Evil Dead (2013 film)
Evil Dead | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster
|
|
Directed by | Fede Alvarez |
Produced by | |
Screenplay by |
|
Based on | The Evil Dead by Sam Raimi |
Starring | |
Music by | Roque Baños |
Cinematography | Aaron Morton |
Edited by | Bryan Shaw |
Production
company |
|
Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
92 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $17 million[2] |
Box office | $97.5 million[2] |
Evil Dead is a 2013 American supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez in his directorial debut, produced by Bruce Campbell, Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi, and co-written by Rodo Sayagues. Evil Dead was shot in New Zealand outside of Auckland, with filming lasting a month.[3] It is the fourth installment in the Evil Dead franchise. The film serves as a soft reboot of the original 1981 film and as a continuation to the original 80s/90s trilogy.
The film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest festival on March 8, 2013. On March 9, 2013, it was announced that the film will have a sequel, followed by a crossover with the original trilogy. Evil Dead was announced on July 15, 2013 to be adapted into a live experience as the first maze announced for Universal Studios Hollywood's and the second maze for Universal Orlando Resort's annual Halloween Horror Nights 2013 event. The film was loosely followed by a Starz exclusive television show, Ash vs Evil Dead.
Contents
Plot[edit]
In the woods, several men capture a frightened girl and tie her up in a cellar. It is then revealed that she is possessed, and her father immolates and shoots her in the head.
Some time later, David and his girlfriend Natalie arrive at a cabin in the woods, where the pair meet up with his younger sister Mia and his friends Eric and Olivia. The group plans to stay in the cabin while Mia overcomes her addiction to heroin. It is later revealed that David moved to a city years before, leaving Mia to care for their dying mother. The group discover the cellar, littered with rotting animal corpses, a shotgun, and a book called the Naturom Demonto.
Eric, having some knowledge of witchcraft, begins studying the book. Despite written warnings, he reads aloud an incantation and awakens a malevolent force that finds Mia standing outside alone. Mia begins seeing things, and she asks the group to leave. They refuse, believing that she is simply experiencing the effects of withdrawal. Mia steals the car keys and drives away from the cabin, but a mysterious girl causes her to crash in a swamp. Emerging from the mud of the swamp, the demonic girl chases Mia through the woods. Mia stumbles into a circular opening to a thorn bush and becomes entangled by vines. The girl, a demonic form of Mia, emits a black tar-like thorn vine from her mouth that slithers inside and possesses Mia. David and Olivia find Mia and take her back to the cabin. David finds his dog killed and dumped under the shed, and confronts Mia about it. In the bathroom, he sees her scalding herself in the shower. David tries to drive her to a hospital, but heavy rains flood the only road back.
That night, the possessed Mia comes into the living room with a shotgun and shoots David as a strong wind blows through the cabin, and Mia warns the others that they are all going to die tonight, after which she passes out. David instructs Olivia to get the gun away from Mia, but before she does Mia wakes up and overpowers her, and projectile vomits blood all over her face. Olivia manages to shove Mia off, sending her tumbling down into the cellar where she is locked in. Olivia goes to the bathroom to clean herself and to get a sedative for Mia, and is terrified when she sees her reflection in the mirror that of a demon. Olivia tries to rush back to the others, but becomes frozen and possessed in the process. Eric finds her cutting into her cheek with a mirror shard behind the shower curtain. Olivia attacks and wounds Eric, who grabs a broken piece of the toilet and bludgeons her to death. In the shed, David nurses Eric, who explains that, according to the Naturom Demonto, the Taker of Souls must claim five souls in order to unleash the Abomination. Meanwhile, Mia lures Natalie into the cellar, where she bites her hand and vomits blood into her mouth before David is able to save Natalie. While cleaning the bite wound, Natalie becomes convinced that her arm is infected and proceeds to amputate it. Eric explains to David that Mia must be "purified" either by live burial, bodily dismemberment, or burning. As they debate, the possessed Natalie attacks the pair. David shoots her other arm off, purifying but bleeding her to death.
