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Here's a look at the re-make of "The Evil Dead."

Evil Dead
Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Jessica Lucas
Synopsis: When I was in college, I stumbled upon a little horror film called “The Evil Dead.” It was made in 1981 on a shoestring budget. It was campy, a little funny and buoyed by star in the making Bruce Campbell. “The Evil Dead” became a cult classic. It inspired two sequels — “The Evil Dead 2” and “Army of Darkness.” Campbell became a B movie and TV star, and writer/director Sam Raimi has had a varied career that includes three “Spider-Man” films and the recent “Oz the Great and Powerful.” As expected in our current state of recycled ideas, the cult classic of “The Evil Dead” has been reborn for a new generation. Though Raimi and Campbell serve as producers on the film, it bears little resembalance to the low-budget cult classic they released in 1981. Both say the new “Evil Dead” is the film they always wanted to make — and maybe that’s true — but this orgy of blood, violence and psychological deconstruction feels more in keeping with the modern trends of the genre than paying homage to a classic film. “The Evil Dead” became a cult classic in part due to its simplicity. In the era where it was made, horror films weren’t complicated. You had young people, a secluded location and menacing evil. Today, these types of films are different. “Evil Dead” follows more of the new model. There is a complicated back story offered for why the people gathered at the cabin in the woods, there are deeper personal, emotional and psychological issues at work for the characters and there is more time spent analyzing and explaining the evil of the film. There’s also a lot more blood and a lot more graphic violence. In fact, in one sequence, it is literally raining blood on the characters. That, too, seems to be a convention of the modern changes in the genre. It’s not about the simple story, it’s about the lavish effects and the shock value. While that may amuse and please some, it doesn’t make these films any better. Co-writer and director Fede Alvarez does have nods to the original film. The menacing, hand-held camera work as evil approaches, the use of a chainsaw (though it seemed excessive) and the way Mia is possessed are all callbacks to the source material. But “Evil Dead” is more a horror movie made for the masses in the 21st Century than a carefully constructed re-make of the original. Doubtless there are those that will love the blood soaked look of this film, but I’m not one of them. For a long time now the horror genre seems to think that massive amounts of carnage are the way to generate scares. But being disgusting isn’t the same thing as being scary. “Evil Dead” is just the latest in a long line of films in the genre that fails to understand that distinction. Those looking for an explosion of blood and savagery will find it with “Evil Dead.” Those looking for a little nostalgia would be better served scanning the available titles on NetFlix.
Rating: R for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language. Enter with caution.
Verdict: Two stars out of four.

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