Evil Dead II (1987) - Where to Watch, Reviews, Trailers, Cast - Watchmode

Evil Dead II (1987)

Couple's deserted cabin retreat becomes a nightmare with ancient evils. Perfect for horror fans; not for the faint-hearted.

Genres: Horror, Comedy, Fantasy

Cast

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Evil Dead II(1987)

R
Movie1h 24mEnglishHorror, Comedy, Fantasy
7.8
User Score
80%
Critic Score
IMDb
Director: Sam Raimi

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Overview

Ash Williams and his girlfriend Linda find a log cabin in the woods with a voice recording from an archeologist who had recorded himself reciting ancient chants from "The Book of the Dead." As they play the recording an evil power is unleashed taking over Linda's body.

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Okay, NOW I get it. Evil Dead was good, super gory, but seeing it so late in the game I struggled to see what gives it the clout it has today. Then I watched this one right after, and now I totally get it. This is hilarious, Bruce is a true badass, its gory, insane, and ridiculous. Hoping this awesome continues with Army of Darkness.

Maybe it was a good a movie back in 87 maybe, just maybe...

So this is a sequel to a movie that the sequel pretends never happened?

2 / 2 directing 'amp; technical aspect 0 / 1 story 1 / 1 act I .5 / 1 act II 1 / 1 act III 1 / 1 acting 1 / 1 writing 1 / 1 originality 0 / 1 lasting ability to make you think .5 / 1 misc (amazing for its time, still great for our time) 8 / 10

Hilarious follow-up. It'#39;s jam packed with goofy, groovy hijinks and wild, inventive camerawork. It'#39;s endlessly entertaining watching Bruce Campbell go looney tunes. This rivals the original, almost even surpasses it.

Bruce Campbell, forever a genius.

Evil Dead 2 attempts to be bigger than the original, but it loses itself in the process. Its narrative feels chaotic and jarring. A requal we could do without.

Not as inventive with the fights as the first movie. Camerawork still good but not as good. The kills aren't dragged out and milked as much, and I missed that. The original had tension between kills and this is just a waiting game between kills. I didn't find it hilarious but I did enjoy the comic humour. Not really into the cheesy lines but they don't hurt. Still worth a watch if you enjoyed the first. Many prefer this one.

If the whole movie kept the energy of the first half it’d be five stars. But god the atmosphere of the first half, how Campbell carries the movie so hard with a full body and soul commitment… the other characters can’t hope to match it. The second half isn’t bad, by any means, but that first half is top tier horror-comedy, and I think I could honestly watch this movie up to the other characters entering the cabin and not get bored

Now this is Evil Dead. A devotion to excess, it knows exactly what it wants to be now, carrying confidence without losing the thrilling elasticity of a young director going wild. The slapstick comedy, the tongue in cheek fountains of blood, the laughter scene that’s both camp and unsettling, all anchored by Campbell keying in on what the series is now and selling it. The problem is the first half is such a delight that the second drags a little in comparison, when no one else can match Campbell’s ability to inhabit this world. When it stops being just the cabin and Ash the heightened surreality, like he’s separated entirely from the normal world, is diminished, and none of the supporting cast are half as memorable. Still, there’s plenty of good bits in the second half too, and the first half alone would make this great viewing. This is a proudly silly and giddily bloodthirsty treat in on the joke, and it’s no wonder it was a blueprint for so many horror comedies after.

Spoilers

Well, it may not be a popular idea, but I didn't find the movie very good. Mostly because of horrible special effects (it's an old movie so that's understandable, the first part when the bodies were falling down it looked grotesque, they used something like blended onion or something). But even then, there were already better techniques to make it look less ridiculous. Also, maybe I'm dumb, but I don't get how are these two first movies even connected. Ash and his friends find sumerian book of death thingy in remote mountain cabin, then they all die and he survives. In second movie the same Ash goes to different remote mountain cabin with his girlfriend and he finds the same(?) book of death thingy and she + some random people die and he survives again. He didn't remember what happened in the first movie? I watched the whole trilogy one after another and I can't figure out how did they work together. At least the last movie had a bit original story. I rate it : I'm not a fan of onion out of ten

