Ash is back, and with a higher budget.

Cast, Crew, and Other Info

Bruce Campbell as Ash

Ted Raimi as the Witch in the Cellar

Sarah Berry as Annie

Written by Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel

Directed by Sam Raimi

Complete information is available from the
IMDB.

Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca

Past movie reviews can be found here.

Premise

In what feels like a remake, but what Bruce Campbell
insists is a
sequel, Ash brings a girlfriend to a cabin in the
woods and faces off
against the evil dead.

High Point

The hand fight.

Low Point

If this is a sequel, as Bruce insists, why does Ash
risk heading out
to any cabin only accessible by an old bridge? Why
doesn’t he react
when he sees the book next to the tape recorder? If
it is a remake,
why pick this title? It just doesn’t seem to work
either way.

The Scores

This doesn’t feel very original.
This is a sequel that adds little but some
deliberate, effective
humour. The humour works, but a lot of the rest is a
rehash of the
original, which was a rehash of so many slasher pics
that came before
it. I give it 3 out of 6.

The effects were lousy. We’ve got jerky
stop motion,
inconsistent blood, and a number of other issues that
need worked on.
I give it 3 out of 6.

The story is very simple, with an obvious
ending. I give it
3 out of 6.

The acting is hammy and over the top, but
deliberately so.
Bruce Campbell delivers some excellent pratfalls,
though. His
physical abilities to act in this movie really sell
it. Very few
could have pulled this off half as well without an
army of stunt
doubles. (He really changes the meaning of suffering
for one’s art.)
I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response is strong. This is
meant to be a
comedy, and it is a very effective one. It’s not
particularly scary,
but it keeps me laughing the entire time. I give it
5 out of 6.

The production is stylish on a tight budget.
The lighting
had problems as the original did, but again, it’s
better than they
should have been able to manage on this kind of
budget. I give it 4
out of 6.

Overall, it’s a very amusing little movie,
that’s great to
watch when you want a Halloween themed laugh. I give
it 4 out of 6.

In total, Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn
receives 26 out of 42.

Halloween Countdown to date

• October 1: Witchcraft
  Through The Ages
• October 2: The Evil
  Dead