'Evil Dead' Remake Loses Campiness of Original, Ramps Up Gore

See "Evil Dead" at Movies 400, 415 Atlanta Road or AMC Avenue Forsyth 12, 350 Peachtree Parkway. For more theater information, show times and pricing, click the links above.

The premise, courtesy of the film's official website:

In the much-anticipated remake of the 1981 cult-hit horror film, five 20-something friends become holed up in a remote cabin. When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival.

Here's what critics are saying:

Despite numerous visual winks to the original, (Director Fede) Alvarez sacrifices its camp, crass humor for lashings of slick, sick gore. Hard-core fans may love it. But, much like those demons, it’s rather soulless. — James Mottram, The National

'Evil Dead' has a gleeful exuberance of its own analogous to the mad invention of the original ... What this 'Evil Dead' gets most right is its tone, paying homage yet staking its own territory; it's scary without being downbeat, fun without being too jokey. ... But back to the goo. There is plenty of over-the-top gore, great gushing geysers of it. — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

Here’s what you’ll get in Alvarez’s much-anticipated debut, a reboot of Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror landmark: Decapitations. Projectile vomiting. Burnings and bludgeonings. And, yes, arboreal assault. — Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

This 'Evil Dead' is not as campy as the original. There is humor, but it's mostly absurdism in the face of carnage, and it is way more gruesome. — Chris Hewett, Pioneer Press

Backed by great performances by a young cast, and a seemingly unending number of high-tension, disturbingly gory horror sequences, the new movie is the definition of crowd-pleaser and one hell of a ride. — Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend

There are a lot of character details and behaviors in the first 45 minutes of the film that seem to be setting up things that will pay off in the second half of the film, but a surprising amount of it ends up going nowhere. It's like once the film actually starts cranking up the horror, they just sort of drop everything else that they're doing ... — Drew McWeeny, Hit Fix

Little of what Raimi brought to 'Evil Dead' remains. (Except the remains.) All is dark, sepia-toned, artful in its murk, and relentless and rather numbing in its geysers of bodily fluids. ... The new one is better acted, more carefully composed. But it feels like a lot of other remakes of '70s and '80s horror titles. Competent craftsmanship, vacuous slickness. — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

... 'Evil Dead' delivers satisfyingly disgusting effects that serve an ever-accelerating action pace. The only respite from the gore comes in those treacherous moments when one of the possessed stops spitting threats and blood to speak in the wounded, innocent voice of the human who used to inhabit its body. — John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

"Evil Dead" runs 91 minutes and is rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language.

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