A deliriously inventive horror-comedy that turns splatter, slapstick, and pure cinematic momentum into a cult classic. It’s less about coherence than escalation, with Bruce Campbell’s physical performance and Sam Raimi’s camera work making every gag and gore beat feel bigger than life.
82% ★★★★☆ (649,152)
Evil Dead II
Where to watch: In Theaters
Movie · Horror · Comedy · R
1987 · 1h 24m · ★ 82% (649K)
Kiss your nerves goodbye!
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
Overview
Ash Williams and his girlfriend Linda find a log cabin in the woods with a voice recording from an archeologist who had recorded himself reciting ancient chants from "The Book of the Dead." As they play the recording an evil power is unleashed taking over Linda's body.
Director
Sam Raimi
Production
Rosebud Releasing Corporation, Renaissance Pictures, The De Laurentiis Company
Cast
Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie DePaiva, Ted Raimi, Denise Bixler, Richard Domeier, John Peakes, Lou Hancock, Snowy Winters, Sol Abrams, Josh Becker, Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Thomas Kidd, Mitch Cantor, Jenny Griffith, William Preston Robertson, Tony Elwood, David M. Goodman
Where to watch
Philo, IndieFlix, Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A deliriously inventive horror-comedy that turns splatter, slapstick, and pure cinematic momentum into a cult classic. It’s less about coherence than escalation, with Bruce Campbell’s physical performance and Sam Raimi’s camera work making every gag and gore beat feel bigger than life.
Best for
fans of horror-comedy
viewers who like outrageous practical effects
people who enjoy kinetic, cartoonish filmmaking
cult-movie enthusiasts
audiences open to campy excess
Skip if
you want a straight horror film
you dislike slapstick or broad comedy
you prefer restrained pacing and realism
you’re turned off by extreme gore and body horror
Overview
Evil Dead II is one of the great examples of a sequel that becomes a full-blown reinvention. It keeps the cabin-in-the-woods setup, but the tone is wilder, funnier, and more technically showy, with Raimi turning every hallway, doorway, and possessed body into a comic weapon. The movie’s confidence is the joke and the thrill at once.
Worth noting
Bruce Campbell gives Ash the kind of physical, panicked, increasingly unhinged performance that defines a cult hero. The film’s practical effects, camera tricks, and elastic sense of timing make even the simplest moments feel possessed. It’s gruesome, but also gleefully playful about its own madness.
Bottom line
If you like horror that behaves like a live-wire cartoon, this is essential viewing. If you need narrative logic to stay in charge, the movie will probably feel like chaos. But for viewers who want invention, energy, and a movie that seems to be inventing itself in real time, it’s a blast.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Griffin (4★) · 12885 likes
Apparently this is a reboot of the first one, but I like to think Ash was just dumb enough to bring his new girlfriend to the cabin for round two.
#1 gizmo fan (5★) · 10960 likes
fuck anyone who thinks "groovy" isn't the best line in all of cinema
Karsten (5★) · 8375 likes
the SECOND ‘a farewell to arms’ came into frame, it was 5 stars
matt lynch (4.5★) · 7250 likes
This is the most excited a movie has ever been to be itself.
James (Schaffrillas) (4.5★) · 5289 likes
Would've been more epic if Ash said "Well that just happened!" at some point