Review: "Evil Dead"

When it comes to the "Evil Dead" franchise, the line between remake and sequel is rather hazy. The low-budget "Evil Dead 2" of 1987 was largely a reboot of the zero-budget original from six years earlier --  unless, that is, the main character had somehow completely forgotten all his horrific experiences from the first film.

The third movie, "Army of Darkness," really did continue the story forward, though not very satisfactorily. The new film, the only not directed by Sam Raimi, is billed as a remake but more closely resembles a sequel to the original trilogy.

It appears to take place in the same cabin in the woods from the first two films, and the hero's old Oldsmobile Delta 88 even sits not far away, slowly being swallowed up by the earth. It's as if the place was discovered and fixed up again by newcomers who repeat the whole cycle all over again, reading from a demonic Book of the Dead that unleashes hellish forces.

This film was made with Raimi's blessing, and original star Bruce Campbell served as a producer. They tapped first-time filmmaker Fede Alvarez, who co-wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues and Diablo Cody. They take the same basic premise and twist it around while paying homage to the original films.

The result is as bloody as anything Raimi & Co. ever put out -- and that's saying something -- but intentionally not as funny. The original trilogy registered just this side of Three Stooges slapstick at times, so it's bracing to get back to hardcore horror roots. They even borrow Raimi's technique of a low-angle camera careening through the woods like a nefarious spirit in search of a host.

The twist here is that the gang of comely youngsters have come to this remote place to help one of them kick her drug habit. Mia (Jane Levy) is a bit hard around the edges, having been abandoned by her older brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) to care for their dying mother. Now he's back with new girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) in tow to help his sister go cold turkey.

Rounding out the group are Jessica Lucas as Olivia, a sensible leader with medical training, and Lou Taylor Pucci as Eric, an intellectual type. Of course, it's Eric who discovers the evil book and starts reading incantations from it -- despite it being bound in human flesh, with handwritten warnings inside like "Don't read this!" and "You will unleash hell!" In scary movies, the nerd is always the cause of the downfall.

Alvarez starts out on a suspenseful note, with the cast discovering a gruesome spectacle down in the root cellar, the result of a deadly ritual we witnessed in the movie's opening scene. Mia begins to see a strange girl in the woods, a downpour floods the river and cuts off any hope of escape, and the blood faucet is opened full bore.

As for the gore -- you're either a fan of this sort of thing or you aren't. I grew up on stuff like the first "Evil Dead" films, so part of the appeal is how shocking the filmmakers can be to a jaded audience of people like myself. I'd say they did pretty well; I actually flinched a few times.

The characters are written as little more than cartoon characters, though the actors manage to instill them with a few notes. David is apparently really a fan of duct tape, believing it can solve all of life's problems -- even demonic possession and the accompanying gaping wounds.

Eric seems to have the constitution of Rasputin, his body absorbing more abuse than any human could, but he keeps coming back to save somebody else's bacon.

The new "Evil Dead" lacks the puckish cleverness of the original two films, and if it stood on its own I doubt it'd spawn the same following. But it's not bad as run-of-the-mill horror goes.

2.5 stars out of four

Video review: "Red Riding Hood"

I wanted to like "Red Riding Hood" -- an inertly erotic, Gothic version of the parable from director Catherine Hardwicke -- but it's so dreadfully self-serious that it often ends up just being silly.

Hardwicke, who helmed the first "Twilight" movie before leaving the franchise, has a keen eye and sumptuous visual style. Her version of a girl plagued by a deadly werewolf has a lush, dreamy quality, as if the picture is indistinct around the edges.

Here, Amanda Seyfried plays Valerie, a virginal town girl with a carnally curious nature. She has not one but two suitors: Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), the poor woodcutter who's loved her since childhood, and Henry (Max Irons), the spoiled but not entirely unworthy rich boy who's been promised Valerie's hand in marriage.

When a ghostly wolf threatens the village, help arrives in the form of Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), a lycanthrope-hunting priest whose style is closer to Inquisition than Saint Francis.

Other characters flitting around the edges of the story are a meek priest (Lukas Haas) and Valerie's grandmother (Julie Christie), who lives alone deep in the woods with her bubbling cauldron.

David Johnson's screenplay devolves into a woefully misguided whodunit, in which the audience tries to figure out who is secretly the werewolf. Meanwhile, Hardwicke indulges in plenty of her own excesses, including a medieval dance session with the village teens that resembles a modern rave.

It never pays to sex up the classics.

Extra features are quite skimpy for the DVD version, but improve greatly upon upgrading to the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.

The DVD contains only a single goodie: Several deleted scenes.

The combo pack, dubbed the "Alternate Cut," features a director's cut that's slightly different from the theatrical version, including a new ending.
There is also a picture-in-picture commentary with Hardwicke, Seyfried, Fernandez and Irons -- I only wish more films included such participation by the principal cast members.

There are also another dozen or so featurettes and Easter Eggs, including casting tapes, footage from rehearsals, music video, gag reel and more.

Plus, a digital copy of the film.

