Evil Dead (2013) Review

Evil Dead (2013)

The “Evil Dead” trilogy from “Spider-Man” director Sam Raimi is one of the more famous in the horror genre, not the least of which is because each installment is so different from the last. While the starter is a straightforward brutal horror movie, its sequels would play up comedy in increasing amounts until the concluder “Army of Darkness” contained very little traces of horror anymore. Now, as much as I love the first one, and it is still a great little B-movie, the crudeness of its appearance makes it riper for a reimagining than many other hallowed horror classics. With that in mind, the prospect of young blood coming in to rejuvenate the original in remake form had me excited, particularly because newcomer Fede Alvarez was determined to return to the horror elements that begin the trilogy.

After a prologue that establishes the grim mood, Alaverz and his co-writer Rodo Sayagues admirably avoid the cliché of kids going to a cabin in the woods to party. There is a real reason for this group to go there: their friend Mia is attempting to kick a drug habit cold turkey with the help of them and her estranged brother David. This provides a bit more of a backbone to the characters than I expected, and I appreciated that there was an attempt at creating actual characters we can care for.

From there, as is expected in an “Evil Dead” movie, they find the book of the dead, someone reads it, and then it all hits the fan. Or at least it should have. The largest problem here, and one that looms over the whole movie once the demons are unleashed, is that every time the movie feels like its gearing up to the next level by building momentum it stops dead in its tracks. There is a pervasive start-stop-start-stop feeling to the pacing that often kills the excitement and tension that previously looked like it was building, leaving only the dread-induced atmosphere to carry it along when the thrust lets up.

Taken as individual parts and scenes, the set pieces are fairly impressive on their own. If there is one thing that is unquestionably great about this remake, and boy is it incredible, is the gore factor. Raimi’s first two “Evil Dead” movies certainly let the blood flow liberally (to put it mildly), but they look restrained in comparison to the torrent of violence and gore on display here. Alvarez achieves all of this almost entirely through practical effects, and the hard work put into them pays off with their startling shock value and cringe inducing moments. Once the climax draws closer, it only gets more and more over-the-top until reaching a final kill that is spectacular in its gleeful abandon.

Alvarez’s heart is in the right place, and his intentions to diversify his iteration from the 1981 original (when he isn’t referencing or recreating specific bits) are mostly successful, although even he can’t escape many of the tired tropes of the genre. Some of the more effectively done jump scares are often overshadowed by hackneyed ones, and the movie has a couple look-away-look-back scares too many, as well as another predictable bit with a mirror. Also, and skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid a minor spoiler, the black character is once again the first to die. Come on, this is 2013, we should be over this by now.

Even with these issues, this remake of “Evil Dead” can be enjoyed if entered with the right mindset. There are certainly many callbacks to the originals, although this definitely feels more like Alvarez’s “Evil Dead” than Raimi’s “Evil Dead.” The gore and violence is very extreme, so the faint of heart (and stomach) will want to skip out. Additionally, the tone is one of dark horror, so don’t go in expecting the slapstick humor that was injected into “Evil Dead 2.” This is a hardcore effort in mainstream horror, where horror movies are usually toned down for mass audiences, that is often fairly entertaining even though it doesn’t all come together into an unrelenting stream of suspense.

2.5/4

Sinister (2012) Review

“Sinister”

Found footage horror movies are all the rage these days. “Paranormal Activity 4” just started its inevitably profitable run almost a week ago, and there have been several others released earlier in the year. One that slipped under the radar, which came out a few weeks back, was “Sinister,” although possibly that’s because it’s not your typical found footage movie. It has long sections of grainy home video playing out with creepy imagery, but that’s because the true main character is watching them, and the real story is about him and his family.

Ellison is a true crime writer who had his big break years ago with his first book, where he tracked down the real killer in a case and saved the innocent suspect being held accountable. However, in one of his follow-up books, he attempted a similar investigation, except in this case got the innocent man killed and the real killer set free. With his name disgraced and on the bad side of cops in local towns, he needs another hit bad in order to redeem himself. An opportunity comes up when an entire family is murdered and their daughter goes missing, so Ellison moves his family into their house and begins his research. Once he finds a box full of home videos with the murders on them though, weird things start happening around the house.

By blending elements of found footage, the supernatural, and even dashes of slasher movies sprinkled throughout, “Sinister” takes familiar facets of the genre and makes them work without feeling derivative. It even smartly sidesteps some of the frustrations that people have with horror genre (“Leave the house,” “Call the cops,” etc.) by providing rational explanations for why the family wouldn’t do these things. If anything, the family drama scenes are arguably the best ingredients in the plot. Too often, horror movies let the stock stereotypes define the characters and cost by on the throwaway banter between them, but “Sinister” manages to make you legitimately care about these people. The relationships between Ellison and his wife and kids are palpable, and the flawed characterization of Ellison makes him a much more interesting character to watch than most horror characters.

