Evil Dead II (1987)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Sam Raimi

Writers:

Sam Raimi (written by)
Scott Spiegel (written by)

Release Date:

13 March 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Kiss Your Nerves Good-Bye!

Plot:

The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holds up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.

Plot Keywords:

Cabin | Evil Dead | Demon | Book | Book Of The Dead

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Bruce Campbell	...	Ashley 'Ash' J. Williams
Sarah Berry	...	Annie Knowby
Dan Hicks	...	Jake
Kassie DePaiva	...	Bobbie Joe (as Kassie Wesley)
Ted Raimi	...	Possessed Henrietta (as Theodore Raimi)
Denise Bixler	...	Linda
Richard Domeier	...	Ed Getley
John Peakes	...	Professor Raymond Knowby
Lou Hancock	...	Henrietta Knowby
Snowy Winters	...	Dancer (dance sequence)
Sid Abrams	...	Fake Shemp
Josh Becker	...	Fake Shemp
Scott Spiegel	...	Fake Shemp
Thomas Kidd	...	Fake Shemp
Mitch Cantor	...	Fake Shemp

Also Known As:

Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn

Runtime:

85 min | Sweden:70 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (2002) | West Germany:18 (video rating) (cut) | Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) (re-rating) | Argentina:16 | USA:R (edited UMD version) | Portugal:M/18 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) (Re-rated 2007) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Italy:VM18 (video rating) | UK:15 (2008) (re-rating) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2008) | Germany:16 (cut DVD version) | Sweden:18 (DVD rating) | Italy:T | Australia:R | Canada:R | Denmark:15 (DVD rating) | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:(Banned) | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 (cut) | UK:18 | USA:R (edited for re-rating) | USA:Unrated | USA:X (original rating) | Norway:18 (video) (2002) | Norway:(Banned) (original rating) (1986-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

De Laurentiis Studios, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Company:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)

Trivia:

In an attempt to attain an R rating for the film (the first Evil Dead was released unrated), fluid spit out by the Possessed Henrietta was variously black and green instead of blood red. An alternate take of the "blood flood" (when Ash is deluged by blood from a hole in the wall) used different colors as well (as shown in the special features on the DVD). Ultimately, the film was not given an R rating and was released unrated.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: The wires holding the flying eyeball and the wires that move the roots of the tree are visible.

Quotes:

Ash: You're goin' down. Chainsaw.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "ER: Forgive and Forget (#10.16)" (2004)

A rerun it may be but it is still an unsettling, funny and enjoyable rerun thanks again to Raimi and Campbell

Having lost his girlfriend to the undead, Ash is forced to face the possessed corpse of his former lover Linda and cut her up with a chainsaw to stop him becoming her victim. However the demons in the cabin are not that easy to stop and soon his hand has become possessed as well. While he battles to stop his hand killing him, a group of four young people are heading to the cabin in seek of shelter for the night, only to find themselves trapped in the same fight as Ash as barely managed to survive thus far.

Despite that fact that Sam Raimi is now a "proper" director making summer blockbusters like his life depended on it, it is still heartening to see that his frenzied style is still present in his work, albeit it not dealing with such extreme material as that which made his name famous decades ago. While Evil Dead II may be a complete repeat of Evil Dead in terms of the basic narrative and content, it is still worth seeing because of Raimi's skill as director and writer of the film. In the UK Evil Dead earned notoriety for being one of the "video nasties" that the BBFC took such objection to and, in doing so, probably greatly boosted its cult appeal here, and to rerun this film is not a major problem because it does have enough energy and good qualities going for it to be worth a watch if you're into your horror.

However horror fans may find it a little tame by modern standards although I still found it to be pretty scary and gory – certainly considering it was made almost 20 years ago with a budget that would barely buy you an A-listed movie star these days. The film is also pretty funny and is full of dark humour and comic moments that make it more entertaining than a gory b-movie has any right being. But here's the thing, the success of this film and indeed the whole trilogy, is mainly due to two people – Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. Raimi drives everything with his unique direction that places the action somewhere between a horror and a cartoon. It has great camera work, frantic shots and a real flair for the unreal; it is very hard to describe but it can be seen it many of his films.

Campbell's ongoing cult status has only been helped recently by Bubba Ho-tep but this is where it basically began and part II only sees his continue his good work as Ash becomes more of a hero than he was in the first film. He still has the cowardly quality that I loved in Ash but now has weapons and kiss-off lines to compliment his new status. As before his performance perfectly matches Raimi's direction and I can totally understand why the two have kept their close relationship decades later – they really seem to "get" each other here. Support from Berry, Hicks, DePaiva, Domeier and Bixler is just about passable for this type of b-movie stuff but really the cast is dominated by Campbell playing his best character to date.

Overall this is a gory, cheap horror movie that won't appeal to everybody but to those that get it, it will be a hugely enjoyable, gory film with a great sense of humour. Director Raimi and actor Campbell truly make the film work better than the material would suggest it should and, on the basis of any of the three films, it is no wonder that this is such a timeless cult horror.