Netti Comments:
Man, they were having fun making this film. The whole enterprise was an elan. This was a sequel with much of the same team in place. Its obvious they enjoyed working together, because ‘Evil Dead II’ feels like the greatest hits reunion tour except everything is louder, faster, and funnier. Nothing like a reunion or a remount (in dating terms both are to be enjoyed). In terms of collaborative art, it can be like going home again (as is re-entering the womb). I would guess that this was the operating dynamic during the shoot. Lucky for us.
This will be a bit tangential, but I think Weiner's point that Movienight reviews in and of themselves are "...channeling Pauline Kael- badly" and that they are "...a pointless, masturbatory exercise" is correct. Ultimately, we are falling prey to the Siren's song of afterthought publishing (apologies to site manager). I've found it difficult to write a review for this film independent of a rambling personal reflection that will read more as a diary entry rather than a review. Reflection by definition is not perfunctory. I think of the Movienightonline site providing enjoyment to a few close friends and family members, and an occasional stranger. That puts it in a league with Equity waiver theater. However, since perfection is thorough completion; let's get Sisyphean and dig that New England work ethic. Let's turn a weekly invitation to a diversionary jaunt into an obligatory expository. The verbal elan makes it worth the doing, huh?
In my mind, for any dionysian artform there is no richer, fattier, tenderloin of murasawa beef than the careful juxtaposition of fear and humor. ‘Evil Dead II’ does an admirable job. Given (X) as a "film event" and (Y) as "humor" and -(Y) as "fear" you can see that a nice standard sine curve of enjoyment can be achieved with an increase in the multiple of (X). The multiple of (X) by the way is actually an increase in the period of the curve. A multiple of the (sin) will increase the amplitude. An increase in both will increase enjoyment. Incidentally, an increase in any intoxicant will also, most likely, amplify enjoyment (especially with this film).
Davis perfectly placed this pick in reference to the preceding ‘What's Up, Doc?’ and in reference to the advent of Halloween. The cartoonish performances in both films deserve to be placed side by side. In doing so, it posits an argument for the value of Movienight; that these two films have any place next to each other in any form and/or in any possible universe, I can say with metaphysical certitude it happened here first. The newly discovered connection of ‘What's Up, Doc?’ to ‘Evil Dead II’ justifies Movienight's existence like the one-in-ten x ten-billionth occurrence of element 118 justifies particle accelerators.
Nubs Comments:
‘Evil Dead II’ was a perfect mid-October pick for our chilly night in the Back Yard. ‘2’ is our first sequel and second horror movie in our second year. 2 is also my favorite #. You know it would have to be an easy one to write about in order to get me back from my review hiatus.
I love that our 2 horror movies are just as funny and weird as they are scary. It is really the best way to please this group of cynical, aging boys. Bruce Campbell is brilliant in a way I never appreciated when I had seen this before as an acting student at NYU. Netti and I both were correct when we pinned him as a cross between a Pat Towne and a Joe Fria, two actors I appreciate for their ability to overact to the point of hilarity. Back when Davis first showed me this film at NYU I looked at this performance as the pinnacle of a “B” actor’s career, and far below what I would have considered an achievement to hang my degree on. Now, I would kill for that role. Please let me kill for that role.
What I really appreciate in this horror movie is the same thing that I appreciated in another Movienight Horror selection, the infamous, unofficial ‘Hostel.’ Both movies can be respected for the amount of natural human fears and phobias they squeeze into their simple stories. Before watching ‘Hostel,’ Tooda and I spent a weekend with Tim Haskell, who runs a growingly popular NY Haunted House. He enlightened us with his fan’s top 10 fears. I was pleased to see, days later, that Eli Roth had taken considerable care in incorporating as many of these universal terrors as possible, i.e. torture, being lost in a strange land, harm to one’s eyeball, harm to a friend, being drugged, guns, chainsaws, and many more.
Two decades earlier, Raimi and Bruce Campbell similarly pulled out all the stops. First off, it’s perfectly set in a broken-down, haunted cabin in the middle of never-ending haunted woods. It begs the audience to choose between the lesser of their fears. The stereotypical loud black woman in the audience, played by Eric Coolbaugh, would yell “get yo ass out of that scary cabin, boy!” Yet, every time we go out scarier forces - and something Raimi and Campbell play on very well - the unknown, meet us. Other fears crammed in are loss of control over our body parts (hand) and having to saw them off, dead mothers, cellars, vegetables, white trash, Members Only jackets, tools (modern and ancient), and most importantly bad-movie making.
Yes, this is where ‘2’s true brilliance lies. This movie like no other capitalizes on that abstract, never identified, sub-conscious terror of really bad B-horror flicks. A lot of good scary movies are self reflective of their genre, ala ‘Scream’ or ‘Cabin Fever,’ but the ‘Evil Dead’ series is not commenting as much as walking, no, strutting down the dark path of bad-movie making we all fear. Bad jokes, bad plot, bad voice-over, bad acting for bad stock characters, bad love story, bad effects, bad trees and other inanimate objects attacking, bad jumps or flashbacks or dream sequences that make no sense - just bad. What’s even worse with this movie is there is absolutely no beginning or end. It’s quintessential bad storytelling. It only serves to get us from ‘Evil Dead’ to ‘Army of Darkness.’
Frightening!
SELECTOR Comments:
I am so pleased ‘Evil Dead II’ worked.
In so many ways, it is a terrible movie. The acting is horrible (save Bruce Campbell’s winning mania), the effects are unconvincing (save the groundbreaking Dead-Cam), and the story is ludicrous (save the brilliant moments of pitch perfect dialogue). Still, it is a hell of a ride, and I had a blast sharing it with the Crew.
There is an audacity to ‘Evil Dead II’ that proves irresistible. All of its faults and shortcomings, and there are many, only add to its ultimate charm.
The best thing about this movie is its unrelenting pace. From the moment the recap of ‘Evil Dead’ ends with Ash flying through the forest, Sam Raimi crafts a film that doesn’t let go. Despite the low budget sets and myriad continuity issues, the abandon with which the camera careens and the action unfolds mesmerizes.
Pace aside, the other element of this film that sets it apart from other films of its ilk is its singular tone. Equal parts hardcore horror and Marx Brothers screwball, the combination of the two aesthetics keep this film from ever jumping its tracks, and invites the audience to relax its critical eye and allow the story to wildly unfold. If there is another film in our cannon that demonstrates the potential success of this formal conflagration it is Nubs’ ‘Kung Fu Hustle.’ Like Stephen Chow’s wonderful film, Raimi has found a way to serve homage to two disparate forms while at the same time being entirely unique. This tone is what carries us through the bad effects and bad acting. We don’t need the film to be polished, because we are in on the joke. ‘Evil Dead 2’ is so much damn fun that its innumerable shortcomings don’t stand in its way.
I am happy Nubs suggested we use October to share films with a Halloween theme, and thrilled that the Crew seemed to enjoy the film as much as I had hoped. We have had a wonderful run of films in the Back Yard, and the old Movienight giddiness has returned as I find myself again longing each week for the next film we all share together.
See you all Wednesday.
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