Deadites | Through the Shattered Lens

This weekend we see the release of another horror remake. A remake of a film that’s considered a grindhouse and exploitation classic that’s sure to anger its legion of fans. Well, that anger seem to have dissipated as hype and buzz about the remake started to spread throughout the film blogging community with emphasis from those covering genre.

The Evil Dead by Sam Raimi still remains one of those horror films that horror fans love to talk about. It’s an exercise in the low-budget, guerrilla-style filmmaking that didn’t just introduce Raimi to the genre crowd, but also gave us all the greatest gift in the form of Bruce Campbell aka “God When He Takes Human Form”.

The franchise which grew around the original film may have morphed into classic horror slapstick, but nothing beats the original in being a truly brutal film. Yes, it’s a horror film that some find quite entertaining but it’s also a film that seems to relish in punishing its audience. There’s not much slapstick about this first film in the series and for some it continues to be one of the top horror films ever made.

So, for everyone who go out this weekend to watch the remake, Evil Dead, but who have never seen the original should go find a copy of the dvd (there’s like a bazillion different editions of it) and see why it remains a true horror and grindhouse classic.

Horror remakes is almost as old as the history of film. I’ve tried to educate those who complain that another horror classic was being remade and it will suck. Guess what horror classics have always been remade and they don’t always suck. So, instead of telling these snobs to go in their rooms and drool and jerk one off to their classics they don’t want tarnished by a remake I just shake my head and try to see if the remake holds up to the original or, better yet, judge the remake on it’s own creative merits and see if it brings something new to the “classic” original.

In 2013 we see one such horror remake arriving on the big-screen with Fede Alvarez’s new take on a true horror and grindhouse classic horror, The Evil Dead.

The film will be produced by two of the same people who made the original film in Sam Raimi and Bruce “God when walking amongst the humans he created” Campbell. There will not be a character named Ash, but the role of Mia (played by Jane Levy) will take on a similar role in the film. This trailer first premiered for a select audience during this year’s New York Comic-Con and the response was loud, louder and even louder. One thing which everyone who saw the trailer seemed to agree was that the remake looks to honor the original film (rushing POV tracking shots to the oppressive atmosphere throughout the film) while also giving director Fede Alvarez a chance to add his own visual and narrative style to the production.

It is going to be a gory remake and very oppressive and nihilistic. What the trailer doesn’t seem to hint at is any sign of dark humor that fans of the original film are now nitpicking about. Guess what…the original was straight up grindhouse horror that had nothing humorous about (well unless you consider a possessed tree raping a woman as being hilarious). So, it’s going to be interesting to see if this remake will get a chance to impress the fans of the original while at the same time show those new to the horror genre a glimpse at what 70’s horror was really all about.

The Evil Dead is set for a 2013 release date.