I Netflixed Ancient Evil 2 the other day, and after reading some of the posts here on IMDb I feel this movie deserves an honest review.
First; the story: Predictable. Formulaic. Pretty standard by all accounts. But then, the movie doesn't strive to be something groundbreaking. Maybe it does try too hard to be another Evil Dead. But since that's why I rented it, clearly the film makers know their audience.
We can all complain about the seemingly endless supply of low budget Raimi-esquire horror-comedy movies out there. But we watch them because we want to find a movie that we can enjoy just as much as we did Evil Dead with our friends back in high school.
You can't fault this movie for trying to be another Evil Dead, because a lot of people out there want exactly that, another Evil Dead. Ancient Evil 2 even comes pretty close. But where it misses the mark, it misses big time.
The Acting: I don't know if the cast was comprised of local high school students, members of the regional acting troupe, or just friends of the crew. Some of the characters distract with hammy performances and seem to stumble over lines, while others seem to truly be right for the role.
The hero of the film, Paul, does a great job. He's not as stilted or obnoxious as the two friends (whatever their names were). The actress who played Jen performed well also. There were a few moments where these two did seem a bit lost, but I think that may be more a matter of the dialogue, than their skills as actors.
For the most part the minor characters encountered in the woods during the last half of the film all did very well. None of their performances were Oscar worthy by any means, but each fit nicely into the movie. The hobo was a bit cartoon-ish, but it worked very well and he stands out as a memorable and quotable character. The two hunters were cliché, but their antics were what you wanted at that point in the story.
The stilted acting of the two young friends and the overacting of the Oncilla were so irritating that when they finally get what's coming to them you breathe a sigh of relief with "now I can start enjoying the movie". Perhaps Oncilla was supposed to be hamming it up, in a tongue and cheek sort of way, even so, it was just obnoxious.
The Dialogue: Like the acting, the dialogue has moments where it seems natural and pulls you in, and then instantly switches gears and pushes you away. I think the worst of the acting and the weaknesses in the dialogue complimented each other so as to make certain scenes look worse than they were. There definitely were some funny lines, lines that failed simply because the cast couldn't deliver them right. And there were some lines that, no matter how great an actor you were, no one could speak convincingly.
But all that aside, the one glaring problem with the dialogue was just that there was too much exposition, especially from Oncilla. I felt like every time she spoke, she had pages of dialogue to recite while everyone else just stood there listening awkwardly. All those lines over and over again, maybe that's why she overacted? She had to do something to keep herself entertained, because no one else was.
The Directing: Now, I liked this movie. I hope I haven't given an impression otherwise. I feel there is a great deal of potential in a film like this. The movie set out from beginning to end to be exactly what it was, and it did that well. You never found yourself scratching your head or whistling for the movie to come back to you, "Movie! Movie! Over here boy. Where are you going you silly little thing?" None of that.
For all the novice actors and the overly expository dialogue the movie flowed well. The film is about 90 minutes long and feels about right. When it ends you don't say "that went on way too long". The movie feels right for what it is.
Everyone involved did the best with what they had to work with (the sign of a good low budget horror movie). They all seemed to have had fun and that translates as a good time for the viewing audience.
The soundtrack was very good and fit the movie excellently.
The creature looked great.
I've always felt that a good director picks a mood that matches the story and carries that mood through to the end of the film. The mood fit and was maintained. And at the end, I had to acknowledge that I enjoyed the experience.
Over all this isn't a revolutionary film set to redefine a genre. Nor is it a Hollywood blockbuster that, face it, if you're reading this review you hate those movies as much as I do. This is just a fun schlocky horror-comedy that also happens to show great potential amongst the cast and director.
But why isn't it another Evil Dead? Well, I think the big difference is that Ancient Evil 2 may have been a little too ambitious. I always felt that Evil Dead played out as it did to minimize some of the weaknesses of the cast and crew that stemmed from perhaps their own inexperience. Here too much story, too much explanation, was crammed into a 90 minute monster in the woods film, and the cast seemed unable to fit it all together properly.
I recommend this film to anyone who likes mindless low budget horror films with a sense of humor. Just remember this movie is what it is, and what it is isn't perfect. And, provided you're not looking for perfection, it is fun.
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