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Evil Dead (2013 film)

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Evil Dead is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rodo Sayagues. Dubbed a "re-imagining" of The Evil Dead (1981), the film is the fourth installment in the Evil Dead film series.[a] It stars Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, and Elizabeth Blackmore. The story follows a group of five people under attack by deadites in a remote cabin in the woods.

Evil Dead
A girl in ragged clothes is screaming on the ground. The films title is at the top of the poster.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFede Álvarez
Screenplay by
Based onThe Evil Dead
by Sam Raimi
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAaron Morton
Edited byBryan Shaw
Music byRoque Baños
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release dates
  • March 8, 2013 (2013-03-08) (SXSW)
  • April 5, 2013 (2013-04-05) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$17 million[2]
Box office$97.5 million[2]

Talks for a fourth Evil Dead film began in 2004, with original film actor Bruce Campbell about the possibility for a next film in the franchise. The project was officially announced in July 2011, with Ghost House Pictures producing it, Diablo Cody in the process of revising the script, and Fede Álvarez chosen as the director. Much of the cast joined from January to February 2012. Principal photography took place in March 2012 and wrapped in May in New Zealand outside of Auckland, lasting about a month.[3]

Evil Dead had its premiere at South by Southwest on March 8, 2013, and was released in the United States on April 5, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $97 million worldwide against a production budget of $17 million. A fifth installment, titled Evil Dead Rise, was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 21, 2023.

Plot

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A girl is tied up in the cellar of a remote cabin, where an old woman is reciting incantations from a strange book in the Welsh language.[4] The girl reveals her demonic possession and her father Harold sets her ablaze and shoots her dead.

Some time later, David Allen and his girlfriend Natalie arrive at the cabin with their dog Grandpa, where they meet his estranged younger sister Mia and their friends Eric and Olivia. The group plans to stay in the cabin while Mia overcomes her heroin addiction. Mia begins having withdrawal symptoms. David discovers that the cabin's cellar is littered with rotting cat corpses, a worn double-barrel shotgun, and a book called the Naturom Demonto.

Eric reads an incantation from the book, awakening a malevolent force. Mia begins seeing a demonic doppelgänger of herself in the woods. She steals Eric's Ford Taurus Wagon to leave but crashes into a pond. The force chases her into the woods, where vines trap her. Mia's doppelgänger possesses her via the vines.

David finds Grandpa beaten to death with a hammer and discovers Mia scalding herself in the shower with boiling water. That night, a possessed Mia wounds David with the shotgun and vomits onto Olivia's face before Eric locks her in the basement. A possessed Olivia mutilates her face and stabs Eric with a hypodermic needle before he bludgeons her to death. Mia lures Natalie into the cellar and bites her hand before slicing her own tongue. David helps Natalie escape.

Eric explains that per the book, the "Taker of Souls" must claim five souls to unleash the "Abomination". Natalie's arm becomes possessed and she amputates it with an electric knife, causing a power outage. Mia must be "purified" by live burial, dismemberment, or burning. The now-possessed Natalie attacks the pair with a nail gun, but David shoots her other arm off; Natalie bleeds to death from her injury.

David begins dousing the cabin in gasoline, but decides to bury Mia instead. He digs a grave but Mia attempts to drown him, and Eric is fatally stabbed saving him. David sedates and buries Mia but after hearing her heartbeat stop, digs her back up and attempts to resuscitate her with a homemade defilibrator; bring her back to life. Furious at being driven out of Mia and so close to being resurrected, the wrathful Taker of Souls is forced to possess the corpse of Eric before attacking David in the cabin when he came to retrieve his car keys. David shoots a gasoline can, killing himself and the possessed Eric.

With David's death being the fourth claimed soul, blood begins to rain from the sky and the Taker of Souls rises as the Abomination; attacking Mia as her demonic doppelgänger to claim her soul in order to become complete. Mia severs the Abomination's legs with a chainsaw, but it overturns David's Jeep Wrangler onto her left arm, crushing it in the process. After Mia’s hand gets torn off from her freeing herself, she bisects the Abomination's head with a chainsaw before it sinks back into the ground and the blood rain stops. An exhausted Mia leaves, unaware the Naturom Demonto is still intact.

In a post-credits scene, an older Ash Williams (the protagonist of the original three Evil Dead films) is seen in shadowed profile. He says his signature catchphrase, "Groovy."

