This thread is about analyzing films that are remakes and comparing them to the original version. Feel free to discuss any original film and it's remake counterpart. The best way, I think, to analyze remakes and the original version is by watching them back to back so I decided to watch the Evil Dead remake and then the original Evil Dead one after the other. I want to share what I found to be the strong and weak points of both versions and will try to go into as much detail as I can.
The Original
Title: The Evil Dead (original title Book of the Dead)
Tagline: The Ultimate Experience in Gruelling Terror
Director: Sam Raimi
Year: 1981
Plot: A group of five friends stay at a remote cabin out in the woods. In the cellar they discover a recording, a weird book and a strange knife. Once the incantations on the recording are played an ancient evil surrounding the cabin and within the woods awakens, possesses the living one by one until only one remains to battle the evil and find a way to destroy it.
Director Sam Raimi, Producer Robert (Rob) Tapert and Actor Bruce Campbell wanted to come up with a really good horror film. In order to gain financing for their feature they created a short film titled 'Within the Woods', which contains elements that would be incorporated into what was initially titled 'The Book of the Dead', with a few changes made and a few additions.
After they received their financing they went ahead with their feature length horror picture. This film is the result of a lot of hard work and effort. I believe that in order to achieve what they did took a lot of ingenuity and they were at a disadvantage compared to how films are made nowadays, or even how other films of the time that had more money were made.
The Evil Dead is a product of it's time. It definitely has aged because the clothes, hairstyles, tone and inflection of speech as well as the special effects that were utilized. There are some cheesy moments and most of the time it's to do with the performances of the actors and how they deliver their lines of dialogue. But there are more moments where, when the possessions occur and the carnage begins, those cheesy aspects are nowhere to be seen and the film is very dark and horrific. The film retains the power it has always had in making the audience squirm because of the violence and gore seen. It is still a very effective horror film that has an intense and moody atmosphere. The music is eerie and fits the tone of the film well.
The make-up effects are effective and make the possessed look very terrifying and also disgusting. The gore in this is over the top which means that it eventually stops being a horrific sight to behold and becomes funny in a way. For the time this film came out it would have been extremely intense but now it's not as powerful because there have been lots of films between then and now that have pushed the boundaries and broken through them.
What makes this film unique are the camera angles, movements and compositions. From the very first frame you have the pov of something just above the surface of the lake moving forwards. This type of shot is utilized well in this and when you look at the sweeping pov movements seen in Halloween both films make it stand out in different ways. The most zany camera angles occur in the last twenty minutes of the picture where there's use of the dutch tilt, a dolly shot of the camera passing overhead looking down at Ash (Bruce Campbell) as he walks along and a shot that starts looking down at Ash's head but slowly tilts down so it finishes up directly in front of his face.
The Evil Dead has a certain charm about it upon watching it now. It still holds up as a very effective piece of filmmaking from talented filmmakers who have gone on to have very successful careers. It retains a cult following and I believe it will continue to be viewed as such. This film definitely lives up to the 'Ultimate Experience in Gruelling Terror' tagline and was worthy of Stephen King's appraisal of it being 'most ferociously original film of the year', in fact I believe you could say that in it's own way The Evil Dead is one of the most ferocious horror films ever made.
The Remake
Title: Evil Dead
Tagline: The Most Terrifying Film you Will Ever Experience
Director: Fede Alvarez
Year: 2013
Plot: A group of five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods to help one of their group Mia, who suffers from a drug addiction, to overcome her addiction. After discovering a strange book the incantations are read aloud which awakens an ancient evil from it's slumber. It possesses them one by one.
The plot is pretty similar to the original film. The names of the characters and the reason for them being there is different, in fact in the original there wasn't an explanation as to why the characters were visiting the cabin.
The aspects of the book of the dead have changed from the original film. A major difference is the fact that this book, unlike the one in the Raimi original, cannot be burnt. I believe this makes those aware of the original film uneasy because since it was how the evil was defeated, the fact it doesn't work in the remake creates a situation where the audience asks 'if that doesn't work how will they stop the evil?'. Another aspect of the book in this is that it details the different stages of possession. Turning expectations or previous knowledge on their head is what I think remakes should do and not just copy every single moment.
The deadites in this version do more than just attack the living, they inflict harm on themselves as well. They are able to do what the ones in the original can which is to revert back to their human self to try and get an advantage to kill. At the beginning of the film two of the characters convince Mia's brother to support them in refusing to take Mia out of the location no matter what because this isn't the first time she has vowed to stop her drug addiction and she has also OD'd before too.
