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

[Doc Daneeka]

The new makeup doesn't look awful, but the trailer makes me think that the remake is tossing all subtlety and creeping isolation out the window in favor of more obvious, polished shocks. I give them props for keeping the unsettling, self-mutilating demons instead of just having them scream and attack like animals, but why is the conflict so telegraphed in the trailer, and where is the physical intensity?

Yeah, the trailer looks "decent," but the original film was so much more. I don't like settling for less.

[Robocop]

Now that the remake has been released theatrically, does anyone want to retract there comments or change votes?

[RCMerchant]

I saw the hat made the original work was the humor.
The new one doesn't have any. The original the EVIL DEAD,besides billing itself as "the ultimate in grueling horror",was nowhere as shocking as THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) or even JAWS. But it was gawd dam FUN! The remake is NOT fun-it's a modernized remake of a classic.

[Bushma]

I enjoyed the remake mainly because it was a bit of a gorgy, but it was missing a lot of the comedy I remember from the original.  I recommend watching it, but don't try to compare it to the original.

[indianasmith]

I finally saw this last night, and it is a brutal, violent, gory, disturbing film.  Well done and genuinely creepy, but the black humor that made the original such a classic is nowhere to be found. I won't say I didn't enjoy it - I did, to a degree - but it is a much darker film than the 1981 classic.

[moregore]

I finally saw this last night, and it is a brutal, violent, gory, disturbing film.  Well done and genuinely creepy, but the black humor that made the original such a classic is nowhere to be found. I won't say I didn't enjoy it - I did, to a degree - but it is a much darker film than the 1981 classic.

I agree its kinda Apples and Oranges original film was kinda comedic but the reboot is dark, gory and serious I like them both

[VenomX73]

Not the "same" film Imo...

I like both about the same, the 1981 ver is dark-comedy as with this remake is VERY dark - NO comedy.

Just my opinion. 

[RCMerchant]

I sat inna theater with young kids who had NO idea about the first one...and  I ruined it for them by b***hing about how it was so lame compared to the first. Ah well. f**k EM! The first WAS better,and if punks think different-f**k 'em!
I know that sounds narrow minded-I dont care. The film makers missed the whole point of the EVIL DEAD films.

[frankofthefuture]

I think a lot of us are misremembering the original. It did NOT have the humor of Evil Dead II. And, I was guilty of remembering this incorrectly, Ash was NOT the incredible badass he was in the second movie.

I just deleted my post after watching the original again. It's a good classic, but not the "work of genius" that Evil Dead II was. It had some of the interesting camera work, and original makeup, but not the over the top stuff in the second movie.

So, the "remake", Evil Dead, of the original The Evil Dead, is not as horrible as I first thought.

It does have many trappings of the "modern" horror flick...e.g. dark film colors, The Exorcist makeup ripoffs, etc. But, taken as its own movie, it's not as bad as it could have been. Still more interesting than a lot of the junk we get these days.

Again, make sure you are remembering The Evil Dead correctly by watching it again...on Netflix streaming if you have that. It's easy to project memories of EDII onto the first film. Especially since EDII was technically a remake of the original as well.

[Ted C]

Again, make sure you are remembering The Evil Dead correctly by watching it again...on Netflix streaming if you have that. It's easy to project memories of EDII onto the first film. Especially since EDII was technically a remake of the original as well.

I have to disagree with you on that one. The first five minutes or so of ED2 is essentially a recap of ED1, but from there it becomes a proper sequel.

But yes, the original Evil Dead is not a humorous movie at all; it's straight-up horror.

[Trevor]

The film makers missed the whole point of the EVIL DEAD films.

Agreed: the same could be said of all the people who've tried to remake a classic horror film. 

[VenomX73]

The film makers missed the whole point of the EVIL DEAD films.

Agreed: the same could be said of all the people who've tried to remake a classic horror film. 

I was under the impression the original director Sam Raimi +Bruce Campbell directed the remake...

[Ted C]

I was under the impression the original director Sam Raimi +Bruce Campbell directed the remake...

IMDB doesn't list them as crew, except for crediting Sam Raimi as the writer of the original Evil Dead upon which the 2013 remake/sequel is based.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1288558/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_wr#writers

[Chainsawmidget]

Having time to give it more thought...

On the good side...
The new Evil Dead (man, I hate when remakes use the same name as the original) is brutal and gory and has a nice atmosphere about it.  The effects are good and it remains unpredictable throughout.

On the bad side
None of the characters ever really clicked with me.  They all seemed rather bland.  Also the sense of danger wasn't there most of the time.  Even the final ULTIMATE EVIL Deadite felt like less of a real danger than the normal possesed people from the original movie. 


It was an atmospheric gory movie, but I don't think you could call it a terrifying one. 

[zelmo73]

The original made revolutionary use of claymation; probably the only movie that I've ever seen that could legitimately get away with it without making it look cartoonish. I don't mind the more "realistic" look of the Deadites, just like I didn't mind the more "realistic" look of Batman and The Joker in The Dark Knight.

As long as the remake gives proper respect to the source material and attempts to establish ownership via a standout detail; in this case, a darker and gorier, down-to-earth feel to the original story; then I am in full support of a remake just so long as it doesn't retread the exact same ground with different actors playing the same exact role and muttering the same exact lines of dialogue (I'm looking directly at you, John Moore's The Omen!).