Evil Dead was a movie that changed how I viewed movies. No longer was I bound by strict genre categories and high budget sensibilities. Evil Dead and its sequels proved that a horror movie can be funny, and a love story can be dramatic and filled with action all without a huge budget.
The trilogy is a pop culture phenom with a highly dedicated fanbase, and if you haven’t seen it, you’ve heard it quoted at some point in your life. When news dropped that it would be receiving a sequel/remake, fans were understandably concerned. Sure, we all wanted to see Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell return to the series that catapulted them to stardom (at least in my eyes), but only if done in the right way.
Recent news has not allayed those fears, as it turns out that not only will The Evil Dead be more along the lines of a remake then a sequel, but it will feature new characters that still doesn’t include Ash. This is considered rumor at this point, but one fact that isn’t rumor is that the film has found a distributor. CinemaBlend reports:
The latest update on the project is that the film is prepped to go global thanks to a distribution deal that partners Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and FilmDistrict with Ghost House Pictures. The worldwide deal excludes France and the U.K.
Deadline posted the release, which also states that Robert Tapert, Bruce Campbell, and Sam Raimi are on board to produce. Ghost House Pictures Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane will executive produce, with Nicole Brown and J.R. Young set to oversee the project for Ghost House.
There’s a few small blurbs from Rob Tapert and Diablo Cody at the link. But let’s get to the real point here. Is this going to be the movie most fans want to see? Will the differences turn away the old fans to bring in some new ones? What differences you ask?
First of all, its reported they will be filming in New Zealand, which Raimi and Co. are very familiar with having filmed both Xena and Hercules there. Differing from the first which was filmed at a legit cabin in Tennessee. And this movie won’t include Ash! That’s a bit of old news from Bruce Campbell himself that CinemaBlend also reported:
Campbell was once again responding (on Twitter) to fan queries when someone asked who will play Ash. Campbell’s answer? “No Ash character currently.” Expanding on the idea in his next tweet, the actor said that the next movie is not a sequel and that the “ED remake is a re-telling. All bets are off & all involved love the new approach.” Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Campbell are all attached as producers on the new project, and it was previously confirmed that the actor will play some sort of role in the new movie.
Thsi I don’t totally have a problem with, as there aren’t a lot of actors that I could convincingly see in the role of Ash. Bruce Campbell made that character, he bled for that character, he was tortured by Raimi daily to be that character. It would cheapen it to recast the role, but I was hoping for a look at an older Ash here to kick some Deadite ass.
Anyways, as I said they are planning to be more horror-driven, which is something the original tried to be as well. The plot seems to follow the general cabin in the woods theme, while hopefully retaining some of the original Evil Dead gold. Here’s a brief SPOIILER filled look at what MAY or MAY NOT be the plot of the movie from CinemaBlend:
As you’d expect, the set-up for this new Evil Dead has a group of friends, including siblings Mia and David, heading out to the infamous cabin in the woods. In this case, it’s to stage an intervention for Mia, who is deep into substance abuse after the death of her mother. As in the original, one of the group discovers the Book of the Dead, and then shit starts getting weird. Unfortunately, the strange phenomena first begin affecting Mia, so David and her friends dismiss her claims as the result of her going cold turkey, or of her trying to find an excuse to leave. That’s actually a rather clever premise, as it solves the age-old problem with any haunted-house story: why don’t they just leave? With this set-up, the characters will assume Mia’s making things up or hallucinating…until it’s too late.
A different, possibly more modern look at the franchise. Is that what I want? I don’t know. Redoing Evil Dead is like remaking Waterworld. It should never be done but I’m still going to watch it.
Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts on the Evil Dead remake. Or on Waterworld. Seriously, you don’t like that movie?
Grizzly Bomb 