Evil Dead II (1987)

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley

Have I Seen it Before: A couple of us guys watched it late one night in High School. When you’re taking in movies at that age, you’re more susceptible than at any other point in your life* than to have contrary opinions about movies, just for the sake of having contrary opinions about it.

I didn’t like the film. You would have thought that I had pledged my life to Al-Qaida. For years after that, I wondered if I had taken the stance because I too felt that need to not enjoy something everyone was.

I honestly haven’t watched the film since.

Did I Like It: Well…

I really wanted to. As you—or at least, as I—head north of forty, there’s a temptation to like something more than its reputation or your own memory would suggest. Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) becomes a unique symbol of the auteur, and a children’s film making the bold choice to be mostly about trade policy. Batman & Robin (1997) is a heartfelt action adventure film, if you can get over most of the writing and cheap staging. I’ll defend The Shadow (1994) despite an array of flaws weighing it down.

It’s time for me to give Evil Dead II another chance.

And yet.

Something about this film just doesn’t connect with me. It’s nothing more than a cheap array of horror gags. Perhaps more polished than the original The Evil Dead (1981), but never concerned with being as satisfying as Army of Darkness (1992). All of the pieces of Raimi’s brilliance are here, but they don’t cook together. The gore sprays. The monsters groan. Campbell mugs. Rinse and repeat. Campbell is a charming enough presence, but there’s a reason that he was never a big enough star to be the lead in Darkman (1990) or the villain in an eventual sequel to Spider-Man (2002). I think he might agree, and indeed has made a career based on this very same image, but Campbell isn’t much more than a B actor.

*Some people never get over it.

The Evil Dead (1981)

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DaManicor, Betsy Baker

Have I Seen it Before: No. I’m usually tempted to say at points like this “strangely, no” but I’m more tempted in this particular case to question whether most people have seen it.

Did I Like It: I’m going to try real hard not to blur the lines between my review for this and my eventual review for Evil Dead II (1987), even though Raimi and company didn’t feel much of a need to differentiate between the two films while making them. My memory of the sequel was that I didn’t see the big deal that everyone was going nuts over, and the same can be said here.

I’m all for horror. I’m all for Raimi’s other work*. There’s just something about the Deadites that always left me cold to varying degrees, and seeing them in their prototypical form doesn’t do much to dissuade that. You’ve got to wait for Army of Darkness (1992) or even Evil Dead Rise (2023) before my heart grows big enough to embrace the carnage.

The film isn’t entirely without charms. Seeing a horror movie made with the same kind of near-zero budget and in the same era as Halloween (1978) but that embraces the supernatural aspects of horror, even if the budget isn’t always there to back it up. It’s also worth glancing—if for only the jarring quality that may be my most lasting memory of the film—at a version of Bruce Campbell so youthful that it’s difficult to imagine the Bruce Campbell residing somewhere in his future.

*Drifting through some of the information on this film, I can’t help but be consumed by a desires—as we all must, from time to time—to watch Darkman (1990).

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

Director: Don Coscarelli

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Bob Ivy

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure.

Did I Like It: Here’s the thing: Take Elvis (Campbell, in a dual role as the pauper who took the place of the king, Sebastian Haff) and JFK (Davis) out of the equation, and a story about two guys at the end of their rope taking on a mummy in the most depressing nursing home ever would have worked just fine.

Well, maybe the mummy thing wouldn’t work so hot on it’s on. Ho-Tep (Ivy) is probably a below average film monster, all things considered. There’s nothing new about our mummy that wasn’t already charted by Boris Karloff. My memory is fuzzy, but I think the Scarabs and their works didn’t quite live up to any degree of believability upon the film’s release.

These are minor complaints which could be leveled at any b-horror film of a similar budget. One must manage expectations. So, what keeps bringing me back to the film? The high-concept sell of Elvis and JFK versus a mummy definitely gets the thing greenlit, but if every poster was immediately indicative of how good a movie was, The Shining (1980) would be the worst movie of all time, and most other horror movies would yearly duke it out for Best Picture. Campbell is always charming (even when he’s aiming for unlikeable curmudgeon), and seeing Davis embrace the absurdity of his role is a good start. The music score—from Bryan Tyler—sticks in your head, which is impressive enough in an era now where nearly every score—even from composers previously legendary—is adequate noise. Tyler deserves every big job he’s gotten since.

Those help elevate the film, but the real, secret strength is that the film (almost despite itself) is at its core a redemption story. Without Elvis coming to grips with all of the mistakes—both improbable and banal—he has made, the film would still be relegated to the static of other B-movies.