In the original the woods themselves and the bridge being destroyed are the reasons why the characters cannot leave. In the original the extent of Cheryl's demands to be taken back to town are to scream and become agitated. Ash agrees to take her in the car and of course they find out that the bridge is destroyed. In the remake Mia inflicts great harm on herself by standing under the hot water of the shower for too long. Mia's pleas to be taken back into town are seen as just being effects from withdrawals, which adds to the others being adamant not to agree to her demands, even though she has inflicted harm on herself, which would cause anyone to instantly take them away to get help. However it creates an emotional reason behind why the others don't want her to be taken out of the situation. It makes sense within the story. But like Ash with his sister, Mia's brother ultimately decides to take his sister back into town and instead of discovering that the bridge has been destroyed it's a case of flooding blocking the way out.
There's lots of gore in this and it is more horrific than what was seen in the original. It really breaks through the boundaries and is in line with other horror films of this type. There are no moments of the remake being cheesy due to performances or line delivery from the actors. It is a film that contains a lot of terrifying scenes that stay with the viewer long after seeing the movie. It is more visceral than the original film.
There are many nods to the original and it's sequels in this remake. Certain characters do things and have things happen to them that happened to Ash in the original. Not having the Ash character remade for this iteration was a very smart move. It allows that character to exist in his own universe that doesn't have anything intrude on the legacy of Bruce Campbell's performance and place in horror pop culture. The Evil Dead remake doesn't have the charm of the original because of the different eras. The Evil Dead is now in the arena that the old horror classics from the 1950s and 1960s were at, which is to say that for those who grew up with the original Evil Dead and looked at the 50s and 60s horror films as being old and classic - now the original Evil Dead joins those ranks for those that are growing up with the Evil Dead remake.
The Verdict
Ultimately The Evil Dead is the better version not because of special effects or gore that are now much more advanced but because it has a certain charm to it that makes it more mythic in stature. It was more of a breakthrough of the genre than the remake is. It broke new ground for it's time. Sure the acting is better in the remake but the acting in the original gives it it's identity.
The Evil Dead remake is one of the better remakes because even though it copies a lot of things from the original, it adds it's own ideas and aspects to it that make it different in a good way. It changes certain things to make them interesting.
Score
I give The Evil Dead 10/10.
I give The Evil Dead remake 8/10.
The Original
Title: The Evil Dead (original title Book of the Dead)
Tagline: The Ultimate Experience in Gruelling Terror
Director: Sam Raimi
Year: 1981
Plot: A group of five friends stay at a remote cabin out in the woods. In the cellar they discover a recording, a weird book and a strange knife. Once the incantations on the recording are played an ancient evil surrounding the cabin and within the woods awakens, possesses the living one by one until only one remains to battle the evil and find a way to destroy it.
Director Sam Raimi, Producer Robert (Rob) Tapert and Actor Bruce Campbell wanted to come up with a really good horror film. In order to gain financing for their feature they created a short film titled 'Within the Woods', which contains elements that would be incorporated into what was initially titled 'The Book of the Dead', with a few changes made and a few additions.
After they received their financing they went ahead with their feature length horror picture. This film is the result of a lot of hard work and effort. I believe that in order to achieve what they did took a lot of ingenuity and they were at a disadvantage compared to how films are made nowadays, or even how other films of the time that had more money were made.
The Evil Dead is a product of it's time. It definitely has aged because the clothes, hairstyles, tone and inflection of speech as well as the special effects that were utilized. There are some cheesy moments and most of the time it's to do with the performances of the actors and how they deliver their lines of dialogue. But there are more moments where, when the possessions occur and the carnage begins, those cheesy aspects are nowhere to be seen and the film is very dark and horrific. The film retains the power it has always had in making the audience squirm because of the violence and gore seen. It is still a very effective horror film that has an intense and moody atmosphere. The music is eerie and fits the tone of the film well.
The make-up effects are effective and make the possessed look very terrifying and also disgusting. The gore in this is over the top which means that it eventually stops being a horrific sight to behold and becomes funny in a way. For the time this film came out it would have been extremely intense but now it's not as powerful because there have been lots of films between then and now that have pushed the boundaries and broken through them.
