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Introduction:
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, is the
second movie in the cult classic Evil Dead Trilogy (The first being The Evil
Dead, the third being The Army of Darkness). Written and directed by Sam
Raimi, who you may recognize more recently from directing Spiderman 1 and 2,
this movie sets a new standard for horror movies. Why you may ask?
Well gosh darnit I'm here to tell you!
Dead by Dawn, starring the great
Bruce Campbell (who has made cameo appearances in both Spiderman movies, wait,
Sam Raimi directs the Spiderman movies... Bruce Campbell has cameo appearances
in both... its all falling into place...), mixes horror and comedy in a way
never seen before. Sure, The Evil Dead was funny and all (and I recommend
seeing it) but it doesn't even compare to Evil Dead 2. The Army of
Darkness is just wacky funny and doesn't even get near being a horror film (but
you should still see it, ugh, just watch all of them!). Evil Dead 2 is much more
in the spirit of what the franchise was meant to be.
Summary:
Legend has it,
that it was written by the dark ones.
Necronomicon ex Mortis, roughly
translated, The Book of the Dead. The book served as a passageway to the
evil worlds beyond. It was written long ago. The seas ran red with
blood. It was this blood that was used to ink the book. In the year
1300 A.D., the book disappeared...
I swear that sounds a lot cooler when the narrator is
saying it, but man when I type that out, it sounds pretty lame. Yeah, look
at that crazy book, sure is scary huh? Anyways, this is the entire basis
of the Evil Dead Trilogy. It tells about such things as the secrets of The
Evil Dead, where they came from, and a story of how someone from the sky fought
off the first beings unleashed. So this book was sitting safe and sound until
one, Professor Raymond Knowby (world class idiot), decided to find this book and
bring it to a creepy cabin and start reading off passages from it, and if that
wasn't bad enough, he had to tape record the whole thing!
Awww, Isn't that cute?
So Evil Dead 2 starts off with a
quick recap of the first movie... only slightly different...
|
Changes from The Evil Dead as
told in Evil Dead 2 recap |
| The Evil Dead |
Evil Dead 2 |
| Ashley J. Williams
(pussy) |
Ashley 'Ash' J.
Williams (badass) |
| 4 Teens (including
Ashley) travel to cabin |
Ash and girlfriend
travel to cabin |
| Girlfriend raped by
tree |
Girlfriend NOT
raped by tree |
So Ash and his girlfriend drive
across a bridge, through a forest and eventually get to the mysterious cabin.
Later that night, Ash finds a little recording device. The obvious thing
to do is to listen to it... Oh no! It's the Professor's recording device you idiot, he is
chanting phrases from the Book of the Dead! Turn it off! But no, you
just listen to it Ash, way to go, you've released all the evil spirits and
stuff. That is basically the set up to the whole movie. To give you
a taste of what this movie is like, in just the recap, we see...
1. Ash's girlfriend abducted by evil spirit
2. Ash goes after girlfriend in the mysterious dark foggy forest (without a
weapon)
3. Ash's girlfriend (now possessed) attacks Ash
4. Ash slices off girlfriend's head with a conveniently placed shovel
5. Ash buries girlfriend
So after the recap of the first film, and girls not
being raped by trees (sigh), the movie picks up where the last one left off...
Ah! What the Hell!
Oh yeah, Ash becomes
possessed by an evil spirit... or something (see above), but as the sun comes
out... it all goes away... because sunlight hurt dead ouchy ouchy. Get it,
Dead by Dawn... because... at dawn... the dead... die? Ok, it doesn't make
sense, but that doesn't matter. So once Ash becomes unpossessed (no spell
check, I'm not trying to say unprocessed) he attempts to make a get away.
