THE OCTOBER PROJECT Part 22

"Groovy."

EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN  (1987)

Directed by Sam Raimi

The first time I watched Sam Raimi's original "Evil Dead" film, it scared the hell out me. Despite the crudeness of some of the effects work it was (and remains) an intense, and wildly inventive, piece of horror cinema. Therefore, it pains me top say that it did not make it onto this list. It very nearly did but in the end I went with the even more inventive, and surprisingly hilarious, sequel.

Evil Dead 2 is officially a sequel but, as often as not, feels like a remake of the ferocious original played for comedy. All the wild camera tricks and over the top the top gore effects are amped up to the point of hilarity. Furthermore, in this film we witness the birth of a great comic actor.
Before this sequel he was just the guy from "Evil Dead", but after this film he became BRUCE CAMPBELL beloved cult star, comedy action hero and all around geek icon. His performance in the film is inspired lunacy, hitting all the right notes of comic desperation at the edge of madness. Campbell particularly shines while performing the very painful looking physical comedy. Clearly this was an actor willing to go the distance.

Still, this IS a horror film. It is filled with violence, gore, a few good jump scares and unpleasantness of all sorts. If you don't mind all of that (and I assume if you're reading this you don't) then "Evil Dead 2" is a truly a great time. The third sequel "Army of Darkness" is even goofier but still worth a look for Campbell, if nothing else.