Halloween Movie Month 2 [Evil Dead 2]

I'll start off by telling you that Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn is a retcon. So forget some of the things you saw and learned in Evil Dead. But don't discount it. It's still a great movie. Raimi had to smudge some things so he could turn this into the trilogy he wanted. Fine by me, I still live Raimi, Campbell and this b-movie horror series.

We start of Evil Dead 2 in the same cabin from the first movie. Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) and his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler) are having a romantic vacation in what they think is an abandoned cabin. While in there, Ash plays a tape of an archaeology professor reciting passages from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis aka The Book of the Dead. The words unleash an evil force that kills and then possesses Linda and Ash has to decapitate her. Afterward Ash is briefly possessed but dawn breaks and he's released. Meanwhile said professors daughter, Annie (Sarah Berry) and her research partner Ed are heading to the cabin Ash is at. They have to have help from two townspeople, Jake and bobby Joe, to get to the cabin as the bridge leading there is out. By the time they get there Ash has severed his hand which had gotten possessed and night is about to fall. What horrors will await the group as they try to survive the night and not become, dead by dawn.

I loved this just as much as the first. Probably for most of the same reasons. All of them being Raimi's writing and Bruce Campbell's acting. Bruce Campbell is a God and none of you can convince me otherwise. I think this could also be the funniest scary movie I've ever seen. The possessed bodies, while gory, look hilarious for the time and the scenes where Ash is fighting with his hand and then trying to kill it after he severs it are a riot. This movie is not without scares, if you believe in spirits and possession you could get a nice jump out of people being taken over. There's those "BOO Imma try and make you jump" moments as well in this. So it keeps the old feel of horror amidst all the blood. Oh boy is there a ton of blood, gore and killing in this movie. I love every second of it. Between decapitations and stomping on peoples heads, to fountains of blood pouring out of the walls and floor. This is chock full of everything a gore-head could like. Finally the writing is stupidly superb as it fills in the new story of Ash without detracting from the Necronomicon and cabin aspect ALL WHILE in the end still setting up for Army of Darkness.  

All in all this is an 80s Sam Raimi horror flick. You're gonna get tons of blood, B-movie quality, good writing, some scares and a lot of laughs. I love it and if you couldn't tell from reading the rest of this, anything Raimi or Campbell related I'll give a shot. And so should you! Cause these first two movies of the Evil Dead series are perfect viewing experiences for a month such as this.

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Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #1: Halloween II

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #2: The Devil's Rejects

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #3: Friday the 13th Part II

Halloween Movie Month 2! Movie #4: Scream 2