This strong characterizations and acting (courtesy of Ethan Hawke and Juliet Rylance) is important because they are able to sustain the film’s plot even when the horror parts don’t work as well as they could. Director Scott Derrickson, who also wrote the script with C. Robert Cargill (former film critic of Aint It Cool News and Spill.com), has created a whole mythology for the demon at the center of the film, Bughuul, a terrifying creation with his dark, angled eyes and pale visage. His appearances are very effective, lending an air of menace to the video footage, on top of the already chilling imagery of watching the original families being murdered. Derrickson understands the simple creepiness of little movements and sounds, establishing a strong sense of mood and atmosphere, as well as dolling out gruesome and disturbing blood moments without being gratuitous.

Where Derrickson stumbles is keeping the momentum and pace at the right pitch. The majority of the first two acts is Ellison watching the video footage; creepy enough on its own but less so in creating an air of danger to the main characters. To counteract this, jump scares are often applied to break up the tension, and some are well used while others are there just to give the audience a cheap jolt. At nearly two hours, the film could have used some editing trims and maybe even some script polish to compress events to create a more fluid plot momentum, as well as dialing back the cheaper scares that aren’t necessary.

Even with this overstretched buildup, by the time the final stretch rolls along, Derrickson and Cargill have concocted some clever tricks up their sleeve to make the experience worthwhile with a proper payoff. The climax isn’t a clichéd chase and fight for survival, but conceived as an event with more subtle and, yes, sinister intentions. I won’t be surprised if this ending polarizes audiences, as some will love it (as I do) while others will probably not jive well with it. For myself, even with the somewhat repetitive and slow beginning and middle (at least in terms of the horror), the outcome was worth it and because I cared about these characters, I remained invested in the story all throughout. For those that are perhaps tired of the “Paranormal Activity” franchise (of which I still haven’t seen the new one), “Sinister” is a worthwhile and very recommended horror alternative for Halloween time.

3/4

The Loved Ones (2012) Review

“The Loved Ones”

Horror is a tough genre to work within. It’s hard just to make a good horror movie, and it seems like it’s even harder to get the good ones released. With the exceptions of “The Woman in Black” (which I thought was decent, not great) and “The Cabin in the Woods” (fantastic) this year, we have seen the releases of such lackluster efforts as “Chernobyl Diaries,” “The Devil Inside” and “The Silent House.” As those lesser ones were being put into theaters, I kept hearing word that “The Loved Ones,” which had been getting great reviews, wasn’t getting a theatrical showing. Now that I’ve had the chance to catch the movie on DVD, it’s even more maddening that such an effective thriller was dumped while studios thought something like the awful, generic “The Apparition” was worthy of a thousand theater screens.

The main story is rather simple. Prom is very near, and students are getting excited for the event. Lola asks Brent, our protagonist, to the prom, but he is already going with his girlfriend Holly. Lola doesn’t take too kindly to this, and she and her father kidnap Brent so they can have a prom of their own at her house. Beyond that, there are more character developments that come into play later on, so it’s best just to go in knowing only the basic premise. There’s no final twist or game-changing revelations, but there is more going on under-the-surface that enriches the plot.

What sets “The Loved Ones” apart from the usual horror crop is its relative avoidance of the clichés of the genre. Apart from a dumb decision or two on the part of the main character, the film doesn’t rely on unlikable stereotypes, predictable beats, or overplayed jump scares to carry itself along. The best of the genre doesn’t merely show horrific acts or calculate it’s suspenseful moments; it gets under your skin, finding the sweet spots that unnerve rather than disgust. Brent, acted by Xavier Samuel, earns a lot of sympathy from the audience early on, meaning that the ordeals he goes through later are even more effective and hard to watch.

This isn’t to say that “The Loved Ones” is light on the red stuff. There are certainly choice moments that are pretty gross, but director Sean Byrne doesn’t dwell on them longer than they need to be. While looking at the trailer gives the suggestion of a “Saw”-like series of tortures (which isn’t entirely untrue,) Byrne understands that the scariest parts are the ones we don’t see. Unlike other horror directors that try this but often feel like they’re holding back, Byrne knows precisely what to obscure and when to cut away at the right times.

In addition to that, there are some creepy elements to the life of Lola (played by Robin McLeavy, who is frighteningly effective at switching between sweet and menacing) that are insinuated to the audience. John Brumpton’s weird performance as her father suggests there’s something “more” between them just from the subtle facial expressions he shows, as well as there being a bizarre character named Bright Eyes, who may or may not be Lola’s mom (the movie only hints at who she is, rather than plainly stating.)

I don’t typically review video releases, although “The Loved Ones” is too good to ignore in light of the fact that it was denied a theatrical release and wasn’t paid the attention it so rightly deserves. While “Cabin in the Woods” was a creative and totally unique shot-in-the-arm to the horror genre, it was more of a “fun” type of horror movie. “The Loved Ones” is the flip side of that, satisfying audiences who crave for “pure” frights and scares rather than meta-jokes and gimmicks.

3.5/4