| Evil Dead II | |
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| Directed by | Sam Raimi |
| Produced by | Robert Tapert Alex De Benedetti Irvin Shapiro Bruce Campbell |
| Written by | Sam Raimi Scott Spiegel |
| Starring | Bruce Campbell Sarah Berry |
| Music by | Joseph LoDuca |
| Cinematography | Peter Deming |
| Editing by | Kaye Davis |
| Studio | De Laurentiis Entertainment Group |
| Distributed by | Rosebud Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 13, 1987 |
| Running time | 85 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,500,000 |
| Gross revenue | $5,900,000 (est.) (As of July 26, 2006) |
| Preceded by | The Evil Dead |
| Followed by | Army of Darkness |
Evil Dead II (also known as Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn) is a 1987 American cult comedy horror film. Standing as a sequel to 1981's The Evil Dead, the film was directed by Sam Raimi, written by Raimi and Scott Spiegel, produced by Rob Tapert and starred Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams. The film was followed by a sequel of its own in 1993 entitled Army of Darkness.
Contents |
Plot
Recap
This movie begins with a slightly off-beat recap of the first movie in which they don’t have the three other characters that existed in the first movie. Another thing is that the character Linda changes to another woman in this movie. As part of the recap they show the romantic sentiments that exist between Ash and Linda by showing off the necklace that he gives her in the first movie. The movie progresses to show Ash finding the tape recorder containing Professor Raymond Knowby’s findings of the "Necronomicon Ex-Mortis" (Naturon Demonto), aka the Book of the Dead. Ash plays the tape and quickly realizes that he made a grave error since the tape plays readings from the book that awaken an evil force in the woods. The sound of glass breaking and Linda’s scream from the next room are dead giveaways to Ash’s mistake. He arrives to Linda’s aid, but finds her missing. Distraught, Ash begins to search for Linda by going outside, but getting more than he expected. Linda pops out of the shadows, but she is not herself, she is possessed. Ash, startled by Linda, falls to the ground next to a shovel which he uses to decapitate Linda as she lunges at him. So just like in the first movie Ash buries Linda and marks her grave, but The Evil Force has plans for Ash. The Force comes after Ash through the cabin, busting through the doors, picking him up, throwing him through the trees, slamming him against a big one, and dropping him in a puddle.
New Material
This is where the new material begins with Ash coming up out of the puddle possessed by evil and screaming, but soon the evil realizes the sun is coming up and begins to go away. Shortly after the possession subsides from Ash he screams in terror and passes out. Ash awakens and looks around seeing a pair of eyes overlaying the cabin and a disembodied voice saying “Join us”. Suddenly Ash decides to get out of there as he rushes to his car and speeds off down the path out from the cabin. Ash quickly discovers that he is trapped by finding the destroyed bridge down the road and he also discovers that he is not alone and has slept most of the day. The sun begins going down and the evil force begins to chase after Ash as he runs to his car and speeds back towards the cabin, crashes his car, flies through the windshield, and continues to run. The force chases Ash through the cabin until he evades it, defeated it leaves the cabin and Ash comes out. After a while of solitude Ash is startled by boards falling off a nearby window, and upon investigation he sees his dead girlfriend Linda’s headless body dancing and after the dance she attacks Ash through the window. Ash wakes up to discover the attack was just a dream and relaxes. Ash’s relax is short lived as Linda’s head falls in his lap and attacks him by biting his hand. Ash takes the head to the work shed where he gets the head off but is attacked by Linda’s body wielding a running chainsaw. After defeating Linda again Ash returns to the cabin where he finds a shotgun or boomstick for the fans, but while loading it he sees a rocking chair in the next room moving and he confronts it to find that there is something invisible in the chair. Ash panics and tries to calm himself in a mirror but is attacked by his reflection. After the attack Ash’s hand becomes possessed and attacks him in a slapstick way much like The Three Stooges. Ash’s hand knocks him out and tries to get a meat clever to kill him with but Ash stops it and cuts his hand off with the nearby chainsaw.