David plans to burn down the cabin with Mia in it. He has a change of mind, however, and decides to bury her instead. He digs a grave, then enters the cellar to subdue Mia, who attempts to drown him. Eric intervenes and knocks Mia out, but not before being fatally stabbed. Before Eric dies, he helps David to sedate and bury Mia. David then unearths her and crudely defibrillates her, exorcising the demon and healing her. The siblings reconcile. As David enters the cabin to retrieve the car keys, the possessed Eric stabs him in the neck with barb wire cutters. David locks Mia outside and shoots a gasoline can, killing Eric and himself.
With five souls now claimed, the Abomination arises and blood rains from the sky. As Mia battles the Abomination, she is forced to tear her off own hand off after it is trapped under a car. She then halves the Abomination with a chainsaw. Its corpse sinks into the ground and the blood-rain stops. Mia escapes into the woods and wanders off into the distance. Unbeknownst to her, the Naturom Demonto is still intact.
In a post-credits scene, a silhouetted Ash Williams says "Groovy" and looks at the camera before it cuts to black.
Cast[edit]
- Jane Levy as Mia Allen
- Shiloh Fernandez as David Allen
- Lou Taylor Pucci as Eric
- Jessica Lucas as Olivia
- Elizabeth Blackmore as Natalie
- Jim McLarty as Harold
- Phoenix Connolly as Teenager
- Sian Davis as Old Woman
- Stephen Butterworth as Toothless Redneck
- Karl Willetts as Long Haired Redneck
- Randal Wilson as Taker of Souls/Abomination Mia
- Rupert Degas as the Demon (voice)
In addition, using audio from the original film, Bob Dorian plays Professor Raymond Knowby during the credits and Ellen Sandweiss plays a voice cameo as Cheryl Williams. Bruce Campbell plays Ash Williams in an uncredited post-credit cameo appearance.
The initial letters of the five main characters' names (David, Eric, Mia, Olivia, Natalie) form an acrostic spelling out DEMON.[4]
Production[edit]
Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues co-wrote the script, which was then doctored by Diablo Cody in an effort to Americanize the dialogue since English was not the writers' first language.[5] The film was produced by Raimi, Campbell, and Robert G. Tapert, who are the producers of the original trilogy.[citation needed]
Raimi and Campbell had planned a remake for many years, but in 2009, Campbell stated the proposed remake was "going nowhere" and had "fizzled" due to extremely negative fan reaction.[6] However, in April 2011, Bruce Campbell stated in an AskMeAnything interview on Reddit.com, "We are remaking Evil Dead. The script is awesome [...] The remake's gonna kick some ass — you have my word."[7] The film was officially announced that July.[5]
Actor Shiloh Fernandez was cast in the lead male role of David.[8] Initially Lily Collins was scheduled to play the lead female role of Mia, but dropped out in January 2012,.[9][10] with Jane Levy replacing her the next month.[11] Lou Taylor Pucci, Elizabeth Blackmore, and Jessica Lucas later joined the cast.[12][13]
In January 2013, Alvarez commented on the ambiguity of the film's relationship to the original:
Now, the way I personally like to see Evil Dead (2013), it's as a story that takes place 30 years after The Evil Dead ended. The car is there, the cabin is there (a family bought it and did some work on it more than 20 years ago) and the book has found its way back to the cabin... New kids will encounter it and suffer its wrath. Is Evil Dead a sequel then? Maybe. But the problem with the sequel theory would be that there are too many coincidences between the events on The Evil Dead and the ones on Evil Dead to have happened on a continuous story line [...] But if you believe the Naturom Demonto can force these things to happen... then it could be a sequel... and I do believe in coincidences.[14]
Alvarez, who also has a background in CGI, also confirmed in an interview that the film does not employ CGI (except for touch-ups): "We didn't do any CGI in the movie [...] Everything that you will see is real, which was really demanding. This was a very long shoot, 70 days of shooting at night. There's a reason people use CGI; it's cheaper and faster, I hate that. We researched a lot of magic tricks and illusion tricks."[15]