Cult film for some, but I'm atheist

Based on its reputation, I would have expected to like the second film in the "Evil Dead" series a bit more. But I had a ton of fun with this sequel/remake regardless. You notice the bigger budget right from the start. Director Sam Raimi once again shows his incredible creativity. However, one should not expect a coherent sense of continuity from the series. The tone has shifted significantly since the first installment; the level of violence has been reduced slightly and replaced with numerous slapstick bits. The cast worked much better for me this time around, even if some of the characters continue to be pretty flat. Fortunately, Bruce Campbell has improved a lot compared to the first movie. Overall, I have a few issues with the film's tone, which doesn't always seem to mesh. Nevertheless, it's a fun horror comedy, for sure.

The movie is actually good at being **entertaining**, not a dull moment in terms of things that make you want to talk to the person beside you about and so its really good at being **fun** to watch.

What points this loses in coherence and structure it immediately makes right back with energy, ingenuity and sheer entertainment value. Little more than a one man show, Evil Dead 2 is where Bruce Campbell really made his name, and deservedly so. Whether he'#39;s shrieking like a little girl at the sight of a poorly-animated headless marionette, cackling deviously as he pounds a spike through his own evil right hand or playing it cool as the gritty, badass soldier-man with a chainsaw appendage, Campbell boldly plants his flag right in the center of every scene. I can'#39;t begin to imagine the kind of fun he and director Sam Raimi must have had cooking up one outlandish, unbelievable situation after the other, then playing it up on-screen to such ridiculous lengths. It'#39;s a film you'#39;ll never quite nail down - is it meant to be serious or slapstick? - and that'#39;s precisely why it works so well. A metric ton of fun that escalates in the blink of an eye.

Not really a sequel. This is the movie Evil Dead should have been!

I think I like this one more than the first just because of how ridiculous it is.

First time I saw this, I didn'#39;t like the slapstick humor. I didn'#39;t know you could mix genres. Now I find it a blast!

Sam Raimi truly went bonkers for the sequel. Never have I seen a better marriage of horror and comedy without sacrificing the horror element.

Far better than the original. Great ending and addition of lore. Even though I am not a fan of the genre, I like a charismatic character like Ash.

So nice so much better than part1 so funny for all who like ash vs evil dead even in 2021 :)

Pretty much a remake of the first movie, if not even a parody. Although the pacing and visual impact are hundreds of times better, it kind of misses the roughness and inventive approach of the original. Not nearly as entertaining as Peter Jackson's "Braindead" , but still worth checking out from time to time.

Pure instanity! When you thought _The Evil Dead_ could not be more inventive and creative, _Evil Dead II_ takes you to another level of absurdity. This film is a slightly different retelling of the first film but it brings huge improvements. With higher budget, better looking special effects, more gore, more fun camera techniques, and added full-blown comedy, it'#39;s impossible not to have fun while watching it. The stop-motion effects are done extraordinarily well and the gore is the perfect blend of ridiculous and disgusting. It really knows when to take itself seriously and when not to. Bruce Campbell once again effortlessly pulled off his character and his expressiveness adds an extra charm to the film. Not really much to say besides this being so entertaining.

Spoilers

The bulk of it was a little too slapstick and over-the-top for me to be able to take it seriously, or even to find it terribly funny, but I appreciate what the effort was about. It did have some cool moments — Ash's one-liners, the part where they rigged the chainsaw onto his arm — and the practical effects were great, but the first half hour or so felt like I'd missed part of the beginning for setup, and it was rushed, in my opinion. The ending was pure Time Bandits, so silly. Overall the plot was a little tighter than the original, though again, it felt like I was missing some key exposition somewhere that would have better explained why Ash and Linda were there to begin with, and why Ash didn't even hesitate to knock her head off with a shovel and then immediately bury her with no apparent emotional upset. I'll probably watch Army of Darkness to just see how that all gets resolved, but beyond that my interest level is actually LOWER after watching this one.

