Part of Midnight Movies
A secluded cabin. An ancient curse. An unrelenting evil. Five young friends have found the mysterious and fiercely powerful Book of the Dead. Unable to resist its temptation, they release a violent demon on a bloodthirsty quest to possess them all. Who will be left to fight for their survival and defeat this unearthly force of murderous carnage? This shockingly bloody reimagining of the Sam Raimi classic divided fans in its release a decade ago but has been reappraised in recent years and become a valued chapter in the Necronomiconiverse. With the newest installment coming to theaters soon, we thought it would be the perfect time to revisit this particular iteration of that fateful cabin in the woods.
“It’s ultimately everything a modern horror movie should be.” —Kevin Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (April 2013) “Álvarez triumphs because he made one crucial decision: Avoid digital animation and use only practical in-camera special effects. He uses every trick from classic Hollywood and invents a few of his own.” —Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer (April 2013) “While [Sam] Raimi’s Stooges aesthetic — which was really more prominently displayed in the sequels than in 1981’s THE EVIL DEAD —isn’t played up here, there’s enough outrageous unreality to make the brutality go down a little easier. It isn’t quite a cartoon, but it’s close enough.” —Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club (April 2013)