It depends from where you are coming with this 2013 part-remake of The Evil Dead: if you are new to the franchise, Alvarez provides a reasonably stylish and atmospheric horror that gets considerably more gruesome and outrageous as it progresses and provides some good shocks; if you are old enough for Raimi's original to be embedded in your own film culture, there is little here that is original or scary enough to make this take truly distinctive. The original film's familiarity and lasting influence within the horror genre is clear - as The Cabin In The Woods served as a pointed reminder - especially in the more pronounced J-horror moments here, and Alvarez's use of physical effects as opposed to CGI here (a blight of many modern horror remakes) is definitely in its favour. Updating with a storyline that nicely interweaves drug withdrawal, family madness and even good old-fashioned demonic possession, icons and key events are played effectively with some positively used new twists on the material, particularly in the latter stages. Whilst missing Ash/Bruce Campbell markedly, Jane Levy does well as the key character and proves to be an effective Final Girl. Evil Dead 2013 is played very straight, lacking the humour and manic energy of the original, but as an exercise in old-school horror it plays well.
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