Evil Dead2: Dead By Dawn is a grotesque, stomach churning, gore spewing, limb hacking, double barreled shot gun blast o' fun.

God, do I love this movie.

Sweet Jesus, this movie is totally 100%, full bore, all out, no holds bared insane, beyond a shadow of a doubt. I've always had questions about director Sam Raimi. Anyone who uses such hallucinogenic camera angles, and packs his movies full of such unlikely characters can't be all there. Here's the proof. Sam Raimi is totally nuts. And I love it.

Whereas The Evil Dead is a perfectly apocalyptic example of horror done right, Dead By Dawn seams to be two parts horror and one part slapstick, and a third part of almost ironic humor. Walking a thin line between comedy and self-parody, ED2 never falls into either trap, but walks that line the whole way through as an awestruck audience fallows.

Fallow us now, as we find Ash (still Bruce Campbell) and his girl Linda (who's turned into Denise Bixler, damn but Avon does wonders) going up for some quite time in a disserted cabin. But wait, you say, didn't Linda die a horrible death in the first movie when her body went one way, and her head went the other?

Yes.

So what's the deal?

The deal is that The Evil Dead was done on a super low budget (the amount of bodily fluids might not show it, but there you are). Years latter, once Raimi became an actually director, he looked back over his baby and decided Hey! I've got some actually money now. I can go back over The Evil Dead and make an already kick-ass movie kick more ass! I'll be rich! RICH, I TELL YOU RICH, mmmu-HAHAHA!!!

Or maybe that was Bill Gates. I forget. Anyhow, Raimi and Scott Spiegel took The Evil Dead's script, rewrote it, and injected liberal amounts of money into it, thus creating a milkshake know as Dead By Dawn, a remake in sequel's clothing.

And does it ever taste sweet. Yes-a!

So we have Ash and Linda breaking into the cabin in the woods. While doing some pre-sex exploring they find the cabin is the former residence of Professor Raymond Knowby (John Peaks), just like last time. Just like last time, Prof. Knowby found an ancient book, "The Book of the Dead", a volume bound in human skin and written in human blood. Just like last time, Knowby brought it to this isolated cabin in order to study it. Just like last time, Knowby made the mistake of reading the passages with which one might waken evil spirits. Just like last time, he made a tape recording of this which Ash, unfortunately plays back. (Uh-huh-huh, what a dumb-ass. Yeah, yeah, what a dumb-ass. He-he-he-he!) 

Dumb-ass that he is, Ash is no fool. When he sees Linda start to sprout white eyes and fangs, he does the only logical thing: cuts her head off with a shovel and then chops her up with a chainsaw. So we get the reader's digest version of The Evil Dead in the first 10 minuets. Let the really fun begin!

Oh, does it ever get better from there. The gore and feeling of hopelessness from The Evil Dead is present, but juiced up, this time, with liberal doses of slapstick comedy. The acid trip like sequences from Evil Dead remain, but see much more of the light of day then the first time around. And Ash's right hand gets possessed, leading to the movie's funniest sequence as Ash battles his own hand before cutting it off with a chainsaw. This, of course, only leaves it to run free and cause mischief, so it is a bit of an anticlimactic gesture.

Fully recounting all the fucked up stuff that Ash endures during his isolation in the cabin would eat bandwidth like a school of Parana, and it would spoil everything for you. I want you to watch this thing not read it. So I'll cut to the chase. It's not long before Prof. Knowby's daughter, Annie (Sarah Berry) and her hunk o' meat, Ed (Richard Domeier), attempt a visit to Prof. Knowby, taking some pages from "The Book of the Dead" with them. Finding the only bridge to the cabin gone (it won't let you leave, remember?) they inlist the help of two pieces of white trash/Odious Comic Relief, Jake (Dan Hicks) and Bobbie Joe (Kassie deprive).

Reaching the cabin, they discover a one handed man, covered with blood and clutching a shotgun as if his life depended on it. The house is trashed, there's blood on the walls, a bloody chainsaw in the corner, and Annie's parents are gone, just what are they suppose to think? Ruling towards caution, the party locks Ash in the cellar . . . right down there with Annie's possessed mother, Henrietta (Ted Raimi).

Sequences latter, it's down to just Ash and Annie. The Odious Comic Relief is dead (Thanks, God, you da man) the hand is still running lose, and only the pages of "The Book" can save our remaining humans. To bad Jack threw down in the cellar. Taking desperate (and inventive) action, Annie and Ash augment Ash's right arm with the chainsaw (!) so, saw on one arm, and shotgun on the other, Ash is finally ready to go forth and kick ass, as we cheer him all the way.

Jesus please us, is this movie ever da bomb. I've been a fan of Raimi for a long time, chiefly for his warped directing, but also for his warped sense of humor, which he showed often through his movies. Here, he knows the outrageous nature of his story, and the outrageous nature of his humor fits right in. You can't tell me that a guy fighting his own right hand isn't funny. Just try not to laugh. The hand sure does.

Gore isn't as capacious as with the first outing. Raimi was trying for an R rating this time, as opposed to an "Unrated" movie. He failed, and we are much happier for that. When you sacrifice character writing (as Raimi did before, and does again here), the only real way to establish some identification with a character is through pathos. When we share these disgusting and horrifying experiences with Ash, it's hard not to care about him. When he shouts, "Give me back my hand," to unfeeling and evil woods you have to feel sympathy for the poor dear. It's the same way with Annie. Her mother is in the basement, just waiting to get out and eat people. No that's one mean mother.

Behind that mean mother is Ted Raimi in a great performance, something you really don't see anymore.

Again, Campbell must get brownie points for his roll. Not only does Ahs go through hell, he kicks hell's butt. The chainsaw-arm has to be the most original weapon in horror history. Why shouldn't every hero get one of those? Why can't I get one of those? Screw a lightsaber, chainsaw-arms are the new "must have" item on my Christmas list.

As a movie, Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn is probably the best example off a comedy/horror hybrid. The movie is carefully constructed, with the comedy and horror getting play of each other, causing things to work best. Made during the tail end of Horror's Golden Age, you can't do much better then Evil Dead 2 if you want the full emotional rollercoaster. Its got horror, its got laughs, its go suspense . . . darn it, its got everything.

Except nakkid breasts. Live ones, anyway.

Gs (out of a possable five)

GROOVY

MOCK O' METER

And the point would be?