Okay, hold up. We’ve all been ranting about the hunger in Hollywood to remake just about everything and anything, but now they really are taking the…biscuit. Now they are remaking an already remade film, and a classic to boot in the guise of Evil Dead. I just don’t get this, especially from the team of Sam Riami, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert. However wild this seems, it is true, sites everywhere are starting to report it.
Empire are reporting that:
…the iconic Evil Dead has been added to the remake roster. Before you panic, it’s worth mentioning that Raimi, Campbell and original producing partner Rob Tapert will be overseeing the project so it’s certainly in safe hands. The downside though, is that Raimi won’t be directing.
What?! WHAT?…Sorry, had to go and take some valium. This is madness, have these guys got an uncontrolable gambling habit or something? Why do they need to do it and is money the only reason?
Evil Dead is utterly fantastic. It’s funny, scary and uses some excellent techniques in the filming process to unerve and entertain. Brilliant film and made on an extremely tight budget. They’ve already remade it, Evil Dead II mean anything to anybody? It is not actually a sequel, it’s a remake of the original when they got more money behind them and they had to drop the tree rape scene. To boot, it didn’t live up to the style of the original, not the same fear, innovation or fun. So why try it again?
Sure Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness was loads of fun, I really, really liked that. Let’s bear in mind though it doesn’t bear that much relationship to Evil Dead. The first movies were about a group of teenagers in a cabin in the woods overrun by an ancient evil.
Whereas III is about a guy who has travelled through time to an ancient land to defeat an evil that is on the rampage and threatens to destroy that world. Not the same story, but it’s a great film and promised for another installment.
So what we’re essentially looking at a third remake of the first movie, this time with more money than either the original or the original remake. (Am I the only one getting confused here?) Perhaps the reason is that they want to do IV and the studios said they want a remake of Evil Dead first, to update it for a new audience, make it more accessible, and get sales going back to the box set.
I don’t know. This reeks of bad idea hell. However, with these guys up top, and as long as they keep real tight control, I think it has the potential to be interesting, I just don’t get why.
One other thing, no word yet if Campbell returns as Ash. Oh please, please, please.