What makes this film unique are the camera angles, movements and compositions. From the very first frame you have the pov of something just above the surface of the lake moving forwards. This type of shot is utilized well in this and when you look at the sweeping pov movements seen in Halloween both films make it stand out in different ways. The most zany camera angles occur in the last twenty minutes of the picture where there's use of the dutch tilt, a dolly shot of the camera passing overhead looking down at Ash (Bruce Campbell) as he walks along and a shot that starts looking down at Ash's head but slowly tilts down so it finishes up directly in front of his face.
The Evil Dead has a certain charm about it upon watching it now. It still holds up as a very effective piece of filmmaking from talented filmmakers who have gone on to have very successful careers. It retains a cult following and I believe it will continue to be viewed as such. This film definitely lives up to the 'Ultimate Experience in Gruelling Terror' tagline and was worthy of Stephen King's appraisal of it being 'most ferociously original film of the year', in fact I believe you could say that in it's own way The Evil Dead is one of the most ferocious horror films ever made.
The Remake
Title: Evil Dead
Tagline: The Most Terrifying Film you Will Ever Experience
Director: Fede Alvarez
Year: 2013
Plot: A group of five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods to help one of their group Mia, who suffers from a drug addiction, to overcome her addiction. After discovering a strange book the incantations are read aloud which awakens an ancient evil from it's slumber. It possesses them one by one.
The plot is pretty similar to the original film. The names of the characters and the reason for them being there is different, in fact in the original there wasn't an explanation as to why the characters were visiting the cabin.
The aspects of the book of the dead have changed from the original film. A major difference is the fact that this book, unlike the one in the Raimi original, cannot be burnt. I believe this makes those aware of the original film uneasy because since it was how the evil was defeated, the fact it doesn't work in the remake creates a situation where the audience asks 'if that doesn't work how will they stop the evil?'. Another aspect of the book in this is that it details the different stages of possession. Turning expectations or previous knowledge on their head is what I think remakes should do and not just copy every single moment.
The deadites in this version do more than just attack the living, they inflict harm on themselves as well. They are able to do what the ones in the original can which is to revert back to their human self to try and get an advantage to kill. At the beginning of the film two of the characters convince Mia's brother to support them in refusing to take Mia out of the location no matter what because this isn't the first time she has vowed to stop her drug addiction and she has also OD'd before too.
In the original the woods themselves and the bridge being destroyed are the reasons why the characters cannot leave. In the original the extent of Cheryl's demands to be taken back to town are to scream and become agitated. Ash agrees to take her in the car and of course they find out that the bridge is destroyed. In the remake Mia inflicts great harm on herself by standing under the hot water of the shower for too long. Mia's pleas to be taken back into town are seen as just being effects from withdrawals, which adds to the others being adamant not to agree to her demands, even though she has inflicted harm on herself, which would cause anyone to instantly take them away to get help. However it creates an emotional reason behind why the others don't want her to be taken out of the situation. It makes sense within the story. But like Ash with his sister, Mia's brother ultimately decides to take his sister back into town and instead of discovering that the bridge has been destroyed it's a case of flooding blocking the way out.
There's lots of gore in this and it is more horrific than what was seen in the original. It really breaks through the boundaries and is in line with other horror films of this type. There are no moments of the remake being cheesy due to performances or line delivery from the actors. It is a film that contains a lot of terrifying scenes that stay with the viewer long after seeing the movie. It is more visceral than the original film.
There are many nods to the original and it's sequels in this remake. Certain characters do things and have things happen to them that happened to Ash in the original. Not having the Ash character remade for this iteration was a very smart move. It allows that character to exist in his own universe that doesn't have anything intrude on the legacy of Bruce Campbell's performance and place in horror pop culture. The Evil Dead remake doesn't have the charm of the original because of the different eras. The Evil Dead is now in the arena that the old horror classics from the 1950s and 1960s were at, which is to say that for those who grew up with the original Evil Dead and looked at the 50s and 60s horror films as being old and classic - now the original Evil Dead joins those ranks for those that are growing up with the Evil Dead remake.
The Verdict
Ultimately The Evil Dead is the better version not because of special effects or gore that are now much more advanced but because it has a certain charm to it that makes it more mythic in stature. It was more of a breakthrough of the genre than the remake is. It broke new ground for it's time. Sure the acting is better in the remake but the acting in the original gives it it's identity.
The Evil Dead remake is one of the better remakes because even though it copies a lot of things from the original, it adds it's own ideas and aspects to it that make it different in a good way. It changes certain things to make them interesting.
Score
I give The Evil Dead 10/10.
I give The Evil Dead remake 8/10.
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