VERY good, enjoyable campy horror schlock!

In 1979, Sam Raimi collaborated with a young group of friends to instigate a multiple-year odyssey that ultimately became The Evil Dead. It was made on an extraordinarily low budget, but nevertheless it became an immediate hit and was rewarded with a steadfast cult following. It wasn't long before Raimi was commissioned to produce a sequel.

After The Evil Dead was released, acclaimed horror author Stephen King praised the film to the skies. He incessantly lauded it and admired the efforts of Raimi and company. Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis soon approached Raimi with a proposal to helm the cinematic adaptation of Stephen King's Thinner. The offer was eventually rejected. However, with a persuasive nudge from King, De Laurentiis agreed to fund a sequel to The Evil Dead as an alternative. As a result, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn materialised into a highly commendable cult horror film.

Dead by Dawn is a common favourite when it comes to discussions regarding the greatest addition to the eventual Evil Dead trilogy. The film's primary strength is in its ability to generate an effective balance of comedy and horror; cleverly skating the line between the two with wonderful timing. It's a terrific combination of horror, comedy and pulp fun that manages to create a zany atmosphere that succeeds on many levels. Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and company deliver a flick that is an inspired piece of camp entertainment.

However, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is frankly more of a remake than a sequel. Scarce chronological obligations are established, the continuity appears pretty messed up, and Campbell's character would be extremely dumb to knowingly walk into the same demonic horrors again. Campbell, who plays the character Ash, goes to the same cabin with a girlfriend of the same name, in the same car, plays the same tape and fights the same kind of Evil Dead once again.

But I digress... Raimi had intended for Dead by Dawn to be a sequel and had wanted to include a form of recap of the events of the first movie. However, due to legal issues Raimi could not acquire permission to use footage from the first Evil Dead. Instead the first 10 minutes or so include an abridged retelling of the original film with less characters and less fleshing out. The original film concluded when Ash (Campbell) was rushed by a demonic Deadite. At about the 10-minute mark, this occurs and Ash is propelled back through the forest. It's essentially a sequel, but it effectively disregards any continuity between it and its predecessor.

I personally adore the first two Evil Dead movies, but my preference is this second instalment. Why? It's so much damn fun! The humour is considerably more over-the-top and therefore more enjoyable, Ash is a far more satisfying character, and the level of camp is upped for best effect.

Here's a more elaborate plot outline: Ash takes his girlfriend Linda (Bixler) to a secluded wooden cabin for a weekend getaway. Soon after their arrival, they discover a mysterious tape encompassing recordings by an aging professor. The professor had recorded translations of the "Book of the Dead" which awakens the demonic evil in the forest. Linda is soon possessed by the Evil Dead and is transformed into a white-faced zombie. This thrusts Ash into an intense battle for his life.
The plot is quite thin, to the point of essentially being transparent. Those familiar with the series will also realise that there isn't much plot for the original Evil Dead film either. It's a clichéd tale of friends being hunted by something, with an ensuing gore-fest soon commencing. However, unlike feeble horror crap such as Friday the 13th, this series is just so much damn fun. Genius humour is mixed with effective chills and terrifying moments.

Dead by Dawn is by far the best in the trilogy. A higher budget means better make-up and superior production vales. This sequel captures the horror elements of the first film really competently. The final instalment in the trilogy (so far), Army of Darkness, was all humour and campy action without the over-the-top gory horror. Therefore as an addition to The Evil Dead trilogy, Dead by Dawn cannot be beaten. Everything here is masterful: directing, editing, acting, make-up and script. Sam Raimi obviously wanted to get a laugh no matter how silly a situation is. He succeeds! When Ash's hand is possessed by a demon, you'll realise that this is purposely very campy and that's why we love it. One must also love the witty dialogue permeating a creative situation. Campbell delivers the one-liners with great comic timing. The highlights include the badass arming up followed by the random line "...Groovy". Or a demon who states "I'll swallow you soul!" just before Campbell sticks a shotgun in its mouth and replies "Swallow this!".

As I mentioned before, Dead by Dawn is fundamentally a sequel-come-remake. Raimi apparently opted to make this film the way he had wanted to make the original. For the original, the budget was too inadequate for his ideas. The funding for Dead by Dawn had been expanded to a few million dollars, allowing more of Raimi's ideas to be brought to fruition. Robert Rodriguez later used this technique with his trademark trilogy of action films. Rodriguez made El Mariachi on a shockingly low budget ($8,000!!!), then (when he was given an expanded budget) he reworked the film in the form of the remake/sequel Desperado. First-time directors ostensibly enjoy reworking their own ideas to suit their initial conceptions more faithfully. However, the $3.6 million given to Sam Raimi for Dead by Dawn didn't permit the director to make the ambitious medieval sequel he had envisioned - his 14th century vision was reduced to a single scene at the end (this idea was later executed in the form of Army of Darkness). Still, their modest budget allowed the filmmakers to create much more effective make-up, knock-out gore effects, bigger monsters and wackier camerawork. In a nutshell: this is the perfect campy horror/comedy hybrid.

Bruce Campbell apparently described Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn as "the mother of all sequels". It truly is! The perfect association of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell with producer Robert Tapert has created an ideal sequel. The wonderful visual style of director Raimi is certainly present here. His camerawork is first-rate, with an effective use of shadows, darkness and hilarious amounts of realistic gore. The film's only misstep would probably be the abundance of clichés. We probably wouldn't love it as much if the clichés were removed, but it's not going to be a perfect film with them included.
Dead by Dawn could be my favourite horror movie of all time. It's essential viewing for horror buffs and fans of the original movie. Ash's hilarious catchphrases and the high amount of hysterical physical comedy mixed with very effective horror scenes just cannot be topped. Followed by Army of Darkness.

9.0/10