Cast

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Additionally, Bruce Campbell appears uncredited in the post-credits scene as Ash Williams. Briefly reprising their roles from the original film through archival recordings, Bob Dorian voices Professor Raymond Knowby and Ellen Sandweiss voices Cheryl Williams, who warns the main characters that they will die. Jack Walley also had a small role in the film as Billy Bob, a truck driver who rescues Mia after she escapes the cabin, though his scene wound up being deleted. It was restored in the extended cut.[5]

Production

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Writing

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Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues co-wrote the script, which was then doctored by Diablo Cody in an effort to Americanize the dialogue since English was not the writers' first language.[6] The film was produced by Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Robert G. Tapert, who are the producers of the original Evil Dead trilogy.[7]

Raimi and Campbell had planned a remake for many years, but, in 2009, Campbell stated the proposed remake was "going nowhere" and had "fizzled" due to extremely negative fan reaction.[8] However, in April 2011, Bruce Campbell stated in an AskMeAnything interview on Reddit: "We are remaking Evil Dead. The script is awesome ... The remake's gonna kick some ass — you have my word."[9] The film was officially announced that July.[6]

Casting

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Actor Shiloh Fernandez was cast in the lead male role of David.[10] Initially, Lily Collins was scheduled to play the lead female role of Mia, but dropped out in January 2012,[11][12] with Jane Levy replacing her the next month.[13] Lou Taylor Pucci, Elizabeth Blackmore, and Jessica Lucas later joined the cast.[14][15]

In November 2018, Álvarez confirmed the film's relationship to the original:

It continues the first one. The coincidences on events between the first film and mine are not coincidences, but more like dark fate created by the evil book. (Ash [sic] car is still there rusting away.)[16]

Filming

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Álvarez, who also has a background in CGI, also confirmed in an interview that the film does not employ CGI (except for touch-ups): "We didn't do any CGI in the movie ... Everything that you will see is real, which was really demanding. This was a very long shoot, 70 days of shooting at night. There's a reason people use CGI; it's cheaper and faster, I hate that. We researched a lot of magic tricks and illusion tricks."[17]

Music

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Main article: Evil Dead (soundtrack)

Release

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Theatrical

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TriStar Pictures released the film theatrically on April 5, 2013, in the United States,[18] with Sony Pictures handling other markets. Fede Álvarez tweeted on January 28, 2013, that the film first received an NC-17 rating, which prompted cuts in order to obtain the contractually obligated R-rating.[19] The film has been rated uncut as an 18 by the BBFC for containing strong "bloody violence, gory horror and very strong language".[20] StudioCanal handled the release of Evil Dead in the United Kingdom.[20]

Evil Dead premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX on March 8, 2013.[21] The music for Evil Dead, composed by Roque Baños, was released by La-La Land Records in a 40-minute digital form and a 70-minute physical release, on April 9, 2013.[22]

Home media

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Evil Dead was released on DVD and Blu-ray, on July 16, 2013.[23] The Blu-ray exclusives include commentary from three of the cast, and screenwriters Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues and five featurettes, while the regular DVD includes only three of the featurettes. Shout! Factory released a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray containing both cuts of the film and an exclusive poster on September 27, 2022 under their Scream Factory sub label.[24]

Extended cut

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An "extended version" featuring an alternative ending (a deleted mid-credits scene) and various other deleted clips and dialogue, some of which were featured in the original trailer but subsequently removed from the theatrical version, was aired in the UK on Channel 4 on January 25, 2015.[25]

On October 10, 2018, Sony Pictures announced the release of the Unrated Cut on Blu-ray Disc in a two-disc manufacture on demand combo pack with the theatrical version. It was released on October 23, 2018. The extended cut is 96 minutes compared to the 91-minute theatrical cut.[26]

Reception

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Box office

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The film grossed $25.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing first at the box office.[27] It went on to gross $54.2 million domestically and $43.3 million internationally, for a worldwide take of $97.5 million against its $17 million budget, making it a box office success.[2]

Critical response

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Jane Levy's performance as Mia was widely praised by both critics and audiences alike, commending her portrayals of the addict, the villainous deadite and tormented final girl.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 63% based on 205 reviews and an average rating of 6.2/10. The critics consensus states: "It may lack the absurd humor that underlined the original, but the new-look Evil Dead compensates with brutal terror, gory scares, and gleefully bloody violence."[28] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[30]

