A ferocious, splatter-heavy remake that turns a familiar cabin-in-the-woods setup into a relentless practical-effects showcase. It’s not subtle, but it is mean, inventive, and often deliriously fun for viewers who want horror pushed to the edge.
Evil Dead
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Horror
Fri · 1h 31m
Director: Fede Álvarez
Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci
Overview
Mia, a drug addict, is determined to kick the habit. To that end, she asks her brother, David, his girlfriend, Natalie and their friends Olivia and Eric to accompany her to their family's remote forest cabin to help her through withdrawal. Eric finds a mysterious Book of the Dead at the cabin and reads aloud from it, awakening an ancient demon. All hell breaks loose when the malevolent entity possesses Mia.
Director
Fede Álvarez
Cast
Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci
Curator Review
Verdict
A ferocious, splatter-heavy remake that turns a familiar cabin-in-the-woods setup into a relentless practical-effects showcase. It’s not subtle, but it is mean, inventive, and often deliriously fun for viewers who want horror pushed to the edge.
Best for
fans of extreme practical-effects horror
viewers who like relentless pacing and gore
audiences open to a grimy remake with a nasty streak
people who enjoy possession stories with a high body-count
Skip if
you want a campy or self-aware horror-comedy
you’re sensitive to graphic gore and bodily mutilation
you prefer atmosphere and slow-burn dread over nonstop chaos
you dislike remakes that go harder on brutality than originality
Overview
Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead is a blunt-force reimagining of the cabin-in-the-woods formula, stripping away the jokey elasticity of the franchise and replacing it with a punishing, blood-soaked assault. The setup is simple, almost archetypal, but the execution is all about escalation: possession, panic, and increasingly grotesque physical punishment delivered with ruthless confidence.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the commitment. The film leans hard into practical effects, wet textures, and a feverish sense of escalation that keeps the audience off balance. Jane Levy gives the movie an anchor as Mia, whose withdrawal and possession blur into one another in a way that adds a nasty psychological edge to the carnage.
Bottom line
It won’t be for everyone, especially viewers who want wit or a lighter touch, but as a modern splatter remake it’s impressively disciplined in its madness. It understands the basic promise of the material: lock the characters in, break the rules, and let the blood rain down.
Top Letterboxd reviews
aliyah (4.5★) · 5837 likes
my version of film criticism is nodding in satisfaction upon seeing a final girl covered in blood
tawni─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ─ (4.5★) · 5155 likes
"LEAVE THIS BOOK ALONE" *continues to read it out loud*
•lily• (4★) · 4085 likes
The people who made this woke up, threw their hands in the air, said “fuck it” and then proceeded to go absolutely insane
clem (5★) · 2289 likes
cunt meter went off the charts
DirkH (1.5★) · 2258 likes
Fine, I'll be the old fart in the room. Let's talk home improvement for a minute here. To be more specific, home improvement television. Ever watched one of those shows? There is always one episode where some city dwelling couple wants to go rural and buy a farm. They often have too much money and end up buying a gorgeous historical building. But they are used to all the modern commodities and luxury which unfortunately isn't present there. They then… more
Themes
possession, addiction and withdrawal, cabin-in-the-woods, family tension, survival horror, body horror, demonic forces, remake/reimagining
Topics
horror, possession, body horror, splatter, practical effects, cabin in the woods, survival, graphic violence, remake, 90s/2010s horror revival