There are so many arguments out there about this movie, whether it's horror or comedy, and I feel the need to set this record straight. Part 2 is a comedy. Army of Darkness is a comedy. Evil Dead...is not a comedy. This is Sam Raimi cutting his teeth way before he got into the big leagues. A fun fact I'd like to mention is that Sam, Bruce, and Ted (Sam's brother, also known as Joxer the mighty) had actually done a lot of movie projects together in high school on Super-8 film. This isn't really relevant, but I'm a fan girl, therefore I sometimes say irrelevant things. Or maybe that's just my ADHD...
Anyway, it begins with a group of friends driving out to a cabin in the woods, with something...moving through the woods. Too fast to be an animal, and it's basically floating over the water. Luckily, everyone has the joy of singing in the car to protect them. Also somewhat reckless driving...
After nearly crashing into a truck, we discover early on that the driver of the car, Scott, is an asshole. This isn't too important, I just wanted to let everyone know Scott's a dick.
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| You know what, Scott? You're just like freaking Larry! |
I suppose I should mention Ash at this point. Everybody loves Ash. He's got so much charisma and personality, right? Wrong. In the beginning, he's hollow and empty, like that pathetic feeling you have once you've finished a pint of ice cream, when you promised you'd never touch the demon milk again. Demon milk...maybe I should have used a different term...
When everybody arrives at the cabin, we discover a shocking fact: this empty, abandoned house in the middle of the woods...is creepy. The first person to grasp just how creepy is Ash's sister, Cheryll, when an innocent sketching hour turns into a DEATHLY SKETCHING...HOUR!
The cellar door-thing goes crazy, and then everyone sits down to eat. She doesn't bring up her terrible paper genocide, which leads me to assume she is an idiot. Just then, that door-thing I mentioned bursts open. When Cheryll suggests that it might have been an idiot, Scott the dick chimes in that it's a stupid idea. I mean, it's not like large rodents knock crap over and destroy property all the time or anything. This was obviously done by the wind. Damn that wind!
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| This isn't relevant, it's just an obligatory picture of Ash. |
Scott makes a wise-ass crack, and Ash laughs at his cleverness, likely biting out the bitter hatred he's developed towards Scott over the years. A tape player is also discovered, and we discover the story of a doctor, the book, and a demon summoning. Part of it, anyway, before Cheryll goes nuts and runs out. Eventually she ends up in the woods, and let's just say...she gets raped by trees. Say it with a sexy intonation in your voice though, as if it's some sort of indirect reference. There's no other way to imply someone's been raped by trees than actually literally coming out with it.
At this point, it's safe to say a good bit of hell has 'broken loose'. I suspect some of it is also stuck, but we'll leave that for another day...
Cheryll is the first victim. From here on out, if you don't see what happens to a character, but they come back with torn clothes...it's safe to assume...yeah. There's not much in the ways of great acting her. There's a lot to say for some great camera work on a low budget, though. It's also a pretty great story, if you haven't been tired out by all of the references to this concept. By all means, I feel it deserves it's spot as a cult classic, and a classic in general. If tree rape didn't grab your attention though, maybe this isn't the movie for you. Look for something tamer, like the edited-for-tv version of Hellraiser, or maybe just an hour-long test pattern. I don't know, you'll think of something. However, if you ARE intrigued by the tree rape, or the fact that this is just an epic movie in all, definitely check it out. Try to get as many unsuspecting victims...I mean friends...to watch it with you, too.
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