Comedies, dramas and action films rated “R” by the MPAA have a notoriously hard time at the box office. Horror movies, even more so.
The ones that have fared well with the Restricted rating had directors like Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island) and/or were nominated for Academy Awards (The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs).
Usually there’s a certain lack of credibility that adult audiences tend to skip. That was not the case for Fede Alvarez’s remake of Evil Dead, which came in #1 and made $26 million.
Not that there was a lot of competition besides Jurassic Park 3D (#4, $18.2 million).
I saw a matinée of the completely serious, non-campy Evil Dead (screenplay by Alvarez and Diablo Cody) with its many nods to the original (fear not, there is an Ash character) on Friday.
As a frequent viewer of horror films, I must say it did make me flinch.
This in thanks to what E!’s Peter Paras called an “unrelenting editing style” that never cut away from “the good stuff.”
Take the laughter out of the infamous tree rape scene and you’re left with actual squirm-inducing scares. Not to say that it’s a great movie or even that fans of the series are sure to enjoy it…
I liked it well enough and appreciated the use of practical effects. Jane Levy too.
II prefer Bruce and the Original gang to this poor version…..
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