Sam Raimi's 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 can be seen in an opening scene with David and Mia as they arrive at the cabin. The 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 has appeared in almost all of the movies that Raimi has been involved with over his career.[citation needed]
Release[edit]
TriStar Pictures released the film theatrically on April 5, 2013 in the United States,[16] with Sony Pictures handling other markets. Fede Alvarez tweeted on January 28, 2013 that the film first received an NC-17 rating, which prompted cuts in order to obtain the contractually obligated R-rating.[17] The film has been rated uncut as an 18 by the BBFC for containing strong "bloody violence, gory horror and very strong language".[18] StudioCanal handled the release of Evil Dead in the United Kingdom.[18]
Evil Dead premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX on March 8, 2013.[citation needed] The music for Evil Dead, composed by Roque Baños, was released by La-La Land Records in a 40-minute digital form and a 70-minute physical release, on April 9, 2013.[19]
Home media[edit]
Evil Dead was released on DVD and Blu-ray, on July 16, 2013.[20] The Blu-ray exclusives include commentary from three of the cast, and screenwriters Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues, behind the scenes and a featurette, while the regular DVD will include three other featurettes.[21]
Extended cut[edit]
An extended version, that has yet to be released, featuring an alternative ending and various other deleted clips and dialogue, some of which were featured in the original trailer but subsequently removed from the theatrical version, was aired in the UK, on January 25, 2015.[citation needed]
No one has yet confirmed whether this was an intentional debut for the anticipated "extended cut", which fans of the film have asked about since the theatrical release, or whether StudioCanal UK had inadvertently supplied Channel 4 with the wrong copy of the film.[citation needed]
Alvarez has confirmed on Twitter, that the version aired was not the extended cut.[citation needed]
Channel 4 has subsequently confirmed that the wrong copy of the film was supplied to them and that they have sent it back. They added that they have no other information on the version which aired and since the "extended/incorrect" version has been returned to StudioCanal UK they would not be airing it again.[citation needed] However, the extended version still airs on Film4. And, was aired again on 13 February 2016. It was aired, yet again, on the night of 14 June 2016. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that airings of the rogue "extended bootleg" version will continue to take place in the future.[citation needed]
A Blu-Ray version of the Extended Cut of the film is scheduled for release "Halloween" 2016.[22]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
The film grossed $25.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing first at the box office.[23] It went on to gross $54.2 million domestically and $43.3 million internationally, for a worldwide take of $97.5 million, against its $17 million budget, making it a box office success.[citation needed]
Critical response[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 61% based on 178 reviews and an average rating of 6.1/10. The consensus states: "It may lack the absurd humor that underlined the original, but the new-look Evil Dead compensates with brutal terror, gory scares, and gleefully bloody violence."[24] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 57 out of 100 based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[25]
Evan Dickson from Bloody Disgusting reviewed the film at SXSW and went on to say, "Evil Dead is amazingly gory and fun" and gave the film 4/5 stars.[26] Chris Tilly of IGN gave Evil Dead 9/10 and called the movie a "terrifying, exhilarating and relentlessly entertaining new chapter in the Evil Dead story".[27] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review, calling it a "remake that will win the hearts of many of the original's fans."[28] Independent horror review site HorrorTalk gave the film four stars out of five saying it is "the most unrelenting and bloody horror film to come out of a major studio in a very long time".[29] Emma Simmonds of The List commented, "Evil Dead has ample cheap shocks and few bloodcurdling frights but it builds to something gorily bravura and, if that's your bag, you'll come away satisfied. It's a while before anyone picks up a chainsaw, but boy is it worth it when they do."[30] Matt Singer called the film "an assault on the senses" and "a success, one that out-Evil Deads the original movie with even more gore, puke, blood, and dismembered limbs. It may not be wildly inventive, but it is effective, and plenty faithful to the spirit — and tagline — of the first 'Ultimate Experience in Grueling Terror.'"[31]
