Evil Dead (2013) vs. The Evil Dead (1981)

Fede Alvarez’s remake of Evil Dead is like a good cover song. It stays true enough to the original to be recognizable, but is a distinguishable piece of art.

Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic The Evil Dead is defined by its campy, gory wisdom, while Alvarez’s take is more serious and somehow gorier.

So what makes The Evil Dead a classic film in the first place?

Five college students spend spring break in a remote cabin. As the night wears on, they become possessed by a demonic force and kill one another. It’s a classic, stereotypical character scheme that operates flawlessly and constantly makes you wonder, “Is this a joke?”

At the same time, watching men have to kill their girlfriends makes you question what you would do in such an absurd situation. Each character’s death could be interpreted as one of the five stages of grief.  

Mix character development and a strong plot with kitschy gore, and it is enough to make viewers cringe and laugh at the same time. It is entertaining on enough levels to please the snobbiest critics and the most passive watchers. 

Alvarez’s version doesn’t touch as wide an audience, but it is more terrifying and attempts to fill in gaps that the original film left up for interpretation.

The beginning of the remake is set in an undisclosed time period. A man burns his possessed daughter alive to remove the same curse that returns to the cabin decades later. 

It sets up a sub-plot behind the witchcraft from the original film that is interesting, but not really necessary. It does play a role in the remake, but not a crucial one.

Mia (Jane Levy) is a drug addict who stops cold turkey at a retreat to an old log cabin with friends and family. This fact, which is one of the largest plot changes of the new film, extends the cabin dwellers’ capacity to reason with Mia as she becomes possessed. At this point the story begins following closer to the original.

The need to back up plot points with rational evidence is completely absent in Raimi’s classic, but different genres call for different lines of reasoning. 

There’s no doubt the new film seeks to be edgy and serious, but at times it is unintentionally cliché of early 2000s gore films such as Saw. A scene when one of the cabin-dwellers has to cut off her arm in order to prevent being possessed sticks out as an example, but it could just as easily be that Alvarez wants to continue the “the more gore, the better” tradition.

What is far different is the dark, gloomy filming style featured in the remake. The entire setting looks surreal and special effects are used heavily, especially during the more suspenseful, gory scenes.

Sometimes the setting almost feels like a video game, which is just unnecessary. Look at the original film -— it did great with a miniscule budget and a log cabin.

The raw cinematography of the original film is striking, giving it a feel of authenticity and wholeness. Though movies in the ‘80s were less filtered in general, it is part of what makes the original great, and I think the remake could have managed some more believable moments.

Much of this brings me to believe Alvarez’s film wasn’t intended for those who had seen the original. It isn’t to say a good portion of people who watched the remake hadn’t seen the original, but rather the film was advertised as “the scariest movie you’ll ever see,” not “a stunning take on a classic film.” 

It was advertised to the thrill-seeking market and it seems to have done well in the box office, but should fans of the original be pleased anyway? Yes.

The film stays true enough to the first film that Raimi’s original vision can be seen, but at the same time showcases quality filmmaking from a bourgeoning horror auteur.

While it isn’t campy like the original and at times is too transparent for its own good, Evil Dead is probably the best mainstream horror film to come out since The Ring (2002) which, incidentally, is a remake as well. 

If you want to view a laughable, gross, well-written film and you haven’t watched the original The Evil Dead, I urge you to – it’s available on Netflix. However, if you’ve seen the original, you also shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Evil Dead in theaters now.