Introduction of New Characters
This is where Annie Knowby and college Ed come into full swing in the picture. They are stopped on their way to the cabin by Jake and wife Bobby Jo who are out marking the destroyed bridge. Jake and Bobby Jo agree to take Ed and Annie to the cabin on foot. Clipping back Ash undergoes another attack by his hand that leaves him worse for the wear as he fires the shotgun at his hand and missing but the holes he shoot in the wall begin gushing blood almost like a fire hose covering him in blood. Then the blood starts retracting back into the wall, and Ash is stunned and falls through a chair. Shortly after hitting the ground the props in the room begin laughing at him such as a deer head on the wall, the clock, books, cabinets, lamps and the trashcan. Ash, in a short moment of insanity, laughs but soon realizes that he’s losing it and screams, but everything goes quiet when he hears a knock at the door. Ash believes this is another attack and fires the gun at the door. Suddenly Jake busts in knocking Ash to the ground and with Ed’s help knocks Ash out. Annie and Bobby Jo come in to discover the bloody chainsaw and assumes that Ash killed her parents, Raymond and Henrietta Knowby, so they throw Ash into the cellar.
Henrietta and Raymond Knowby come in
Annie unable to find her parents plays her father Raymond’s tape finding out that her mother Henrietta had become possessed and her father had to kill her but could not completely destroy her but buried her in the cellar. Shortly after finding this out voices come from the basement and an attack by Henrietta begins. Ash makes it out of the cellar but Ed suffers from this attack as he is knocked out. Shortly after Ash explains what’s going on to Ed, Annie, Jake, and Bobby Jo, but he is interrupted by Henrietta trying to get Annie’s attention and tries to get Annie to let her out but she refuses and then Ed becomes possessed and then attacks the group. Ash lays waste to Ed but time stops and strange noises flood the cabin. Annie and Ash begin to investigate to find a ghostly head begin to come through into their world. The head is Professor Knowby and he warns them and tells them of a way to defeat the evil that swarms the woods outside and fades back into darkness. Then Ash’s hand strikes once again by scaring Bobby Jo out of the cabin. Jake, distraught by this action, peers out for her but she is nowhere in sight. Annie shows the pages to Ash that will defeat the evil but one catches his eye; an illustration of a hero from the sky said to have defeated the evil in the time of the book, and this hero is garbed strangely like Ash. Jake, holding a gun, takes charge throwing the papers in the cellar and demanding that they all go out in the woods and search for Bobby Jo. While out there they don’t find Bobby Jo but they do find the evil force at work once again, but this time its moved trees so they can’t get out.
Evil Ash
Evil Ash returns and attacks Jake first but Annie gets away, back into the cabin where its safe for the moment. Evil Ash pops up at the door and says “join us” to Annie, but she closes the door as Ash tries to get in, when he can’t get in he screams “Annie!”. Ash heads for the back door of the cabin, realizing this Annie heads to the back to lock the door. Ash realizes that he can’t get in and hides while Jake makes his way back to the cabin but upon getting in the door he is stabbed by Annie because she thought it was Ash. Annie drags Jake to the front room of the cabin but unknowingly lays him by the cellar door where Henrietta disposes of him. Annie backs away only to be attacked by Ash who lifts her up and throws her against the wall, but his evilness is short lived as he looks down to see Linda’s necklace on the floor with the chain laying in the shape of a skull and he comes out of his possession crying for his lost love. Ash’s Mourning only lasts a moment because Annie begins to attack Ash for fear that he is still possessed but he convinces her that he is fine and so begins the cooperation to rid the world of this evil but they need the pages out of the cellar to do it. Annie and Ash gather what ever weapons they can find and prepare for the final confrontation.
Final Showdown
Ash cuts open the cellar door and kicks it in, he goes down and gets the pages and tosses them up to Annie. Annie begins to read them but gets distracted by an all-out attack by Henrietta. Henrietta makes it up before Ash and attacks Annie but Ash comes to her rescue and fights with Henrietta but he doesn’t seem to be able to gain an advantage. Annie distracts Henrietta long enough for Ash to gain the advantage and dismember Henrietta. Ash's victory is short lived and another attack by the evil force begins and Ash is forced to fight it off while Annie finishes the passages to dispose of the evil. Annie is almost cut short by Ash’s possessed hand that stabs her in the back but she finishes the passage just before dying, but the plan backfires slightly since Ash is pulled into the vortex that is taking away all the evil and sending it back where it belongs.
