Bruce “The Chin” Campbell, star of the original EVIL DEAD trilogy and all around badass, has seen Fede Alvarez’s EVIL DEAD reboot, re-imagining, re-what-have-you. As such, he has delivered his verdict from upon high: “I’ve seen it already; I think it’s definitely fabulous.”
Before anybody gets too excited, let’s keep in mind he’s also producing the film. It could turn out to be the biggest piece of sh*t in the history of horror remakes and he’ll still have enough vested interest in the film to tell genre fans it’s a revelation.
Still, further remarks do seem genuine, especially when discussing the sacrilege involved in undertaking an EVIL DEAD remake: “We’re really excited and really behind it, [but] it’s going to take a bit to get the Evil Dead fans behind it. We know we’ve pissed a lot of them off. We appreciate that and we appreciate their anger and their zeal, but the only thing we want to impress upon them is that we didn’t screw it up. This is going to be just as memorable as [the original] Evil Dead without being the same movie.”
Bruce also discussed the merits of remaking the film in the 21st century, and compares it to the no-budget, roughly made original: “The nice thing is the film looks beautiful. The effects are 10 times better than we ever had access to and the actors are all better than we were in 1979. Though granted Sam Raimi is a mad genius, so we got a crazy result like Evil Dead out of this amateur enthusiasm sort of thing.”
He’s right about one thing– EVIL DEAD fans are pissed, if only because we were promised an EVIL DEAD 4 for hell and ever, only to have a remake drop into our lap instead. Sure, both options were largely unnecessary, but I can’t help but feel an EVIL DEAD remake is doomed from the get-go. Fans seem mostly alienated by it and the series doesn’t have a Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers-sized pop cultural presence among non-horror fans. Then again, I’ve been wrong in my box office speculation before. Deadite Schmoes– talk back, tell us what you think, and enjoy a picture of the film’s lovely star, Jane Levy (below).