For the record, I would like to state that I hate Evil Dead’s marketing campaign, boasting itself as the most horrifying film of all time and blah blah blah. Going into it, I was expecting to be scared. Naturally. I mean the trailer almost made me shit my pants. I was at the world premiere at SXSW, really excited to see the film and was… well essentially dumbstruck at how terrified I was throughout. Like this shit is ACTUALLY the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. This weekend I even had to go a second time just to make sure it wasn’t just me reacting to the gore. Guess what. It wasn’t. Not only was I still scared throughout the second viewing of the film, I had a panic attack in the last ten minutes. Many people have been complaining, saying that it is not as scary or as good as the original films, which is up for debate, but I like to look at the newest interpretation to be closer to what Raimi was going for with his unintentionally funny first film. This is his story with a budget and a modernized artistic vision, and in my opinion it is the best straight horror movie in ages.
Now let’s get things straight, I have a pretty strong stomach when it comes to horror films. I watched The Exorcist post-midnight with all the lights off and didn’t flinch. Same thing with the lesser known Martyrs. There’s something within the concept of the Evil Dead universe that comes across as universally horrifying. Not only does it play on our natural fears of isolationism, the universe as a whole has a history of playing with our nerves in terms of types of gore used. There is an emphasis on self mutilation, especially to smaller, more painful pieces of our bodies like hands, faces and ankles. The original films by Sam Raimi also had a penchant for combining gross out humor with actual horror (ex. all the vomiting and bleeding in Bruce Campbell’s mouth) and the new Evil Dead more than lives up to that aspect. The self-mutilation in this film is used in a very intelligent way that subscribes to the “what isn’t seen is often the scariest” theory. When the more intense gore is shown, it makes sure it has a purpose. There’s a lot of gimmicky gross-out things a la Saw, but they are shown in a manner that makes them actually horrifying instead of just nasty. It makes sure to show you what’s going on so that you know, but only show you just enough and just in time to build suspense WHILE freaking you the fuck out.
In addition to all of the “you can’t escape” business and psychological gore, there is one crucial element to horror films that is so rarely talked about. That aspect: the sound design. Sound is one of the most crucial elements in a horror movie. Think about it. Alien. Scream. Even the original Evil Dead. One of the most important pieces of the production that crews slave over endlessly is sound. Wes Craven spent MONTHS trying to get the phone to the right pitch for Scream so that it was presented at the most terrifying pitch possible. This labor is really apparent on the Evil Dead remake; Bruce Campbell himself was responsible for a lot of the work with it. And guess what? It’s absolutely horrifying. The moment when Jane Levy shoots the window and officially becomes possessed, uttering the words “You’re all going to die tonight”, is absolutely classic.
Now you know my actual pretentious film geek perspective on the matter, it’s time to decide if it’s actually the scariest film I’ve ever seen. Thinking about it, my knee-jerk reaction is to say no. There are many other horror movies that are technically better films than this one, but then that’s not really the question, is it? There were probably only about 15 minutes of this movie that I wasn’t petrified, and that was character exposition that makes you care about the fate of the people anyways, so I’ll forgive it. I have never been so constantly terrified in a movie without feeling bombarded and exhausted. The horror is done in a way that doesn’t insult the audience by just having the scary moments happen and leaving them there to die. It follows through with all of its horrific notions to gruesome effect, and lays terror upon terror into the framework of the film in a way that doesn’t let it topple over on itself. Also, SOMEONE CUTS THEIR FACE OFF WITH A PIECE OF GLASS!!!!!!!!!!! If that’s not one of the most horrific things EVER, then I don’t know what is.
SERIOUSLY
So in conclusion, Evil Dead may not be the best horror movie but it certainly is the scariest in my opinion. If you haven’t seen it (which means you’re terrible at being a movie geek), put on a diaper, run to the nearest theater and get ready to SHIT YOUR PANTS in terror. Then you can decide: scariest film ever… or just an overzealous marketing campaign.
You can read Jonathan’s review of the film here.
And check out Brent Moore’s opinion here.