Remember that bridge they crossed...
 |
 |
| Bridge Bridge Bridge |
Nooooooooooooo! |
So obviously Ash is
now trapped here for all time! The sun quickly, possibly evilly, sets
and Ash quickly drives back to the cabin while being chased by the camera...
err... evil spirit. While back at the cabin, Ash's girlfriend comes
back to life and attacks him. He puts her decapitated head in a vice,
and goes to grab a chainsaw only to see it's missing! Where could it
be!? The girlfriends headless body has it and runs at him! But
Ash has a crowbar, so he wins. He then takes the chainsaw and cuts her
head in half... read that again. He grabs the chainsaw, and cuts his
girlfriend's head in half. See: Badass. Ash then goes insane and
cuts off his own hand which has now become possessed.
I'm the handsome boyfriend. There's no way I'm
going to die in this movie!
So throughout the
movie, a group of 4 more people come to the cabin. How do they get
there you ask? Obviously there is a path that leads there, but shhhh
it's a secret. This group consists of the Professor's daughter, her
boyfriend, and two hillbillies from 'round these parts hiyuck. They
are heading to the cabin to see the daughter's parents! Boy oh boy are
they in for some fun. They get there and see a bloody Ash. They
mistakenly believe he killed the Professor and his wife (come on people,
he's only covered in blood in a bloody house with no one else around, quit
pointing fingers) and throw him in the cellar. Wait... the cellar!
That's where dead granny is!!
Who wants cookies!
So they manage to
escape evil granny for a short period of time with only a few wounds, as in
the boyfriend got bit. Which of course leads to...
Boo.
So now we got crazy
evil dead boyfriend. He attacks the hillbilly guy, appears to break
his neck followed by throwing him into a light bulb (he somehow lives), while Ash goes and
gets an axe. Yep, an axe. Ash then completely dismembers the
boyfriend, which for some reason has green blood.
Eh... so now what?
Somewhere later in
the movie the
hillbillies are killed off. I'd go into details, but does it really
matter? Anyways, we enter end game...
It's Official... Ash = Badass
Ash suits up for
the final showdown between Good and Evil Dead. Sawed off double barrel
shotgun? Check. Chainsaw to replace chopped off hand?
Check. Alright, looks like Ash is good to go. What is he
fighting you ask?
Hi Mom
That's right.
It is some giant abyss of a monster made up of faces, which I presume are
from past victims. Is there anyway to stop this creature!? It
all relies on that damn Professor's Daughter to chant the correct phrases to
send the dead back where they came from. Oh yeah, she is currently
impaled, forgot to mention that. So Ash and the beast have a go ahead
and Ash doesn't stand a chance, but the girl, in her last breaths, is able
to chant the right passage and open a portal to dispel the demons. It
seems all has been saved, (well, except Ash's girlfriend... and the
Professor... and his wife... and daughter... and the daughter's boyfriend...
and those two hillbillies... fine, only Ash is saved) but something has gone
terribly wrong! The portal won't close and it starts sucking
everything in. The trees, the cabin, and finally Ash are all sucked
into the portal.
We cut to Ash and
his car falling from the sky. In a hilarious shot, when they hit the
ground, the car is completely totaled, whereas Ash just kind of bounces a
little. Oddly, some Knights on horseback ride in to see who this
person is. Almost instantly a beast flying from the sky dives towards
Ash. Using his quick reflexes (and a shotgun) he manages to destroy the
creature. In shock, everyone starts bowing down to Ash and chanting. Haha... get it... cause he is the one from the sky... like the book said way
back when... and haha... yeah. Ash realizes this and the movie ends
with his yells...
No... No!.... NOOOOOOOOO!!
Conclusion:
This is without a
doubt one of the great movies of our time. It is great because of its
absurdity and originality. It easily outdoes the first movie
(although that is also a classic). In regards to the Army of Darkness,
I think it is also a fun movie, but way too pop culturized. I mean,
they have action figures, posters, comic books... it seems to ruin some of
the fun the movie has. The first two Evil Dead are nearly untouched by
this, which makes them more special, and therefore more fun to enjoy.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone looking to have a good laugh and
enjoy something very unique.
Jaybird currently
resides in Seattle where he reads comics, works in a
library, and writes for this site. He has also
been known to blow your mind, rock your world, and
eat pizza.
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