Evil Dead Remake Is Not Your Father’s Evil Dead

by Tracy Ladd:

The Evil Dead series is one of those where if you haven’t seen it, chances are good that you’ll be chastised for your lack of knowledge about the films, feel left out when your group of friends begin quoting the films, and begin to feel ashamed for calling yourself a film buff. If I sound like I speak from experience, I am. Up until about two years ago, I was one of those people who had to hear “Oh my God…you haven’t seen The Evil Dead?!?!?!?” on more than one occasion. The only saving grace I had, was that I saw Army of Darkness in the theater, but didn’t like it at all.  In my defense, I had no idea it was the third in a series.  But I digress.  The point is that I finally watched, and wrote about, all three films and afterwards, had two thoughts:  What a great series and I can’t believe I had missed out for so long. Live and learn I suppose.

I decided that I should own up to my Evil Dead failures, and admit to the fact that I was super late to the party, by writing about my experience of watching these films through the eyes of a newbie. Once I was finished with the series, I was a little mad at myself for not having watched them in my younger years. An early twenty-something can get away with shouting out “THIS…..IS MY BOOMSTICK!” much easier than an almost forty-year old can. Well, it would still be easy for me to do that, but might not be as socially acceptable.  Not that I care, because I really don’t. Since you know, I tend to think of myself as still being a twenty something.  To hell with what my driver’s license says.

I wrote out my thoughts on each film and posted them for all three of my readers to see. One must keep a record of important events after all.  Also, I like to look at movies as something you can learn from. Films hold a plethora of lessons you can apply to your life if you know where to look, and I like to share with the masses. That’s exactly how I approached this series, and go figure, I actually learned quite a bit. If you haven’t read them yet, you can check them out here:

There have been rumblings of remaking The Evil Dead for a while.  This news had the fans of the original a little nervous, and rightly so.  Such beloved material surely couldn’t be re-purposed for a new audience right?  Luckily, even though Sam Raimi, the maestro of Evil Dead mayhem, didn’t write or direct this upcoming remake, he did put his stamp of approval on it by taking a role as a producer.

The remake, known simply as Evil Dead, was written by the man who would also serve as director, Fede Alvarez, as well as Diablo Cody.  It’s sure to have some snappy dialogue, and by the looks of the trailer…this is made for an entirely new generation.  Suffice it to say kids, this is not your father’s Evil Dead.

After watching the gruesome red band trailer, I’m both excited  and a bit apprehensive to see it when it finally hits screens on April 12th. Excited because it looks dark and dreary and scary and it looks like it takes itself much more seriously than its predecessor. Apprehensive because it looks SO dark and SO SO SO horrific and bloody. I hope it’s going to be fantastic. There isn’t a lot out there in the world of film that can make me squirm, but this trailer……this trailer actually had me looking away at one point.  The original film was gruesome in its own right…especially that whole scene with the tree. Yes, you know the one. It looks like this version stays true to the original and that scene remains, but it’s the quick shot at the end of the trailer that had me squirming in my seat. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sit through it on the big screen, but I’m sure as hell going to give it the old college try.

Check out the trailer below…if you dare.  It’s definitely not for the weak of stomach.

I’ve also included the red band teaser in case the full trailer asks you to log in.

DarkMedia contributor Tracy Ladd has been writing about film since her days on the her high school newspaper. Even though she took a decade or two off to explore other things, she’s back to doing what she loves. She also bakes, can knit a pretty nifty scarf and makes lightsaber sounds with her knitting needles. Or chopsticks. Especially with the lightsaber chopsticks.

You can find her on Facebook, on Twitter @ReelGoddess, and on her website The Reel Goddess.