Evil Dead 2 - Dead by Dawn (1987)
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Theodore Raimi, Denise Bixler
Director: Sam Raimi
Synopsis: Madcap fusion of slapstick and horror.....Groovy!
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

"delirious, demented and diabolically funny" Time Out

"so stylish, so hysterically overdone... a first class comedy gore flick" Creature Features

"a work of unadulterated genius... quite the best sequel in movie history... groovy" Empire

 "delightful sense of humour" Blockbuster Video

 "sense of style and humour" Maltin's

 "hysterically funny, a treat for splatter connoisseurs" Splatter Movies

 "mind-boggling" Psychotronic Video Guide

 

Sam Raimi followed up one of the nastiest shockers of the modern era with a sublime fusion of outrageous slapstick, Harryhausen on an acid trip and lashings of his own brand of horror pushed gloriously into overdrive.

The result is a delirious cocktail of gloriously whacked-out, camp horror unlike anything audiences had encountered before. Every aspect of this movie is completely insane, yet it works with breathtaking confidence, leaving the viewer breathless, sweating and almost exhausted from the topsy-turvy, schizophrenic roller-coaster ride Raimi unleashes. It is horror farce par excellence—wickedly funny, bursting with crackling humour and positively overflowing with demonic energy.

This film perfectly illustrates Raimi's unquestionable genius, a talent sadly squandered years later on anonymous studio pap like the Kevin Costner drivel he eventually turned out. Even geniuses have to earn a living, alas.

Evil Dead II picks up where the original left off, with the cursed Ash recounting his tale of woe to an unsuspecting new girlfriend. Bridget Fonda even pops up in an unbilled appearance as an ex.

For some utterly inexplicable reason, Ash decides to head straight back to the very same cabin where those bloodthirsty Kandarian demons were first unleashed by the recitation of the Necronomicon.

This is the magnificent middle chapter of what remains one of the greatest trilogies in cinema history—yes, The Godfather included.

Raimi's exotic, twisted and joyously unhinged vision of horror gone spectacularly haywire unfolds magnificently across all three Evil Dead films. Each entry is completely different from the others, yet every one of them stands as a masterpiece within its own particular corner of the horror genre.

Raimi has earned himself a permanent place in the Horror Hall of Fame on the strength of the Evil Dead trilogy alone.

Dead by Dawn is sublimely ridiculous, murderously funny and, well... almost bloodcurdlingly horrific. With a proper budget at his disposal for the first time, Raimi was able to deliver production values and make-up effects that were a world away from the amateurish—if undeniably effective—work seen in The Evil Dead.

This time the nasties are meaner, nastier and considerably more bloodthirsty than before, while Aunt What's-Her-Face down in the cellar remains one breathtakingly voluptuous beauty, positively heaven-sent.

It is diabolical, sinfully demented brilliance.

Raimi simply hits the ultimate cool here and follows it up with the equally epic Army of Darkness.

Dead Groovy!