Richard Roeper rated the film one star out of four, criticizing the film's unoriginality, the characters' lack of intelligence, and the film's reliance on gore for what he felt were cheap scares. He concluded his review by saying, "I love horror films that truly shock, scare and provoke. But after 30 years of this stuff, I'm bored to death and sick to death of movies that seem to have one goal: How can we gross out the audience by torturing nearly every major character in the movie?"[32]
Awards and nominations[edit]
Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Golden Trailer Awards[33] | Best Horror TV Spot | TriStar Pictures and mOcean for "Everything's Fine" | Nominated |
Fright Meter Award | Best Makeup | Evil Dead | Won | |
Best Special Effects | Evil Dead | Won | ||
Best Ensemble Cast | Cast of Evil Dead | Nominated | ||
Best Horror Movie | Evil Dead | Nominated | ||
Best Director | Fede Alvarez | Nominated | ||
Best Actress | Jane Levy | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actor | Lou Taylor Pucci | Nominated | ||
Best Score | Roque Baños | Nominated | ||
Best Editing | Bryan Shaw | Nominated | ||
Golden Schmoes Award | Best Horror Movie of the Year | Evil Dead | Runner-up | |
International Film Music Critics Award | Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film | Roque Baños | Won | |
Film Music Composition of the Year | Roque Baños for the composition track "Abominations Rising" | Won | ||
Film Score of the Year | Roque Baños | Nominated | ||
IGN Summer Movie Award | Best Horror Movie | Evil Dead | Nominated | |
Key Art Award | Best Audio/Visual Technique | Screen Gems & mOcean for the trailer "Filthy" | Nominated | |
2014 | Empire Award | Best Horror | Evil Dead | Nominated |
Fangoria Chainsaw Award | Best Makeup/Creature FX | Roger Murray Jane O'Kane |
Won | |
Best Wide-Release Film | Fede Alvarez | Runner-up | ||
Best Supporting Actor | Lou Taylor Pucci | Runner-up | ||
Worst Film | Evil Dead | 3rd place | ||
Saturn Award | Best Make-Up | Patrick Baxter Jane O'Kane Roger Murray |
Nominated |
Sequel[edit]
At the SXSW premiere event, Alvarez announced that a sequel is in the works.[34][35] In addition, Sam Raimi confirmed plans to write Evil Dead 4 with his brother; it was later specified that this film would be Army of Darkness 2.[36] At a WonderCon panel in March 2013, Campbell and Alvarez stated that their ultimate plan was for Alvarez's Evil Dead 2 and Raimi's Army of Darkness 2 to be followed by a seventh film which would merge the narratives of Ash and Mia.[37] On October 30, 2013, co-writer Sayagues confirmed to DeadHollywood that he and Alvarez will not return for the sequel.[38] That same month, Alvarez took to his Twitter that the rumor is not true.[39][40] The next step in the Evil Dead franchise is a continuation of the original trilogy story in the new TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead, which began airing in 2015 on Starz.
References[edit]
- ^ "EVIL DEAD (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
- ^ a b Evil Dead at Box Office Mojo
- ^ "Just how evil is the new Evil Dead?". The New Zealand Herald. April 19, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- ^ "Review: Zeitgeists & Demons: Fede Alvarez's 'Evil Dead'". 20 April 2013.
- ^ a b McIntyre, Gina (July 13, 2011). "'Evil Dead' remake: Diablo Cody polishing script for first-time director". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ [1] Archived September 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "ImBruce Campbell comments on I'm Bruce Campbell: AMA". Reddit. April 12, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ "Fernandez to haunt 'Evil Dead'". Variety. February 2, 2012.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Two Possible Lead Actresses for 'The Evil Dead'". Bloody Disgusting. January 4, 2012.