Evan Dickson from Bloody Disgusting reviewed the film at SXSW and went on to say, "Evil Dead is amazingly gory and fun" and gave the film 4/5 stars.[31] Chris Tilly of IGN gave Evil Dead 9/10 and called the movie a "terrifying, exhilarating and relentlessly entertaining new chapter in the Evil Dead story".[32] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review, calling it a "remake that will win the hearts of many of the original's fans."[33] Independent horror review site HorrorTalk gave the film four stars out of five, saying it is "the most unrelenting and bloody horror film to come out of a major studio in a very long time".[34] Emma Simmonds of The List commented: "Evil Dead has ample cheap shocks and few bloodcurdling frights but it builds to something gorily bravura and, if that's your bag, you'll come away satisfied. It's a while before anyone picks up a chainsaw, but boy is it worth it when they do."[35] Matt Singer called the film "an assault on the senses" and "a success, one that out-Evil Deads the original movie with even more gore, puke, blood, and dismembered limbs. It may not be wildly inventive, but it is effective, and plenty faithful to the spirit — and tagline — of the first 'Ultimate Experience in Grueling Terror.'"[36]

Richard Roeper rated the film one star out of four, criticizing the film's unoriginality, the characters' lack of intelligence, and the film's reliance on gore for what he felt were cheap scares. He concluded his review by saying: "I love horror films that truly shock, scare and provoke. But after 30 years of this stuff, I'm bored to death and sick to death of movies that seem to have one goal: How can we gross out the audience by torturing nearly every major character in the movie?"[37]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Recipient Result
2013 Golden Trailer Awards[38] Best Horror TV Spot TriStar Pictures and mOcean for "Everything's Fine" Nominated
Fright Meter Award Best Makeup Evil Dead Won
Best Special Effects Evil Dead Won
Best Ensemble Cast Cast of Evil Dead Nominated
Best Horror Movie Evil Dead Nominated
Best Director Fede Álvarez Nominated
Best Actress Jane Levy Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Lou Taylor Pucci Nominated
Best Score Roque Baños Nominated
Best Editing Bryan Shaw Nominated
Golden Schmoes Award Best Horror Movie of the Year Evil Dead Runner-up
International Film Music Critics Award Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film Roque Baños Won
Film Music Composition of the Year Roque Baños for the composition track "Abominations Rising" Won
Film Score of the Year Roque Baños Nominated
IGN Summer Movie Award Best Horror Movie Evil Dead Nominated
Key Art Award Best Audio/Visual Technique Screen Gems & mOcean for the trailer "Filthy" Nominated
2014 Empire Award Best Horror Evil Dead Nominated
Fangoria Chainsaw Award Best Makeup/Creature FX Roger Murray
Jane O'Kane 		Won
Best Wide-Release Film Fede Álvarez Runner-up
Best Supporting Actor Lou Taylor Pucci Runner-up
Worst Film Evil Dead 3rd place
Saturn Award Best Make-Up Patrick Baxter
Jane O'Kane
Roger Murray 		Nominated

Sequel

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Main article: Evil Dead Rise

In October 2019, Raimi announced at the New York Comic Con, that a new Evil Dead film was officially green-lit and in development, with Robert G. Tapert as producer, while Raimi and Campbell served as executive producers only, all under their Ghost House Pictures banner.[39] In June 2020, Lee Cronin was chosen as a director with a script he wrote. Officially titled Evil Dead Rise, the project was developed by New Line Cinema.[40][41][42] Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan were cast in the film,[41] and filming concluded on October 27, 2021.[43] Evil Dead Rise was theatrically released on April 21, 2023.[44][45]

Notes

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  1. ^ Although labeled as a remake or reboot, Álvarez confirmed that the film exists in the same continuity and takes place sometime after the 1981 film.

