Dead Funny
Ash (Bruce Campbell) takes his girlfriend for a romantic getaway to a cabin in the woods where he plays a tape by a professor which recites passages from the book of the dead. The readings unleash an evil spirit which turns Ash's girlfriend into a Deadite and then goes after Ash. It is then that the professor's daughter and her friends show up and so commences a battle featuring beheadings, amputations, chainsaws and lot of gory stuff.
Okay so to make sense of "Evil Dead II" in context of the first movie, well it starts of as a bit of a remake as we have Ash and girlfriend Linda heading up to the remote cabin where they end up unleashing the evil spirit. The difference is initially that this time it is only Ash and Linda rather than five friends as in the first movie and then after the spirit is unleashed we have the arrival of some more people.
But the thing about "Evil Dead II" is that it is a comedy horror where the first movie was a horror with comedy. As such whilst we have copious amounts of gore and horror in this sequel it is all so over the top that it goes beyond being unpleasant to funny. Trust me when I say that I doubt for a minute anyone will be scared by what they watch in "Evil Dead II" but will be in fits of laughter be it a beheading involving a spade to Ash flying 50 feet through a car window, which I know doesn't sound funny but ends up being just that.
Now part of why "Evil Dead II" ends up funny is down to Sam Raimi and his wild imagination and ability to bring out the slapstick in the horror with perfect comic timing. But it is just as much down to Bruce Campbell whose exaggerated staring and Desperate Dan jaw consistently delivers the humour. I am sure I have mentioned it before but Campbell often reminds me of Jim Carrey and none more so when watching "Evil Dead II".
But here is the thing as whilst "Evil Dead II" is a comedy first it is also a horror and there are some very good moments of horror such as Ash being chased into the lodge by some sort of demon with him frantically trying to get away. Yet for all the genuine moments of horror you have something totally stupid such as a dancing skeleton.
What this all boils down to is that if you like comedy horrors then "Evil Dead II" is a must watch and for me it surpasses the original with Bruce Campbell showing us what great comic timing he has.
