. Even in advertising for the movie, they made it seem like it was a major '80s blockbuster. There's also a preview for the 'Evil Dead: Hail to the King' video game, as well as a few still galleries, taken from the filmmakers' private collection. For once, I can happily say that I wasn't at all disappointed by this DVD's extras.

Of the whole series, I think 'Evil Dead 2' is, by an' large, the best and most entertaining on a horror movie scale. In fact, y'know what? I think it's one'a the best sequels EVER made in the history of modern cinema. It stayed on the level of the original so's to satisfy fans' bloodlust, but it also added some outrageous humor to the mix, an' created one'a the most memorable icons in recent years with Ash. Well, anyways, don't stop now. Ya' better go 'head an' pick up 'Army of Darkness' so you can find out what happens to our hero Ash in his seemingly-never ending battle against demonic zombies, rising corpses, an', um, his severed right hand.

Rating:
Summary: The man.. the chin.. the legend! Campbell rocks!
Review: Being a teenager and into horror movies in the 80's was great. You had 'Dawn of the Dead/Day of the Dead' etc. from Romero, early 'Friday the 13th' movies and plenty of great older flicks like 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.

The beauty was that, in those days, the special effects were more like works of art.. tactile ones. Not always good ones.. and certainly not general admission - but they were great for their time. CGI wasn't readily available in those days.. so when you saw 10 gallons of blood - it WAS 10 gallons of real fluid.. not some souped-up Amiga 3000 Video Toaster shot.

Anyway - back then Raimi ruled the schlock horror genre with this one and Bruce was/is one of the best the B-Movie leads ever - great delivery of his cheesy Arnold-esque one liners.

Check it out if you like tounge-in-cheek and horror. It's not unintentionally funny like say 'Bloodfeast' or over-the-top stupid like say 'The Toxic Avenger' .. just a fun and well done horror film.

Rating:
Summary: All You Need to See and Hear for Evil Dead II
Review: The movie itself is great, a wonderful blend of the innovative special effects that made The Evil Dead such a great movie and comic stunts that show up again in Army of Darkness, making this film a bridge between two extremes.
The video and audio are as good as they'll ever be, I get such a kick out of the THX logo popping up after only seeing it on Star Wars VHS's. The extras seem slim at first, but after going through them, you realize they're all you need, and then some stuff you don't really care about, like the comercial for the computer game. But the rest is great. The commentary with Campbell, Raimi and crew was fantastic. The 'making of' featurette was really good, I'm so glad someone on set had a camcorder.
After going through this DVD you will gain a true understanding of how it was made, and how everyone felt in making it, which is a rare thing in DVD's, even with big budget films that release DVD's that have next to nothing on them.

Rating:
Summary: This movie takes the cake
Review: I felt the need to write this review because I Evil Dead II, for it's genre, is one of the top 10 greatest camp-horror movies ever made. This film never takes it-elf seriously... it is meant to be scary and funny, much like several of John Landis's pictures (I.E. American Werewolf in London). What I enjoyed about this picture, besides the creative camera work and the tremendous physical acting by Bruce Campbell (his "evil hand" scene blows Jim Carrey out of the water) is that Raimi chose to let Ash be the main character, rather than have it be some stupid guy in a hockey mask chop up dozens of kids having sex. You get to spend time with Ash and root for him.

Rating:
Summary: NOT a remake of Evil Dead!
Review: MAJOR SPOILERS, but clarifications:

The first 15 minutes of Evil Dead 2 are a quick recap (with slightly different details) of the events of Evil Dead 1. The original Evil Dead are the events of going to the cabin, all 5 teenagers included. It is a longer version of the 1st 15 mins of Evil Dead 2. After Ash gets chased out of the house (end of part 1 and end of 1st 15 mins of part 2) the sequal begins. Brand new material on the next day after the events of Evil Dead 1. The writing is brilliant. Great movies. :)

So if you wanted to watch the complete tale (like you would with the Star Wars Trilogy) watch Evil Dead 1. The end of Evil Dead 1 could be treated as an intermission for the viewer. Then put in Evil Dead 2 and fast-forward to where Ash runs out of the house (you'll notice it to be the exact same screen-shot as the end of part 1). Watch from that point on (right where ash gets tossed back through forest, hits tree, etc.). :)

Rating:
Summary: best movie ever.
Review: Best movie ever. Sam Raimi is a genious. So is Bruce Campbell.