The remake is rather cool and pays homage to the original. It is laugh out loud funny because of the ridiculous amount of gore.

I don't know how they managed to secure just an R rating, I would love to see what was left out.

The film plays it straight horror though, no slapstick haminess of the original's two sequels.

The absence of an Ash character is interesting but it saves the film from being predictable as far as who is going to survive.

Overall, the film is horribly violent and awesome fun. Not scary really but plenty of yell at the screen moments and more than enough averting of the eyes moments.

We saw it last Saturday and it was great! My husband had never seen the original so he didn't know about Ash anyway.

It's not camp (unless you count the over the top gore) or fun like the originals. And I liked the first half a lot more than the last.

That said, I'll give them points for making it "realistic" (that is if you accept the premise), and by that I mean IF such a powerful evil nightmarish force were to infest and act through dead bodies (and had access to the memories in the brain, or, shudder, the soul) then it would probably act much more like this than in the originals, and there was an understandable (if completely inhuman & sadistic) motive for it to do so rather than just feasting on tasty souls. There was no winking at the audience, it was just a horrific sitch and so graphically gory that I wasn't able to watch all of it.

But as for me this is one of the few times I prefer the originals which I found a lot more fun and a lot less time of me cringing with my eyes shut (at how gory it was more than a feeling of horror, not to say that they missed the horror element completely, that was present as well).

VERY MINOR SPOILER:

Well there was one moment that most in the cinema laughed because a victim being taken over peed herself. I saw it as showing how terrified she was as the inhuman evil invaded her, violating her in both body & soul. I'm not sure if that was me reading too much into it or if I understood it right but it was too subtle for most everyone else there. It was the only time I recall them laughing, however (unlike say Drag Me to Hell which had a lot of LOL moments and kinda similar to the original Evil Dead movies in feel, that is to say I found it different from other Raimi movies I've seen).

Btw, sometime in the credits there's a reading about the Book of the Dead that I think is from the originals, and after the credits they have Ash say, "Groovy." Just saying as some people like little extras like that.

It's not camp (unless you count the over the top gore) or fun like the originals. And I liked the first half a lot more than the last.

That said, I'll give them points for making it "realistic" (that is if you accept the premise), and by that I mean IF such a powerful evil nightmarish force were to infest and act through dead bodies (and had access to the memories in the brain, or, shudder, the soul) then it would probably act much more like this than in the originals, and there was an understandable (if completely inhuman & sadistic) motive for it to do so rather than just feasting on tasty souls. There was no winking at the audience, it was just a horrific sitch and so graphically gory that I wasn't able to watch all of it.

But as for me this is one of the few times I prefer the originals which I found a lot more fun and a lot less time of me cringing with my eyes shut (at how gory it was more than a feeling of horror, not to say that they missed the horror element completely, that was present as well).

VERY MINOR SPOILER:

Well there was one moment that most in the cinema laughed because a victim being taken over peed herself. I saw it as showing how terrified she was as the inhuman evil invaded her, violating her in both body & soul. I'm not sure if that was me reading too much into it or if I understood it right but it was too subtle for most everyone else there. It was the only time I recall them laughing, however (unlike say Drag Me to Hell which had a lot of LOL moments and kinda similar to the original Evil Dead movies in feel, that is to say I found it different from other Raimi movies I've seen).

Btw, sometime in the credits there's a reading about the Book of the Dead that I think is from the originals, and after the credits they have Ash say, "Groovy." Just saying as some people like little extras like that.

The group I saw it with didn't laugh at the woman pissing herself, most found it unsettling. I think they could relate to the horror of it and figured they would most likely do the same thing if not worse.

The one part that cracked everyone up was when a character asks why her face hurts. That was pretty funny.

I liked the original better, but I think because it is the one I fell in love with. But for what it was, this version was pretty entertaining.

It's one I want to see, but need to find time to see it. Love the original series.

Saw this last night and whereas it was an ok horror movie, it was a crummy Evil Dead movie. There was very little humor and personality that the real Evil Dead movies have. The deadites from this one, for instance have no personality to them, they're pretty much any generic demonicly possessed person. The deadites from the originals have a very distinct flair to them, so much so that they created their very own category, not just zombies or possessed people. I just don't get why they couldn't have made this and called it something else, because it felt nothing like an Evil Dead movie.

Saw this last night and whereas it was an ok horror movie, it was a crummy Evil Dead movie. There was very little humor and personality that the real Evil Dead movies have. The deadites from this one, for instance have no personality to them, they're pretty much any generic demonicly possessed person. The deadites from the originals have a very distinct flair to them, so much so that they created their very own category, not just zombies or possessed people. I just don't get why they couldn't have made this and called it something else, because it felt nothing like an Evil Dead movie.

I watched the original "The Evil Dead" last night to better compare it to this film and I have to say, I think people are so enamored with Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness that they forget that the first film in the trilogy was not played as a comedy like part 2 and 3. It was played as a horror film with Ash (Bruce Campbell) not cracking wise or being a ham.

It wasn't until part 2 that Bruce was allowed to ham it up and turned the franchise into a horror comedy outing that people loved so well.

With that said, this remake latches onto the spirit of the first film and plays it straight horror. I saw several people go on about how gory it is. The original is just as gory with fountains of blood and dismemberments. Of course, the budget restraints of the original made the effects somewhat laughable albeit endearing.

I am a fan of the original trilogy and I think the remake is spot on.

With that said, yes, the deadites here were not nearly as outlandish and were rather generic. They spent a lot of time using lines that would have fit better in an Exorcist remake versus an Evil Dead film. But...in the end the film was still enjoyable.

I watched the original "The Evil Dead" last night to better compare it to this film and I have to say, I think people are so enamored with Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness that they forget that the first film in the trilogy was not played as a comedy like part 2 and 3. It was played as a horror film with Ash (Bruce Campbell) not cracking wise or being a ham.

It wasn't until part 2 that Bruce was allowed to ham it up and turned the franchise into a horror comedy outing that people loved so well.

With that said, this remake latches onto the spirit of the first film and plays it straight horror. I saw several people go on about how gory it is. The original is just as gory with fountains of blood and dismemberments. Of course, the budget restraints of the original made the effects somewhat laughable albeit endearing.

I am a fan of the original trilogy and I think the remake is spot on.

With that said, yes, the deadites here were not nearly as outlandish and were rather generic. They spent a lot of time using lines that would have fit better in an Exorcist remake versus an Evil Dead film. But...in the end the film was still enjoyable.

While I agree 1 is defintely more of a horror movie, probably why its my favorite, and would agree that its not played as a comedy, it falls in a sort of black comedy category to me, just heavy on the black and light on the comedy. Between the Scotty characters apparent invulnerability, the schlocky effects, the copious amount of gore and certain other elements, I think there is a definite humor to it. Obviously 2 and AOD amp it up as those become more about Ash, personally I don't really care for AOD, though I would've loved to have seen the original darker version before the studio messed it up.

I read an interesting article that was saying that the remake isn't really that gory, its just the use of practical effects make it seem so. I'm not sure about that, but it was the use of practical effects that was a selling point for me.

At any rate, it'll be interesting to see whether it leads to the sequels both to the remake and the originals, that they were talking about.