References

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  1. ^ "EVIL DEAD (18)". British Board of Film Classification. March 13, 2013. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Evil Dead at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ "Just how evil is the new Evil Dead?". The New Zealand Herald. April 19, 2013. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  4. ^ "11 random ways Wales has popped up in Hollywood blockbusters". February 21, 2017.
  5. ^ "Jack Walley - Movies, shows & videos". Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  6. ^ a b McIntyre, Gina (July 13, 2011). "'Evil Dead' remake: Diablo Cody polishing script for first-time director". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  7. ^ Evil Dead (2013) - IMDb, retrieved April 26, 2023
  8. ^ [1] Archived September 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "ImBruce Campbell comments on I'm Bruce Campbell: AMA". Reddit. April 12, 2011. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  10. ^ "Fernandez to haunt 'Evil Dead'". Variety. February 2, 2012.
  11. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Two Possible Lead Actresses for 'The Evil Dead'". Bloody Disgusting. January 4, 2012. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  12. ^ "'The Evil Dead' Remake Loses Lily Collins". IndieWire.com. January 24, 2012. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  13. ^ Fleming, Mike (February 3, 2012). "Jane Levy Is New Star Of 'Evil Dead' Remake". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  14. ^ Sneider, Jeff (February 10, 2012). "Lou Pucci in talks for 'Evil Dead'". Variety. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  15. ^ "'Melrose Place' Actress Joining 'Evil Dead' Remake". The Hollywood Reporter. March 7, 2012. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  16. ^ Dick, Jeremy (November 9, 2018). "Is the Evil Dead Reboot a Sequel? Director Gives Definitive Answer". movieweb.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  17. ^ Dickson, Evan (January 6, 2013). "No CGI At All In The New 'Evil Dead'?!!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  18. ^ Evil Dead Official Website, Sony Pictures (January 20, 2013). "'Evil Dead' Rating". MPAA. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  19. ^ Fede Alvarez [@fedalvar] (January 28, 2013). "@WoozyTribe Was proud of scoring a NC17 when submitted! But we had to cut stuff out to get an R and get the film into theaters" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ a b "EVIL DEAD | British Board of Film Classification". BBFC.CO.UK. March 13, 2013. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  21. ^ "SXSW Reveals Their 2013 Line-Up: 'Mud', 'Hours', 'Evil Dead' & More | FirstShowing.net". www.firstshowing.net. January 31, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  22. ^ "'Soundtrack Details for Evil Dead Revealed, La-La Land to Distribute'". Bloody Disgusting. March 27, 2013. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  23. ^ "Evil Dead Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  24. ^ @Scream_Factory (July 4, 2022). "***NEW TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT*** A secluded cabin. An ancient curse. An unrelenting evil. Experience the Necronomicon like never before with EVIL DEAD (2013) in 4K UHD, coming 9/27. Pre-order from our site and get an exclusive poster, while supplies last" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ^ Miska, Brad (January 29, 2015). "The Alternate 'Evil Dead' Ending Aired In the UK!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  26. ^ Squires, John (September 20, 2018). "Unrated Version of the 'Evil Dead' Remake Finally Coming to U.S. Blu-ray in October!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  27. ^ "'Weekend Box Office Numbers'". April 8, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  28. ^ "Evil Dead (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. April 5, 2013. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  29. ^ Evil Dead reviews at Metacritic  
  30. ^ "Evil Dead – CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  31. ^ "[BD Review] 'Evil Dead' Is A Thrillingly Gory Blast". BloodyDisgusting. March 9, 2013. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  32. ^ Chris Tilly 9 Mar 2013 (March 9, 2013). "Evil Dead Review - IGN". Ca.ign.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "Evil Dead: SXSW Review". The Hollywood Reporter. March 9, 2013. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  34. ^ HorrorTalk.com, Website (March 13, 2013). "Evil Dead 2013 Movie Review". Archived from the original on March 20, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  35. ^ Simmonds, Emma (March 26, 2013). "Fede Alvarez's horror remake doesn't better the original, but is still satisfyingly gory". The List. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  36. ^ Singer, Matt (March 9, 2013). "Evil Dead Review". screencrush.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  37. ^ Roeper, Richard (April 3, 2013). "Evil Dead'". rogerebert.com. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  38. ^ "The 14th Annual Golden Trailer Award Nominees". Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  39. ^ Dick, Jeremy (October 4, 2019). "Sam Raimi Teases New 'Evil Dead' Movie with New Director, Bruce Campbell Producing". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  40. ^ "Bruce Campbell Reveals New Evil Dead Plans With Director Lee Cronin – Exclusive". Empire. June 8, 2020. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  41. ^ a b Couch, Aaron (May 26, 2021). "'Evil Dead Rise' Set at New Line, HBO Max". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  42. ^ Dick, Jeremy (June 7, 2021). "Evil Dead Rise Begins Filming, Director Shares First Set Photo". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  43. ^ "New Evil Dead Movie Wraps Production, Used Over 1500 Gallons of Blood". Horror. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  44. ^ Laman, Douglas (June 7, 2021). "Evil Dead Rise Director Teases Start of Filming With BTS Photo". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  45. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 24, 2022). "'Aquaman 2' Heads To Christmas 2023, 'Shazam: Fury Of The Gods' Goes To March; HBO Max Pics 'House Party' & 'Evil Dead Rise' Going Theatrical – Warner Bros. Release Date Changes". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
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