• Director: Sam Raimi
• With: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Ted Raimi, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Denise Bixler, Lou Hancock, Richard Domeier, John Peakes
• Music by: Joseph LoDuca
• Duration: 1h24
• Studio: Rosebud
• Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

Having survived the horrors of the mystical Necronomicon by the skin of his teeth in The Evil Dead (1981), a half-mad Ash struggles to ward off the all-powerful demonic influence of the cursed forest. But evil never sleeps, and before long, a mortal mistake will bring everyone back to square one, including the late professor’s daughter, Annie, her partner, Ed, and a pair of unsuspecting locals. Now, as the unholy passages invite ancient dark spirits into this world, paving the way for the advent of pure evil, sanity is at stake. What have they unleashed unto the Earth? When fresh human souls are the ultimate prize, what can stop the things that were and shall be again?

Review:

The Evil Dead movies are the perfect mix between bloody gore, humour and practical special effects!

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn is the second instalment and starts of with a recap (albeit somewhat different) from the first movie where Ash and Linda arrive at the cabin, find the recorder and Hell breaks loose, leading to Ash being possessed by the dem as well!

And then starts the funniest part of the entire franchise where Campbell needs to act all by himself and have a fight with his hand! This is the movie where he changes in his ‘Battle Mode Ash’, with chainsaw ‘on’ the one hand and a sawed off shotgun in the other!

The story from the first movie is expanded in Evil Dead II with the professor and his wife being in the cabin when he recited the passages from the Necronomicon, The Book of The Dead, making his wife change into a deadite. He killed her but couldn’t cut her in pieces, the only way to stop one of them, so he burried her in the cellar of the cabin.

The professor’s daughter and a few others arrive just when Ash is battling his chopped off hand. And that’s when the movie gets less humourless and more horror, which is a nice change.

Ash and Annie have to try to get a portal to open where the demon is send back in time. And this is the perfect setup for Army of Darkness!

I love these movies! Campbell is the perfect fit to play funny, scared and groovy Ash! Evil Dead II is my favourite of the three original movies in the franchise.