Evil Dead II (1987) ****1/2
For his quasi sequel/remake, Evil Dead II (1987), Sam Raimi upped the insanity, the slapstick comedy, the frenetic camerawork, and the gallons upon gallons of blood.
The second Evil Dead film benefits from better production values, in particular the moody lighting, the crazy stop motion animation, and the much improved special effects and makeup courtesy of f/x wizard Mark Shostrom, with assistance from the three men that would go on to form KNB EFX Group the following year.
Though he has some has co-stars and some help along the way, Evil Dead II is largely a one-man Bruce Campbell show, where he inflicts self-harm like no other actor can and takes whatever Raimi is willing to throw at him (literally). It's here that we first glimpse Campbell (and Ash Williams as a character) become the cocky but goofy action hero—the Bruce that we all know and love—spouting one-liners and kicking Deadite ass.
Though I prefer the Ash in EDII to the more smarmy one in Army Of Darkness (1992) (review) and the almost irredeemable (but undeniably funny) one in the TV series Ash Vs Evil Dead (2015–2018) and though I prefer the darker tone of the first film, it's basically a tie for me when it comes to the first two entries in the franchise. Evil Dead II is a classic cult movie that will always remain a favorite.
The second Evil Dead film benefits from better production values, in particular the moody lighting, the crazy stop motion animation, and the much improved special effects and makeup courtesy of f/x wizard Mark Shostrom, with assistance from the three men that would go on to form KNB EFX Group the following year.
Though he has some has co-stars and some help along the way, Evil Dead II is largely a one-man Bruce Campbell show, where he inflicts self-harm like no other actor can and takes whatever Raimi is willing to throw at him (literally). It's here that we first glimpse Campbell (and Ash Williams as a character) become the cocky but goofy action hero—the Bruce that we all know and love—spouting one-liners and kicking Deadite ass.
Though I prefer the Ash in EDII to the more smarmy one in Army Of Darkness (1992) (review) and the almost irredeemable (but undeniably funny) one in the TV series Ash Vs Evil Dead (2015–2018) and though I prefer the darker tone of the first film, it's basically a tie for me when it comes to the first two entries in the franchise. Evil Dead II is a classic cult movie that will always remain a favorite.
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