Movie: 1.5 stars out of four
Extras: 3.5 stars

Review: "Red Riding Hood"

Was the world really crying out for a sexed-up version of "Little Red Riding Hood," with the naive young girl transformed into the carnally curious town tart pursued by two pouty-lipped bad boys?

This is a strange, dreary and stubbornly un-entertaining reboot of the ancient fairy tale about a little girl who meets the big, bad wolf. Granted there were always sexual undertones to the legend, but this is like the Brothers Grimm by way of "Twilight," with ancient forebodings about creatures of the night used as grist for the mill of angsty teenage lust.

The "Twilight" comparison is an obvious one, since director Catherine Hardwicke helmed the first film in that franchise, before getting the boot/quitting in frustration (depending on who you ask). Rumor even has it that Shiloh Fernandez, who plays the main flame to Red Riding Hood's Amanda Seyfried, just missed the cut to play vampire dreamboat Edward Cullen.

Fernandez is a promising young star, appearing in films no one's seen like "Deadgirl" and "Skateland." But he's ill-used here, hanging around mostly as boy toy eye candy and to tempt Valerie, aka Red, into thinking he might be the werewolf stalking the village.

In fact, most everyone Valerie meets is suspected at some point of being the hirsute killer, with the result that "Red Riding Hood" plays out like a Gothic whodunit.

Is it Peter (Fernandez), the humble woodcutter who secretly stole Valerie's heart when they were children? Or Henry Lazar (Max Irons), the wealthy (compared to the rest of the town) blacksmith's son to whom Valerie's parents (Virginia Madsen and Billy Burke) have promised her hand in marriage?

Or maybe it's good old grandmother (Julie Christie) living in her remote cottage in the woods, making odd elliptical comments and brewing strange concoctions in her boiling cauldron.

The screenplay by David Johnson is a case study in misdirection, tempting us with one candidate after another for the role of the werewolf who's plagued the village of Daggerhorn for generations. Some characters, such as the timid local priest (Lukas Haas), seem to exist solely for the purpose of spreading the suspicion around.

The Daggerhornians have existed in peace with the beast for 20 years, offering their prime livestock as sacrifice every full moon. There's been no human slayings, until Valerie's sister turns up dead, and after a few tankards of ale the men folk decide to put an end to the curse once and for all.

They bring a wolf's head back on a stake, convinced they've won, but then Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) arrives in town to set them right. Solomon's a real piece of work, who carries around a Van Helsing-like arsenal of weapons but also a zeal for smiting evildoers that's straight out of the Inquisition.

Solomon's dedication to lycanthrope-hunting is so hardcore that he slew his own wife when he discovered she was a werewolf, and carries around her severed hand in an ornate wooden box to prove his bona fides. Or maybe he's a just a seriously screwed-up dude.

Hardwicke shoots with a dream-like quality, making the movie seem as if it shimmers around the edges. Her stylistic choices often spill over the top, though, as in every tree and building sprouting spikes that we keep expecting stuff to get impaled on. Or the big feast scene where the young'uns break out into some sort of squirmy medieval lambada.

Like the rest of "Red Riding Hood," it's meant to be sensual, but instead is profoundly silly.

1.5 stars out of four

Bonus DVD review: "Deadgirl"

Just when you think horror films have violated every taboo known to mankind, along comes "Deadgirl" to shatter one we (hopefully) hadn't even considered: Zombie rape.

Yes, really.

The tagline for this stylish low-budget indie says it all: "You never forget your first time."

Here's the set-up: Two slacker teens ditch class to go drink some beers at the local abandoned insane asylum. Deep in the bowels of the musty building, they come across the body of a dead girl, chained up and covered in plastic, hidden in a room behind a door that rusted shut years ago. How did she get there?

Their questions will have to wait, because it turns out the girl is still breathing! She won't talk and behaves like a feral animal, snapping at them with her teeth.

Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez, a dead ringer for a young Joaquin Phoenix) wants to set her free, but his best friend J.T. (Noah Segan) has a more sinister thought: What if they just kept her? After all, it's doubtful anyone even knows she's here. They could use her as their sex slave.

Rickie is horrified, and they fight and argue, until J.T. discovers a terrible secret: The girl (Jenny Spain, who spends the entire movie naked) seems impervious to injury. J.T. "kills" her three times, but she keeps moving and twitching, even after being shot three times.

Rickie, who's got a thing for a rich girl at school (Candice Accola), determines to sneak in and free the girl, but discovers that J.T. has brought in their friend Wheeler (Eric Podnar) to take part in the debauchery.

Things really get hairy when a couple of jock bullies invade the zombie sex sanctum, and one of them takes up a dare to have the girl perform fellatio on him. Living dead+genitals=not good.

Despite its premise, "Deadgirl" really isn't a schlocky spoof, but a well-made and superbly acted (for a horror flick) film from directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel, and screenwriter Treng Haaga.

Still, there are plenty of gross-out moments, including a severed limb, an upper lip that's bitten off, and a memorable scene in the school bathroom with some exploding guts splatting against the tile. The unrated DVD, which hits stores Sept. 15, includes some sections that are worth watching in slo-mo for the bloody special effects aficionado.

3.5 stars