Lots of incredibly entertaining, fun scenes, and the camerawork is very kinetic and expressive. The acting is also surprisingly solid for an 80s horror movie. However, the narrative structure and exposition dumps are quite clunky, and there isn’t anyone who resembles a character, so the emotional beats don’t hit as hard as they potentially could. It also wouldn’t be a Sam Raimi film if there weren’t at least a few moments where the technology gets pushed way beyond what should be attempted at the time, so there are some visuals that look incredibly dated, even when you keep other films from around the same time in mind. I feel bad for calling out artistic ambition, but Raimi to me seems like someone who doesn’t give a shit about how his film will age, and as a result his films haven’t stood the test of time as well as other directors. Nevertheless, it’s a relentless ride that’s entertaining more often than it isn’t. It’s also quite unique, taking influence from genres you don’t often see in horror comedies (e.g. the cheesy one liners which are a clear nod to 80s action movies). 7/10

Featured User Reviews

The Flaming Groovy! Yes indeed, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell are back to shake some action with this remake of their own The Evil Dead (1981), only this time with more money and more overt humour. A quick prologue sets things up nicely, then BAM! Ash (Campbell) and his squeeze are in the cabin of doom and about to be part of a night of unholy demonic terror. It's a nightmare of the black comedy kind, where Raimi and Campbell invite us to a party and then gleefully pummel us into submission - and we sado-masochistically enjoy it! Ash has grown a pair of cojones and decides to fight back against the demonic forces, cue mucho action with chainsaw and shotgun. There's a quip on the tongue for our hero as well, even as he is battered from pillar to post to make the action work. Raimi isn't interested in extraneous scenes or exposition, he strips it bare as the pic hurtles along, all while he brings his technical skills with camera and sound design to the fore. The humour is often outrageous, dementedly so, while it's nice to find a group of film makers who don't feel the need to now throw blood and guts at the screen every other scene just to make a formulaic impact. Bonkers, chilling and devilishly funny. 8/10

Wuchak
Wuchak
0/10

RELEASED IN 1987 and written & directed by Sam Raimi, “The Evil Dead” chronicles events when two Michigan State students (Bruce Campbell & Denise Bixler) travel to a remote cabin in western Tennessee for spring break wherein they discover a copy of the Book of the Dead and an audiotape whose incantations resurrect demons in the woods. The daughter of the archeologist who made the tape (Sarah Berry) also visits the cabin with her beau (Richard Domeier) and a couple of dubious locals (Dan Hicks & Kassie Wesley DePaiva). The first film was low-budget, cartoony and extreme, but it was serious horror. This sequel is also cartoony and extreme, but it’s decidedly comedy horror. It’s entertaining for what it is, but it’s hindered by a confusing opening “recap” that doesn’t match the previous film. Raimi stated that he didn’t have the rights to use material from the original movie so he did a 7-minute recap with only two people instead of five (with Denise Bixler taking over the role of Linda). But there are other inconsistencies: The Book of the Dead and audiotape is found in a room rather than the basement and Ash (Campbell) later “rediscovers” that the bridge is out, which he already knew via events in the first film. Once you get past the awkward and perplexing set-up, the movie settles into an entertaining over-the-top gory horror comedy, which is so creative it’s as if it was made by a lunatic. Bixler is a great replacement in the role of Linda, but her part is too brief and you only catch glimpses of her stunning beauty. It took me a while to warm up to Annie (Berry), but I eventually did and she’s a worthy secondary protagonist. There are several amusing and thrilling sequences, like the demonic hand scenes. THE FILM RUNS 1 hour & 24 minutes and was shot in Wadesboro and (studio) Wilmington, North Carolina, with supplementary work done in Detroit. ADDITIONAL WRITER: Scott Spiegel. GRADE: B-/C+

