Both a sequel to and something of an extremist redux of the original “The Evil Dead” (1982), “Evil Dead II” (also affectionately referred to as “Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn”) is what happens when director Sam Raimi is given more money and bigger toys to play with while he’s out in the woods telling the tale of Ashly J. ‘Ash’ Williams (Bruce Campbell), the only survivor of the demonic attack on the cabin in the woods from the original film and now the lone warrior against the continuing onslaught. Armed with more resources and considerably more filmmaking confidence, Raimi goes for broke as Campbell becomes his human punching bag, tossed and thrown all to and fro as he tries to send his wicked tormentors back to hell (sometimes via chainsaw). There’s a lot more humor in this go-round, with Raimi and Campbell showing off their love for Three Stooges-style antics every chance they get; the result is an almost instant cult classic, and the particular installment of the “Evil Dead” trilogy that almost everyone automatically defaults to whenever it’s mentioned. Campbell’s endless wisecracks and one-liners are indeed the stuff of genre legend; nine years later, while filming his cameo in John Carpenter‘s “Escape From L.A.,” he was asked by Kurt Russell immediately upon meeting him to “say ‘Work Shed.’” – IFC Staff
Evil Dead II
