Many thought that a remake of Sam Raimi's 1981 horror classic, "The Evil Dead" would never see the light of day. Fans who love the original franchise and Bruce Campbell in general spewed their venomous hate at the mere mention of a possible remake. With a little over two months to go before the remake finally sees the light of day, feedback received from the red band versions of the teaser and two trailers released so far have been surprisingly positive and overwhelmingly so. Marketed as a film that an audience isn't supposed to watch and promising to be "the most terrifying film you'll ever experience," it goes without saying that "Evil Dead" has a lot to live up to.
While answering fan questions on Twitter, director Fede Alvarez confirmed that the film received an NC-17 rating when it was first submitted to the MPAA and revealed that some footage was trimmed to obtain that R-rating and actually make it into theaters April 12th. Will an uncut version of the film ever see the light of day? Possibly on DVD and Blu-ray, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Most modern day horror films make the mistake of showing a bit too much to the audience anyway. Sometimes hinting at something horrific and leaving the rest to the imagination of the viewers is more terrifying than showing everything on-screen. So this R-rated cut may be a blessing in disguise. Cutting out some of the gore doesn't usually hurt a film that's already established a fairly glowing reputation from its promotional materials. As long as the director's vision is still intact and that bold, creative spin is still there audiences will be pleased. Horror fans, whether they're a Deadite or not, are almost unanimously drooling over this reboot's potential. It will hopefully just give everyone anticipating the film's release the extra incentive of bonus footage once the DVD release is announced.
So why does "Evil Dead" look so good? Speaking from a personal standpoint, "The Evil Dead" is the only worthwhile movie of the original franchise. Most fans prefer "Evil Dead II" since Ash becomes the character that everyone now loves in that film, but "Evil Dead II" and "Army of Darkness" are just a little too silly for this reviewer's tastes. Despite having a micro budget, "The Evil Dead" pulls off some ridiculously incredible gore effects and is more serious in tone than its two sequels. The "Evil Dead" reboot runs with that seriousness and expands on it. Judging by the trailers, the humor has been stripped away which could prove to be its biggest strength. Good horror is extremely difficult to come by anymore, so most are probably anticipating the fact that "Evil Dead" looks as good and as terrifying as it does.
"Evil Dead" will see theatrical release on April 12, 2013. It's directed by Fede Alvarez and stars Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Elizabeth Blackmore. Red Band versions of the teaser and the first official trailer can be seen here and here.
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