Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn: Review By Bane. Ferguson

Evil Dead 2 was a step up from the past Evil Dead movie, with it mastery of puppetry, and raw stop-motion animation, with its wild script, its dark portrayal of the character of Ash (Bruce Campbell).

Sam Raimi, a horror "Icon" who has created some of the most brilliant movies to appear on screen, from the first Spiderman movie, to the one true horror movie that fit his vision and precision "Drag Me To Hell", started off here, with short low, low, and I mean low budget films with fellow friends from college to team up and create something "NEW".

From a young age Sam had always been intrigued by the prospect of making a movie, and fellow class mate Bruce and friend seemed to murmur to themselves, "Shall we make a movie"? After having already made a short called Within The Woods, which followed the same premise, and plot, and the effects, but cheaper, and unreleased. But with no money and no studio backing them, what were they to do? No money, but independence, sovereignty over the final cut, of how it was going to be set about, so they bucked up and set out to create, the weirdest, most anarchic, most "Iconic" series created under the name of horror. Evil Dead, i must say was too modern, too modern a story to be constructed and put on screen and to be "VIEWED" as Sam wanted the audience too, but sadly with the sloppy animation and odd looking scenery and puppetry, they enlightened it with open arms. So Sam translated the film from being a raw, dark horror gem, that Evil Dead was, but viewed in another light, so they got through that barrier, and turned the unmistaken oddity of it and enhanced it with: EVIL DEAD 2.

Ash, has a new girlfriend and why in the world he brought her there i have no idea, back up into the mountains secluded, alone, and what does he do? Yes the book of the dead is revised, and all hell breaks loose, he has to sever his girlfriends head off, has to rummage about till sunlight, he comes into contact with the daughter of the professor who had transcribed the Necronomica. Ash is crazed, possessed and taunted by a she-bitch, played by Ted Raimi (Sam's poor unfortunate brother to be taunted and made to work long hours in that dreadful suit. You can see the moisture and sweat seeping out of his suit in shots, but makes it even more effective). Soon Ash is confronted by the demon of having to lose his hand around the beginning of the movie, and to transform himself into a coward into a chainsaw-hand sawn-off barrel short gunslinger warrior. "Groovy".

ICONIC MOMENTS: the hand bursting free from the earth, this shot has transformed Hollywood, almost everywhere there's a reincarnation of it, "homage". Also the long sweeping shots through the forest chasing Ash, and some very very well orchestrated stunts with the camera following the car in motion, you can feel the speed, the intensity, also the eerily noisy sound effects that add to the motion.

Directing: Raimi has a counter balance of comedy, giving these dark demons a personality, as with the creature that repeats while being crushed under she's boot "I'll SHALLOW YOUR SOUL" and the sequence where the house comes alive and Ash is dancing in motion with a lamp, its balancing the psychological aspects well with the oddity in motion with horror, cause it is horrific, but not too forceful and puts the comedy in the right places, to put you in place. Such as a scene that makes a whole load of old balls it brushes it off with a funny line or scene to make the audience go "OH....it's okay to laugh at it that's the point".

Music: Bit of a downer, but to me all of the 1980s scores are, it's too electro, too vibrantly spiky, gets it out of synched with the tone of the film.

Acting: Over the top as per usual, Ash isn't a talkative character, he wasn't built really through the film you didn't get his game or what his thoughts are, just blank and completely dim, and blind sighted. The actresses and just for screams, but the voices of the creatures are a dark gruelling motion, out of place dark, cynical, sincerely scary but funny at the same time.

Overall it stand alone from the other films but is unique in its own way, shot differently, capturing the intensity, capturing the madness, the chaos of the story, and building it up throughout.