Sam Raimi’s iconic Evil Dead 2 is quite the opposite of his equally iconic debut film The Evil Dead. Though touted as a horror film, it is difficult to be fully considered as one by lovers of this genre as it borders more on the parody front, and has equal doses of over-the-top gore and black humour, unlike the earlier film that was far more genuinely spooky. This cartoonish quasi-sequel saw the return of Ash to the haunted cabin by the woods with his girlfriend. But soon enough she turns into a dancing headless corpse, while he has to fend a new fiend in the form of his hand which gets a mind of its own upon being bitten by her decapitated head. Meanwhile the daughter of the archeologist, who had discovered the “book of the dead” and whose recorded chants had set the evil spirits free, arrives, and must now stop the ghouls once and for all along with the chain-saw wielding Ash, i.e. when Ash isn’t possessed himself. Diabolically funny, unapologetically over-the-top (though with the gore-quotient exponentially clamped down vis-à-vis the first part), and relentlessly fast-paced, this zany roller-coaster of a ride has continued to hold a cult status among B-film aficionados. And the comic talent of Bruce Campbell is on unbridled and uninhibited display here.
Director: Sam Raimi
Genre: Horror/Comedy/Zombie Film/B-Film
Language: English
Country: US