The Hero From the Sky
Ash is sent back through time to the time of the “Necronomicon”. Knights surround him when he hit’s the ground and they are just about to kill him when a demon comes flying in to attack them but Ash gets the upper hand and disposes of it with his trusty boomstick. The knights stand in awe as the demon is dead and the warrior still stands. The leader of the knights, played by Sam Raimi, raises his face shield and exclaims “Hail he who has come from the sky to deliver us from the terrors of the deadites!” Ash realizes his fate as the hero in the page illustration that he saw earlier in the movie, and is troubled by it and begins screaming “NO!” as the knights gather around him exclaiming “Hail!” as this movie comes to an end.
Cast
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Bruce Campbell | Ashley J. Williams or Ash |
| Sarah Berry | Annie |
| Danny Hicks | Jake |
| Kassie Wesley | Bobby Jo |
| Ted Raimi | Possessed Henrietta |
| Denise Bixler | Linda |
| Richard Domeier | Ed |
| John Peaks | Professor Knowby |
| Lou Hancock | Henrietta |
| William Preston Robertson | Voice |
History
The concept of a sequel to The Evil Dead was discussed during the location shooting on the first film. Sam Raimi wanted to toss his hero, Ash, through a time portal, back into the Middle Ages. That notion eventually led to the third installment, Army of Darkness.
After the release of Evil Dead, Raimi moved on to Crimewave, a cross between a crime film and a comedy produced by Raimi and Joel and Ethan Coen. Irvin Shapiro, a publicist who was primarily responsible for the mainstream release of The Evil Dead, suggested that they next work on an Evil Dead sequel. Raimi scoffed at the idea, expecting Crimewave to be a hit, but Shapiro put out ads announcing the sequel regardless.
After Crimewave was released to little audience or critical acclaim, Raimi and Tapert, knowing that another flop would further stall their already lagging careers, took Shapiro up on his offer. Around the same time, they met Italian movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, the owner of production and distribution company DEG. He had asked Raimi if he would direct a theatrical adaptation of the Stephen King (written under his Richard Bachman pseudonym) novel Thinner. Raimi turned down the offer, but De Laurentiis continued to be interested in the young filmmaker.
The Thinner adaptation was part of a deal between De Laurentiis and King to produce several adaptations of King's successful horror fiction. At the time, King was directing the first such adaptation, Maximum Overdrive, based on his short story "Trucks". He had dinner with a crew member who had been interviewed about the Evil Dead sequel, and told King that the film was having trouble attracting funding. Upon hearing this, King, who had written a glowing review of the first film that helped it become an audience favorite at Cannes, called De Laurentiis and asked him to fund the film.
Though initially skeptical, De Laurentiis agreed after being presented with the extremely high Italian grosses for the first film. Although Raimi and Tapert had desired $4 million for the production, they were allotted only $3.6 million. As such, the planned medieval storyline had to be scrapped.
Script
Though they had only recently received the funding necessary to produce the film, the script had been written for some time, having been composed largely during the production of Crimewave. Raimi contacted his old friend Scott Spiegel, who had collaborated with Campbell and others on the Super-8 films they had produced during their childhood in Michigan. Most of these films had been comedies, and Spiegel felt that Evil Dead II should be less straight horror than the first. Initially, the opening sequence included all five characters from the original film, but, in an effort to save time and money, all but Ash and Linda were cut from the final draft. This argues against the "remake" theory (see below), because it makes clear that the events of the first film are meant to take place within the time frame of the beginning of the sequel, and that everything that happens after Ash is hit by the invisible force is new.
Spiegel and Raimi wrote most of the film in their house in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, where they were living with the aforementioned Coen brothers, as well as actors Frances McDormand, Kathy Bates and Holly Hunter (Hunter was the primary inspiration for the Bobby Jo character). Due both to the distractions of their house guests and the films they were involved with, Crimewave and Josh Becker's Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except, the script took an inordinately long time to finish.