7/10 Just, would have been a 6/10 if not for the blood gore and mess. Now this is not comedy horror, This is a Horror-Comedy and yes their's a difference. That being said this us no way better than number 1 Not in a million years Never....Will be. Number 1 is a far far superior movie in every way, the blood gore mess, the deaths, the interesting story, the camra work all hand held by Raimi. The stand out iconic scene of the forest rape that was one of the main reason the masterpiece of the original got banned fir everything that has made the original timeless and one of the best damn horror movies ever made and is definitely in the "GOAT" category has all been gutted and watered-down for this continuation, I mean Raimi got summoned to a court of law over number 1 and had to stand in front of a judge and defend the 1st movie and prevent his ass from going to jail, so I get why number 2 is the way it is but nobody can tell me this is the better movie. "From what Multiverse are you from". But here's the ups Before Jim Carrey their was "Bruce Campbell" and my god he sells Ash in this installment, the guy is acting his heart out and then some, now whether the slapstick is you're cup of tea are not you can not denie that Bruce is definitely the man for the job for this type of carry on. Holly Shit the guy can act and that's why he is a Legend through and through, even though I hate it when comedy-slapstick waters my Horror down Bruce definitely saw me through this second installment and made it very watchable and entertaining, I would not have enjoyed it at all with anybody else in the role. It served as a good sequel to move the story on and I get why it was sort of a retelling because New Line would not give the rights are any footage from the original to Raimi to do a sequel, Raimi wanted to use old footage to make it a complete blend from the 1st movie straight into the second but because he couldn't get the rights he said F-U to new line and just re-shot the hole lot with different actors/actresses supporting our Hero Bruce/Ash, so I'm fine we got a restructuring because at least we got The Evil Dead II from it. Look it's a good movie and I do enjoy it and I find the pacing is rather good and the movie has a great energy to it all thanx to Brucey baby and this movie certainly doesn't over stay it's welcome and all though not a patch on number 1 this movie is certainly a welcome addition and is still good fun 20yrs later. Now: ARMY OF DARKNESS The Directors Cut

**I don't understand the hype.** When watching this film, I got the serious impression that “Army of Darkness” ended up being a kind of sequel or spin-off to this work, considering the themes involved and the persistence of the main actor, Bruce Campbell. Both films have similarities, and it's hard not to think about it. Sam Raimi is one of those directors who have made a name for himself in horror cinema, but I can't help but think that this is one of his poorest works. “Evil Dead” is dark, it's bizarre, it's full of gore and scenes that make you want to throw up your popcorn, but it's not the kind of film I would watch again. With a miserably low budget and a lot of creativity, the director manages to disgust us more than to scare us, and there is little in this film that can really instill fear or dramatic tension. In fact, there are scenes that dangerously border on comedy. Bruce Campbell does what he can, and what he does is enough to guarantee protagonism due to the absolute lack of a capable and competent cast. The actor is not completely devoid of ability or talent, but he seems to have limited himself to this, and similar films. It goes without saying that the rest of the cast doesn't even deserve a mention in this review, as they are absolute amateurs or people who made mistakes in their profession. And of course the Necronomicon, a book created by the fantasy imagination of H. P. Lovecraft, has a relevant role in the plot and is absolutely fearsome. In the midst of this funny disaster, what saves this film a little is the way Raimi takes the opportunity to study cheap visual and special effects, and the results he can get from them. Buckets of paint, raspberry juice, bizarre synthetic makeup similar to carnival faces, we have almost everything.

Nathan
Nathan
0/10

The Evil Dead II takes everything fans loved from the original and ramps it up to one thousand, but is that such a good thing? The direction from Raimi is very present once again with fantastically creative shots and quick zooms that are such a staple of his. The story is way more fleshed out here, with interesting flash backs that give the original an entirely new perspective. The special effects are better than the original, and we get to see a lot more of what the evil entity is. But with all the positives this movie has, it is just missing something that I cannot put my finger on. The original felt so genuine, and I think the low budget helped increase the tension and horror of the possessions. Here the tone is a little campier and I just don't resonant with it as much as the original. It is still a great film, and one of the better horror films of the 80s, but I do not hold it as high as most unfortunately. Score: 81% ✅ Verdict: Great

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