Goddammit.
“This one is really different. They’ve changed it a lot, but it’s still a pretty gory movie. My mom probably can’t see it. I think the humor in the first one came from the special effects of the time. I don’t know that they meant it to be funny…This one is not funny. It’s definitely dark.”
That’s Evil Dead remake star Jane Levy saying very silly things about Evil Dead, as well as making the requisite promise that their horror movie will be as humorless and dark Dark DARK!!! as you pray for everyday. Hopefully writer Diablo Cody or director Federico Alvarez will pair a gentle smack in the back of the head with a little bit of cluing-in for Ms. Levy about the tongue-in-cheek charms of this franchise.
Still, I’ve heard decent things about the script, and at least Bruce himself is producing. And he has much less dumb things to say!
“You can expect to have a damn scary horror movie. There’s no Ash character — The Evil Book is going to torment a new set of kids, so it’s a remake, or a re-imagining or … a re-whatever word you want to use. It’s going to be re-scary. [The Trees are back]… They’re not terribly well behaved this time either. (laughs)”
It does sound like we can safely glean that translating the humor of the franchise is not this production’s highest priority. I’m not as excited about a remake that’s trying to fit rape trees into an ultra-dour, grim horror movie, but I’m still weirdly inclined to give this the benefit of the doubt.
Are you feeling less forgiving?
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Source | Insider (via Dark Horizons)
15 comments
Evil Dead 1 wasn’t campy.
Definitely not. I once were it described by a film historian as “so graphic and mean, all you can do is laugh”.
*Heard
Agreed. This may be considered Geek-Treason, but i enjoy ED1 the most of the whole lot precisely because it has more atmosphere and way less camp than the sequels.
Besides, of all the things that a remake can do, translating very of-its-time-and-budget-and-team humor is not one of them.
Sorry. Put me in ED2 category. The dancing scene with the lamp is worth the… Well shit, its about one of my favorite scenes ever. Especially the fake out against the lamp!
Why do I get the feeling this chick says, “like” a lot when she talks?
Bruce can play damage control all he wants. It still doesn’t boost my confidence for this project.
I can’t wait for the grim and gritty and dark remake of Leave it to Beaver.
“I don’t know that they meant it to be funny…” Oh, fuck off you pretentious twat.
Are horror fans the most masochistic? I’m a horror junky and a snob, as long as the film has heart i’ll give it a try, and as a fan of Cronenberg’s The Fly and Carpenter’s The Thing (and a lot of Hammer’s output) I don’t just knee-jerk hate any and all remakes but I find it difficult to support these clueless and offensive remakes that either badmouth or simply don’t “get” the originals. It seems that the horror field is so anemic when it comes to fresh material, and anyone who has been through a Horror drought knows that the field can dry up for a long time, so many a horror fan will support these poor efforts for fear of a new drought…
Gah!
She’s playing the junkie part right? Doesn’t matter if she plays it dark or serious or whatever as the tone is in the hands of the writer and director as Renn says. The actress just has to play to the reality of her character. The only problem with that quote is that some idiot asked her opinion.
re the Camp thing:
Evil Dead was such a strange, manic mix of aesthetics that it could be a different thing for each audience member, but skewing into a general over all “heightened experience” – extremely scary, hilarious etc. I wouldn’t call it “camp” per se (because it wasn’t winking at the audience or breaking the reality of the situation) but it certainly plays “big” and unsubtle like camp does.
Reminds me Cabin in the Woods is hitting screens soon. You guys reviewing the March 9 showing?
Okay. I’m not saying this can’t be good. It could in fact be great. But the rumor mill and sheer existence of this just doesn’t sound like it’s something that should matter. It’s not like the original film had some wickedly awesome plot or concept to revolve around. It was people trapped in a cabin with a book. The Necronomicon is not some artifact unique only to Evil Dead. I think it’s made great use of it through the Army of Darkness comics, but those involved narratives with Ash J. Williams. I was a bit too young to catch Evil Dead in its original release, but I caught it several times on VHS and for an independent production and its anecdotal filmmaking techniques, it’s a success in its own right and worth archiving. Then Dead by Dawn comes out which is basically the same movie, but where it really hit its stride and founded the tone which we know today. Is Evil Dead worth remaking? No. Not in my book. But that’s not my call. But what is my call is allowing this film to separate me from my money. And that will never happen. It would have to have Bruce returning as Ash not just producing with his Hawaiian shirt and mojito money.
Excuse the rant. I’ve had coffee.
Why is this comment deemed dumb? Her sentiment echos that of many people I’ve met over the years. They think of the first Evil Dead as something goofy to laugh at because of the dated effects, clothing, etc. However, if you sit and watch the film on it’s own terms, not looking for something to mock, it’s quite scary, dark, and nihilistic.
It makes perfect sense that they would take the serious approach for the remake and try and make it truly scary again. And really does anyone want to see another aping of the ED2 highjinks? If I want to see another version of that I’ll watch The Convent, Night of the Demons 1and2, Dead Alive, Slither, Jennifer’s Body, Demon Knight, Waxworks, etc ad infinitum.
Oh, she probably didn’t even watch them. Yeah, Evil Dead 1 was serious. Evil Dead 2 had fun. But look at most of these actors nowadays – such as idiots in Resident Evil films (guilty pleasure garbage) saying “This one is gonna be so scary!” I honestly don’t know why you’d remake an Evil Dead film unlesss you were planning on not taking it too seriously. Evil Dead 2 is a far better film than Evil Dead.
I once had a (very brief) email correspondence with Bruce Campbell on the subject of the remake, to which he retorted “You don’t have two kids to send to college, do you?”
Regardless of how the filmmakers try to rationalize or justify its existence, the motivation behind the remake really does boil down to profit, plain and simple.
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