A Farewell to Arms: EVIL DEAD II

Success within horror or comedy, those two cousinly genres, is highly elusive- for every DR. STRANGELOVE there are a dozen Happy Madison productions, and for every SILENCE OF THE LAMBS there are a dozen Friday the 13th movies.  The great, culturally-resonating successes are instances of catching the figurative lightning in the figurative bottle, a matter of luck as much or more than talent.  Time and time again though, we've seen those that have done it once try to do it twice, and 99.9% of the time, they only end up electrocuted themselves, resulting in a stinking, oozing, unfortunate mess.  The exception that proves the rule comes no more than once in a few decades...

 EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN  (HORROR-COMEDY, 1987) 
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Ted Raimi, Denise Bixler, Richard Domeier, John Peaks, Lou Hancock
Rated R for unspecified reasons (strong bloody horror violence and gore throughout).
84 minutes
SCAREmeter: 4.5/10 (very creepy, but mitigated by consistent humor)
GOREmeter: 10/10 (lots and lots of gushing bloody geysers, gory mutilations)
LAUGHmeter: 6/10
OVERALL: 3.5/4 
**Available on Netflix Watch Instant**

When last we saw Ashley "Ash" Williams (Bruce Campbell), he had just seemingly destroyed the Book of the Dead, referred to as the Naturon Demonto, by throwing it in the fireplace and reduced his demonically-possessed friends to fragments of bone, blood and oatmeal.  Stepping out of the cabin at the break of dawn, Ash was then left to an unknown fate as the unseen evil spirits swooped down upon him.  Things get a little confusing when we slip into the sequel though.
Is it a remake?  Is it a sequel?  What the hell is this madness?!  Well, it's mostly a sequel, with a little bit of cheating.  The continuity between the Evil Dead trilogy is not at all clean, partly because Sam Raimi didn't have the rights to THE EVIL DEAD when making the sequel, but mostly because 'screw you'.  At the beginning of EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN, also known as EVIL DEAD II, we get a recap of the original film's events, but to save time and prepare a few adjustments for this film, only Ash and his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler, replacing Betsy Baker from the original film) show up at the cabin, but again, after a little bit of romancing of course, the recorded translations of the Book of the Dead, the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, left by archeologist Professor Knowby (John Peaks), are played, unleashing the evil spirits.  Linda is possessed by the spirits, prompting Ash to chop off her head with a shovel and bury the body.  This revising of THE EVIL DEAD ends when Ash is temporarily possessed by that unseen force that attacked him.  The sun rises, causing the spirits to flee, but Ash can't escape, because the only bridge out is completely destroyed.  Linda isn't completely dead either, and when night falls, her body climbs out of the ground, picks up its loose head and attacks Ash, biting his hand and attacking him with a chainsaw.  After gaining the upper hand, Ash is able to make short, bloody work of Linda's head and body, but his bitten hand has become possessed, attacking him.  Meanwhile, Professor Knowby's daughter, Annie (Sarah Berry), has just come into possession of the lost pages from the Necronomicon and is eager to share them with her father, bringing along her boyfriend, Professor Ed Getley (Richard Domeier).  On the way to the cabin, they discover the wrecked bridge but Jake (Dan Hicks) and Bobby Joe (Kassie DePaiva), a couple of hillbillies, agree to act as their guide on a hidden trail, bringing a few new victims of the evil spirits, known as "Deadites", while Ash is still battling his now very evil hand.

"Give me back my hand!"

I don't watch a lot of horror sequels.  They're almost never worth the time, but Evil Dead is an exception.  EVIL DEAD 2 is the most popular of the trilogy, which follows an odd trajectory, from horror, to horror-comedy, to comedy.  EVIL DEAD 2 lies in the middle, deftly balancing horror and comedy (personally, I like ARMY OF DARKNESS best, but we'll get to that), although admittedly, it might be a little confusing for first time viewers who jump straight into it from THE EVIL DEAD, because of the overlap.  Most people just keep the sequel in their Halloween viewing rotation.
Stephen King, who gave the original film a big hand up by writing an enthusiastic review for the obscure student film, showed up again to give the sequel a pitch to the money-men.  Mr. Eighties Movie Excess himself, Dino De Laurentiis, was producing several King adaptations adaptations at the time (including the infamous killer semi trucks movie MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, also directed by King), and King was all like, "Hey bro, you should give some money to this guy, so that he can make a ridiculously bloody, funny horror movie starring little-known actors, but it'll be awesome."  I'm sure it was something like that.  Anyway, after looking into it, De Laurentiis approved the film for $3.6 million, not much, but still about ten times as much as the original.  Together with a bigger budget and some added experience, EVIL DEAD II is a much more polished production with better makeup and special effects (the fun B-movie practical kind with stop-motion animation, rubber puppets and pre-digital compositing).  Bruce Campbell is also a better actor, more Bruce Campbell-y and has a better haircut.  Taxidermied deer heads and gooseneck lamps laugh maniacally, after it smashes a bunch of plates on his head, Ash cuts off his hand with a chainsaw and fires at it with a shotgun, people die in geysers of blood reminiscent of a blender with a loose lid and fat old crones scream, "I'll swallow your soul!  I'll swallow your soul!"
If that doesn't sell you, then shut your face.

"Let's head on down into that cellar and carve ourselves a witch."