Sam Raimi
La Casa 2

Good evening... having reviewed ARMY OF DARKNESS, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the previous chapter as well. EVIL DEAD II, a film that was released in theaters in that 1987 when perhaps it was no longer the era of blood and zombies, Raimi revises the approach... Before exalting the virtues of this film, it seems necessary to take a step back also because I do not intend to review the first chapter in the future... but it is right to explain its genesis to better understand the art of the trio RAIMI, TAPERT, CAMPBELL... At the end of the 70s, a short film WITHIN THE WOODS was shot, which gathers a condensed version of the first EVIL DEAD, all this helped Raimi to raise funds for the production, eventually gathering 550 thousand dollars. Everything was ready, and in 1978 filming began... the first film plays on fear and blood, a disturbing line in the sounds, suspense and anxiety... the film was an unexpected success... But if someone looks for the value or recognition of the film in the blood or in the zombies (because that's what the storyline ultimately revolves around) they are a bit wrong... what Raimi makes suggestive is the atmosphere, not only unhealthy but also choreographic... something he will not be able to repeat in the sequel. Brilliant intuition on the location, photography, and exteriors, strong points of the first chapter... unique (not always) weak points instead in the second... However, after the gratifications, some difficulty begins for Raimi and Tapert, who with the film CRIMEWAVE encounter a great flop... Meanwhile, Bruce Campbell also recycles himself in some way as a gorilla in night clubs... In short, a safe idea is needed... and Raimi starts again with his creature... Few know that in the original intentions EVIL DEAD 2 was already supposed to be ARMY OF DARKNESS or at least a pure continuation with an immediate transition to the Middle Ages... eventually, 3.5 million dollars were allocated, insufficient for the operation, so it was decided to conduct a Remake in the same cabin as the previous one, ready to start from scratch to ensure the possibility of a third chapter finally adequately funded. Robert Tapert recounted how they considered the possibility of making the protagonist actually a victim of a nightmare or a hallucination, but then the hope of ending the story in that 1300 from which the Book of the Dead originates took hold. Of that initial idea, however, the basis of the film remains, everything takes place in an altered reality, which gives the film a lot of rhythm, nights that dawn in an instant, characters getting big hits like in cartoons and remaining more or less unharmed, everything has a comic book cut, many scenes are of HONKY TONK taste, such as the one where ANNY’s Deadite boyfriend dines on "sweet" Bobby Joe’s hair, or the scene where Ash (much slimmer compared to the first and third chapter) demonstrates great athletic preparation by knocking himself out with the contaminated hand... Other nuances that capture the idea that Raimi wanted to aim at the cut-hallucination, for example, are the miniatures used for the scene where the car crosses the bridge in the prologue... the miniatures will also involve some external scenes in the cabin... I had to praise the virtues of the first to grasp what perhaps does not work in this... the first visibly shot in late autumn shows bare trees and dry leaves, even the winter air both night and day takes on a splendidly sad tone, the second instead is shot among green trees and this time even the choice of the location does not prove to be winning... In some scenes where the demon inspects the woods, the lights of the nearest city can be noticed... Another sore point, the first was authentic because it was truly shot in that cabin, for the second, however, given the great special effects available to Raimi this time, the interiors are created in dedicated sets... my technical note seems that the first was shot in 16 mm and then surely blown up to 32 mm... at that time, those were mandatory choices, this second operation therefore must forcibly be a sequel but in the end, it turns out to be a REMAKE, however, of the trilogy it is the most communicative in terms of creativity... According to Campbell himself, it will be the most successful of the series... Carlo Valli who dubs him manages to give that hysterical flavor that Michele Gammino, however, who has the task of hardening the character in the third episode, cannot give... Perhaps too unattainable as an impact the first, this second adventure instead reinvents itself from scratch... it’s a horror that tries to describe how evil this time does not so much want to massacre Ash but make him crazy first... Zombies are replaced by monsters and puppets, the nervous rhythm is the lever of the film, what more to say? Everything is perfect if not for some choreographic choices that distance it from the first, but this time the strong point of the film is not the escalation of deaths but the staging... It won’t have too much success in theaters, perhaps misunderstood for its renunciation of the horror of the first, and later pressed by the myth of ARMY which also not having great fortune in the cinema, perhaps even less than this, will become a great cult for the HOME VIDEO market among new fans... A film that entertains by scaring...