Evil Dead II (1987)

Evil Dead II (1987) tosses you into a night of escalating lunacy and blood-soaked scares with Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams, a lone, wisecracking everyman who travels to a remote cabin with his girlfriend and accidentally unleashes ancient evil by playing a professor’s tape of passages from the Book of the Dead. What begins as classic possession-horror—his girlfriend and later visitors becoming grotesque “Deadites”—quickly morphs into a relentless, hyperkinetic horror-comedy: practical gore effects, surreal camera work, slapstick violence, and pitch-black humor collide as Ash fights for survival with a shotgun in one hand and, eventually, a chainsaw in the other. If you watch this movie you’ll experience a roller-coaster of jump scares and gross-outs interwoven with madcap, cartoonish set pieces and physical comedy; the tension never lets up, but neither does the film’s giddy, over-the-top tone. Raimi’s direction keeps the pace breakneck and inventive, the effects are gloriously tactile, and Campbell’s manic performance anchors the absurdity—making Evil Dead II both terrifying and darkly hilarious, a cult-classic ride for viewers who like their horror loud, messy, and unapologetically fun.

Actors: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks

Director: Sam Raimi

Runtime: 84 min

Genres: Comedy, Horror

6.8 /10 72 /100 7.7 /10 7.2 /10