Among the many inspirations for the film include The Three Stooges and other slapstick comedy films; Ash's fights with his disembodied hand come from a film made by Spiegel as a teenager, entitled Attack of the Helping Hand, which was itself inspired by television commercials advertising Hamburger Helper. The "laughing room" scene, where all the objects in the room seemingly come to life and begin to cackle maniacally along with Ash, came about after Spiegel jokingly used a gooseneck lamp to visually demonstrate a Popeye-esque laugh. Scott Spiegel's humorous influence can be seen throughout the film, perhaps most prominently in certain visual jokes; for instance, when Ash traps his rogue hand under a pile of books, on top is A Farewell to Arms.
Filming
With the script completed, and a production company secured, filming could begin. The production commenced in Wadesboro, North Carolina, not far from De Laurentiis' offices in Wilmington. De Laurentiis had wanted them to film in his elaborate Wilmington studio, but the production team felt uneasy being so close to the producer, so they moved to Wadesboro, approximately three hours away. Steven Spielberg had previously filmed The Color Purple in Wadesboro, and the large white farmhouse used as an exterior location in that film became the production office for Evil Dead II. Most of the film was shot in the woods near that farmhouse, or J.R. Faison Junior High School, which is where the interior cabin set was located.
The film's production was not nearly as chaotic or strange as the production of the original, largely because of Raimi, Tapert and Campbell's additional film making experience. However, there are nevertheless numerous stories about the strange happenings on the set. For instance, the rat seen in the cellar was nicknamed "Señor Cojones" by the crew ("cojones" is Spanish slang for "testicles").
Even so, there were hardships, mostly involving Ted Raimi's costume. Ted, director Sam's younger brother, had been involved in the first film briefly, acting as a fake Shemp, but in Evil Dead II he gets the larger role of the historian's demon-possessed wife, Henrietta. Raimi was forced to wear a full-body, latex costume, crouch in a small hole in the floor acting as a "cellar", or on one day, both. Raimi became extremely overheated, to the point that his costume was literally filled with liters of sweat; special effects artist Gregory Nicotero describes pouring the fluid into several Dixie cups so as to get it out of the costume. The sweat is also visible on-screen, dripping out of the costume's ear, in the scene where Henrietta spins around over Annie's head.
The crew also sneaked various in-jokes into the film itself, such as the clawed glove of Freddy Krueger, the primary antagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of slasher films, which hangs in the cabin's basement and toolshed. This was, at least partially, a reference to a scene in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street where the character Nancy Thompson (portrayed by Heather Langenkamp), watches the original Evil Dead on a television set in her room. In turn, that scene was a reference to the torn The Hills Have Eyes poster seen in the original Evil Dead film, which was itself a reference to a torn Jaws poster in The Hills Have Eyes.
At the film's wrap party, the crew held a talent contest, where Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell sang The Byrds' "Eight Miles High", with Nicotero on guitar.[1]
Reception
Evil Dead II received very positive reviews from critics and audience members; it has a 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Empire magazine praised the film saying "The gaudily gory, virtuoso, hyper-kinetic horror sequel/remake uses every trick in the cinematic book" and confirms that "Bruce Campbell and Raimi are gods" and Caryn James of the New York Times called it "Genuine, if bizarre, proof of Sam Raimi's talent and developing skill". Entertainment Weekly ranked the film #19 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films".[2] Sight and Sound ranked it #34 on their 50 Funniest Films of All Time list. In 2008, Empire magazine included Evil Dead II in their list of 500 greatest movies of all time, ranked #49.[3]
Notes
- ^ Mentioned in Evil Dead II audio commentary
- ^ "The Top 50 Cult Films". Entertainment Weekly. May 23, 2003.
- ^ "The 500 greatest movies of all time". Empire. http://www.empireonline.com/500/88.asp. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
the original movie review can be found on the New York Times website at
References
- Warren, Bill. The Evil Dead Companion. ISBN 0-312-27501-3.
- Raimi, Sam. Spiegel, Scott. Nicotero, Greg. Campbell, Bruce. Evil Dead II DVD, audio commentary.
- Campbell, Bruce. If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. ISBN 0-312-29145-0
External links
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