#1 - EVIL DEAD
Stars - Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, and so on
Director - Sam Raimi
Memorable Quote - 'You bastards, why are you torturing me like this? Why?'
Review - Considering that I have seen a lot of love for 'Evil Dead' and its follow-ups, I was surprisingly disappointed by this first offering. Apart from a few twitchy camera angles and some incredibly bad special effects, there was not much offered in terms of visual goodness. The actors used certainly weren't the preened plastic beauties of today's horror b-movie, and their acting skills were only just better; Bruce Campbell is the obvious star right from the get-go. Some of the ideas in the movie are very interesting - the forest molestation, for example, as well as the use of doors and corners to build suspense as the individual characters search the house for one another and, eventually, the bad guys. A lot of things made little sense, however, as is often the way with horror: for example, when being attacked by a forest, why would you think that running through a forest would be the way to escape? Why would you leave something with superhuman strength alive and chained up under a flimsy attic door? I can't say I enjoyed this very much until at least half way through, and even then I was not quite satisfied. The ending made sense as a way to break the curse, but again it was ruined by the fact that all I could think of was plasticine as they melted. I had the feeling for most of it that I just wanted it to hurry up and get somewhere - perhaps that is the affliction of the modern audience, but for a large part of the film there just was not enough suspense. I can see, then, why Raimi wanted to try again, and to attack those sequences that did cause a great deal of suspense on the second run. 2/5
#2 - EVIL DEAD 2
Stars - Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
Director - Sam Raimi
Memorable Quote - 'For God's sake! How do you stop it?'
Review - Many people who study film or simply enjoy it will tell you that 'Evil Dead 2' is much better than its predecessor. I agree; but only by default. I actually prefer the storyline of the first one - it makes sense, is not 100% crazy, and is easy to follow. Plus there is, as I have said, a lot of potential for suspense and real fear. This one, however, is not a horror movie but a comedy. From the second Campbell starts goofing around and contorting his face like a Scooby Doo character, it loses all horror. Even the talking deer head and moving objects are laughable, and the 'monster' that appears later on is actually just pathetic. Something went wrong in the translation here. A better remake of the first movie, following the storyline but with better effects and camerawork, and lines, would have hit the spot completely; reworking it was, in my mind, a mistake. If I had not seen 'Evil Dead' I would have been completely and utterly confused by the events of the first ten minutes, since the girlfriend is despatched without a word of explanation. Then we sit through the ridiculous Bruce-is-going-mad-and-his-hand-is-from-the-Adams-family segment, which was only enjoyable if you did not take it seriously at all. But the problem is, there's a word for horror movies you don't take seriously: it's either 'spoof', or 'B-movie'. Not the wisest choice, then, for someone actually wanting to make a career in film making. Alright, so it got his name out there and is still talked about today, but I wonder how many people have actually seen it and thought it was genius and how many people are saying they did? On Raimi's report card I would write "Good effort; some revision required. See me. 3.5/5"
#3 - STAND BY ME
Stars - River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Keifer Sutherland, John Cusack
Director - Rob Reiner
Memorable Quote - 'Suck my fat one, you cheap dime store hood.'
Review - 'Stand by Me' is interesting for two reasons. One, because of the well-developed characters and plot, and two because you get to play 'spot who's dead or never amounted to much in real life'. It's kind of fascinating to see all these young people who we recognise as their older selves, particularly John Cusack, though Keifer Sutherland appears to be playing the exact same character that he did in 'Lost Boys'.
The story itself is quite charming, in a funny sort of way. It's usually quite shocking to hear children swear or talk in a rude way in movies, as it seems to be a little taboo. Here, though, it is presented as a natural way of talking for the boys, something we can both believe and accept. It's a fact of their lives and upbringing rather than something to be seen as 'wrong' or an affectation of the writer, as with many other films.
The script and presentation of the scenes are quite interesting at times: the story within a story, as well as the mixed-up conversations around the campfire, being two stand-out examples. Finally the film manages to be heartwarming: the way the friends stand up for one another and their shared discovery propels them into a new section of their lives, bringing the narrative to a logical conclusion. Worth a watch if only for its charming combination of the lowest, most childish humour with the biggest, most important themes of life. 4/5
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