In the late 1980’s, the Horror genre came under heavy fire
from detractors. Slasher and Splatter
films had become very popular with the teen demographic and seemed to be
skewing younger by the day. The home
video market had made such extreme fare more widely accessible to small
children than ever before. Buckling
under public pressure, the MPAA began cracking down on envelope pushing horror films. As is often the case with such crackdowns,
certain films were unfairly persecuted.
One in particular suffered the same fate at the hands of the MPAA as far
more grisly fare. This was despite the
fact that it was essentially a slapstick comedy.
As Evil Dead II: Dead
by Dawn begins, young lovers Ash (Bruce Campbell) and Linda (Denise Bixler)
crash an abandoned cabin deep in the woods.
Ash stumbles upon and plays a tape which is actually a recording of an archeologist
reciting demonic rites and incantations from Necronomicon Ex-Mortis (The Book
of the Dead). Ashes careless actions
have unleashed an evil supernatural force deep within the woods. What started out as a romantic weekend
getaway turns into a Hellish ordeal as Ash is forced to do battle with
malevolent spirits. He uses everything
at his disposal to fight them off, lest he end up one of their many victims.
Evil Dead II: Dead by
Dawn was the first sequel to Sam Raimi’s cult classic The Evil Dead. The original
was a relentlessly resourceful gorefest.
Raimi initially had no plans to revisit his funhouse of terror, hoping
to move on to greener cinematic pastures.
He reconsidered his stance after the resounding flop of his comedy Crimewave. He re-teamed with star Bruce Campbell and co-producer
Robert Tapert. This time out all had
considerably more filmmaking experience under their collective belts than they
did when making the original, and they
employed it to explore many of the same ideas.
At the heart of all the Evil
Dead films is Raimi’s wonderfully subversive take on heroism. Ash, the protagonist, is a parody of the
classic Hollywood hero archetype. Square
jawed Bruce Campbell looks like he stepped out of the marquee poster for a 1930’s
adventure film. His classic movie star
looks belie a hero who is hopelessly inept in almost every way. Ash is clueless, bungling, and corny beyond
belief. He’s essentially a straight man,
and the film is one long joke at his expense.
Anyone who’s seen any of the first three Spider-Man films can attest to Raimi’s penchant
for beating the ever loving shit out of his heroes. The Spider-Man
films use it both for comedy and as an extension of the Christ metaphor present
in almost all modern superhero films. Peter
Parker is often a figure of fun, but the audience is ultimately meant to root
for him. By comparison, Ash is always
the butt of the joke. All of the torture
he endures is meant to elicit laughter.
Adding to the “funhouse gone wrong” atmosphere of the film
is Sam Raimi’s visual sensibility. It
rests somewhere between the old EC horror comics and Chuck Jones. The camera in a Sam Raimi film is an active participant. It often takes on the perspective of the “Evil
Dead” itself, chasing after Ash and even mocking him. The visual FX are a smorgasbord of techniques
and mediums. Ghosts and demons are
rendered with stop motion, animatronics, scale models, and more. The film just keeps throwing them at the
viewer full speed like a pitching machine.
None of it looks “real,” but it superbly renders the cartoon world that
Ash inhabits.
None of the carnage in Evil
Dead II: Dead by Dawn was realistic or disturbing enough to warrant the
MPAA’s denial of an R-Rating. They were
folding under pressure from parents and media watchdogs. Even television newsmagazines got in on the
act. In 1987, ABC’s 20/20 even did an “expose” on how the home video explosion made such
films readily available to young kids.
It was called “VCR Horrors.” It
was essentially an alarmist piece of propaganda, showcasing a collection of
graphic images from a series of extreme horror films. It also featured interview segments from kids,
parents, and specialists. Evil Dead II features prominently in the
segment. The narrator/announcer even gives
a hilariously inept reading of the films plot.
The filmmakers tried in vain to edit the film down to something that would qualify for an R (The original had been released unrated). The scenes excised have been lost to the winds of time. They included a number of insane moments. There was a half headless Evil Ed reeking further havoc, ending with his complete dismemberment at the hands of Ash. Another showed Linda’s disembodied head spewing bile a la Possessed Regan in The Exorcist, and Bobby Jo’s body being ripped in half after being dragged through the forest by vines.
I doubt that any of those scenes played out as gruesomely as
they read on the page. Even without
them, Evil Dead II retained a good
portion of its bite. It’s one of the greatest
and goriest comedies ever made. It announced
the maturation of a unique (if quirky) cinematic voice. The original, while still great in its own
right, was just a test run. This was the
birth of Sam Raimi as we know him today.
This is the filmmaker that would eventually bring Spider-Man to glorious life on the big screen. He also created an original and inspired
superhero story with the criminally underrated Darkman. The world should
thank its lucky stars for guys like Sami Raimi and Bruce Campbell. They keep the rest of us on our collective
toes.
Great stuff, Scott! I remember my uncle having my grandparents make me watch that 20/20 special. There's a great scene where this womens group are watching Lenzi's MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY, possibly the one time in history that Lenzi's cannibal opus made prime time, lol.
ReplyDeleteI loved Evil Dead 2. I even have (nerd confession) a 25th anniversary Ash action figure!
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