- ^ "'The Evil Dead' Remake Loses Lily Collins". IndieWire.com. January 24, 2012.
- ^ Fleming, Mike. "Jane Levy Is New Star Of 'Evil Dead' Remake". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (February 10, 2012). "Lou Pucci in talks for 'Evil Dead'". Variety. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ "'Melrose Place' Actress Joining 'Evil Dead' Remake". The Hollywood Reporter. March 7, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ Vespe, Eric "Quint" (January 7, 2013). "Quint visits the set of Evil Dead and holds the book of the dead, sees a ton of gore and even spots a classic cameo!". aintitcool.com. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- ^ Dickson, Evan (January 6, 2013). "No CGI At All In The New 'Evil Dead'?!!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- ^ Evil Dead Official Website, Sony Pictures (January 20, 2013). "'Evil Dead' Rating". MPAA. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
- ^ Fede Alvarez, Twitter (January 28, 2013). "'Evil Dead' Rating". Twitter. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
- ^ a b "EVIL DEAD | British Board of Film Classification". BBFC.CO.UK. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- ^ "'Soundtrack Details for Evil Dead Revealed, La-La Land to Distribute'". Bloody Disgusting. March 27, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ "Evil Dead Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
- ^ "'Evil Dead' To Bloody Up Blu-ray On July 16th!! -". bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
- ^ http://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3405863/fede-alvarezs-evil-dead-getting-blu-ray-directors-cut/
- ^ "'Weekend Box Office Numbers'". April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "Evil Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2013-04-05.
- ^ Evil Dead at Metacritic
- ^ "[BD Review] 'Evil Dead' Is A Thrillingly Gory Blast". BloodyDisgusting.
- ^ Chris Tilly 9 Mar 2013 (2013-03-09). "Evil Dead Review - IGN". Ca.ign.com. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- ^ "Evil Dead: SXSW Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 2013-03-09. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- ^ HorrorTalk.com, Website (March 13, 2013). "Evil Dead 2013 Movie Review". Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ Simmonds, Emma (March 26, 2013). "Fede Alvarez's horror remake doesn't better the original, but is still satisfyingly gory". The List. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
- ^ Singer,Matt (March 9, 2013). "Evil Dead Review". screencrush.com. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
- ^ Roeper, Richard (April 3, 2013). "Evil Dead'". rogerebert.com. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
- ^ "The 14th Annual Golden Trailer Award Nominees". Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ Douglas, Edward (2013-03-09). "No Evil Dead 4…. Army of Darkness 2!". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- ^ "Evil Dead Remake: New Characters, New Story, & Bruce Campbell Cameo". Screenrant.com. 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- ^ "Sam Raimi's Next Project is Army of Darkness 2′' Not Evil Dead 4". Screenrant.com. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
- ^ Fischer, Russ (March 30, 2013). "Bruce Campbell and 'Evil Dead' Director Fede Alvarez Would Love to Merge Original and Remake Storylines". slashfilm.com. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
- ^ "BREAKING: Evil Dead Writer Confirms He and Fede Alvarez Exited the Sequel. Describes 'Machina'". Desdehollywood.com. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
- ^ "Twitter / fedalvar: "@MikeMcCabeSad Apparently". Twitter.com. 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
- ^ "UPDATED: 'Evil Dead 2' Is Still On With Fede Alvarez". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
External links[edit]
![]() |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Evil Dead |
- 2013 films
- English-language films
- The Evil Dead (franchise) films
- 2013 horror films
- American film remakes
- American films
- American horror films
- Directorial debut films
- Demons in film
- FilmDistrict films
- Films directed by Fede Alvarez
- Films set in Massachusetts
- Films shot in Michigan
- Films shot in New Zealand
- Horror film remakes
- Reboot films
- Splatter films
- Supernatural horror films
- StudioCanal films
- TriStar Pictures films