Evil Dead 2013

This week, hosts Frank and Andrew discuss the supernatural gorefest Evil Dead 2013! What happens when the skies rain down blood?! Please join us for a scene by scene break down of this iconic film.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome to You Killed Clyde. I'm your host, Frank, and I'm Andrew. And today we're going to be discussing why you should put the book down.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

When you have a basement full of witchcraft sacrifices, you should probably leave. And it's a rain and blood. Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Kidding. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Folks. Today we're talking about the 2013 film Evil Dead.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

This is a supernatural horror film about a group of five people under attack by an evil force in a remote cabin in the woods. Today, Andrew and I are going to break down this film scene by scene loosely, although they're pretty specific.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

So if you haven't seen it, pause, take a break, and come back and join us.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

And if you're a horror fan, uh it's highly likely you've seen it. And if you have not seen it, you are doing a disservice to yourself. This film is incredible. So please watch it and then come back to this if you have not seen it.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

I actually don't really like this movie that much.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Okay, that's offensive.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah, and I think part of it is because I feel like it lacks like a soul. Like it's very fun, it's like gory, it's bloody, it's like really cool to look at. I'm such a fan of the practical effects. I think it's brutal and awesome, but I just really didn't give a shit about the characters. I don't care about Mia. I don't buy any of like the tension because we barely like explore it. So for me, it's like a glossy meh.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Personally, yeah, I think I think you're for me, you're forcing me to think of this a little harder than I have been, which is which is I feel bad saying that. But I I kind of agree in some respects. I actually don't care about some of these characters at all. I don't care about Olivia, I don't care about Natalie. Um, I think Eric's a piece of shit. Um, but I maybe I'm a sucker for Jane Levy. I don't know. I actually's awesome, yeah. Yeah, I love Mia. I love Jane Levy. Um, and I think I'm just such a fan of splatter horror. I'm such a fan of blood and guts spraying on the actors, and in like such a fun way, and I think this movie does that so well. And I'm obviously like you mentioned already, this movie made a point to use just fantastic practical effects when it could. Um, so I think this isn't a case of me. This isn't this movie's not a case for me where like, do I like it more than the original? Is it like in spirit of the original? I think for me, this movie exists alongside the original Evil Dead, which I love. I love that original. Yeah, I love it. I love Evil Dead too. Um, they're they're such such fun movies that do blend a good comedy and gruesome practical effects and horror. Uh, this one went all in on the grim tone and kind of did away with most of the camp. Yes, there's still some camp in this, but um yeah, I think I I love it.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

I would argue that they make this much more grim. Like the problem with this movie is that's what I'm saying, it's all grim. It's like there's no fun.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Yeah, I think you said yeah, I said that I said this movie went all in on that grim tone. Uh yeah. And it kind of does away with most of the camp of and almost all the camp that the original brought in a good way. And what when I say camp, I'm that's not a disparaging term. I I love it.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

No, no, the camp was what made those films so fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

And so I think if you are making an Evil Dead remake, maybe there is something to be said about maybe you you are kind of right about like lacking a soul in terms of the spirit of the original, especially um this one, even the marketing. Like, I I I said this at the I don't think we were recording at the time, but the poster for the film, right? Like, this I remember the poster, it was like the most terrifying film you'll ever experience. So, like the studio obviously went all in on trying to market this as a like dead to rights, like full-on horror film experience and not like a horror comedy or whatever. Uh, but regardless, I love this movie. I love it. I don't I don't think the characters are great. I still love the movie though. You're unapologetic.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Yeah, you know, I will say, I think, okay, quick like aside here. When I was 19, like a long time ago, I saw Evil Dead 1 and 2, and I was very, very high on mushrooms. Ooh. And it was like probably one of the best experiences I've ever had watching a movie. So, full disclosure, I have not revisited those films in so long because of how great that memory is. Like, I'm almost coveting it in a sense. Yeah. So, but I but I still understand it. Is a lot more like it's can't be, it's 80s, it's it's got its own thing. So I I'm just totally reviewing this film in like as if those films don't exist, like just as a standalone movie. Yeah, no, like you are too.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

Yeah, yeah, I feel like that is exactly how I uh that is a hundred percent how I view this film. At no point, uh, even like subconscious, at no point when I watch this film, am I I don't do a single comparison at all.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Um, I think one thing I like, like when we were uh reviewing Child's Play, like one thing I really liked was the whole concept of dramatic irony, like where the character knows more than the characters around them, and then everyone believes that the character themselves is doing A, B, or C. And so one of the things I loved here is that like when she's going through the withdrawal process, which in my opinion is nearly akin to being possessed. And as you know, I can attest to that from my own struggle with addiction and having come out on the other side and like feeling more present as a human being. But I love that the characters, especially Olivia, believe that she is just struggling through the motions when literally she has been possessed. I love that interplay. I think that is really cool. Like that, those are the parts of the movie that I think are like really cool. I also really love how like every time the demon is cornered, it will plead and play on the character's humanity. So it'll be like, but dad, and it's like, no, you're not my baby. You are a demon. And I and I love that it like throws its last like trump card into the mix as it's about to get killed. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Yeah, I think that's one thing that I like about this movie. I know it's just said that I don't I when I watch, I don't do the comparison thing, but um it does keep that spirit of from the original movie where the the evil entity can give can seemingly make it seem like the possessions ended temporarily and make the person look normal, and then go back to the full-on possession look and mode. And uh I love that that happens a bunch in this movie with the the innocence of pleading when it's cornered.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Yeah, that's a good way to because it's also just like like if you were possessed and then you suddenly like turned back into Andrew, I would completely fall for it.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Well, how how like it's your lot, it's not like yeah, thing is you have to put yourself if you put yourself in the people's shoes, how could you not like it's like you you want to hope they're still in there, and you probably believe, especially if there is a possession. Okay, we know that they're still in there, there's possessed by a demon. So when you see the um that person that you know come through again, like, oh, they're fighting it, they're breaking through, it must be them, right? Yeah, I would get that would get me too. Yeah, you're like, oh, but then you're like if I'm if I had my weapon ready above your head, like I had a crowbar or something or a hammer about to kill you because I think you know this is the only way to go. And you're like, Andrew, what are you doing? Like, please, man. Like, I'd be like, what am I doing? Like, this isn't I'm not gonna murder somebody, if I'm gonna murder my brother, like you know what I mean. And my voice would be quivering.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

I'd be like, Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

All right, do you want to get into some light background?

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Oh, yeah, I love your uh background, so let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Okay, so in April 2011, Bruce Campbell, the original Ash, stated in an Ask Me Anything interview on Reddit. We are remaking Evil Dead. The script is awesome, the remake's gonna kick some ass. You have my word. And so fans got like super, super excited. I believe that they were expecting a remake of the original, which is not actually what ended up happening, definitely. But despite that, lo and behold, on July 13th, 2011, it was officially announced via a press release that Ghost House Pictures would be producing the upcoming remake of The Able Dead, with Diablo Cody, Andrew, Jennifer's body, in the process of revising the script, and Fetty Alvarez chosen as the director. So Fetty Alvarez and Roto Seguez co-wrote the script with Diablo Cody coming in to Americanize the dialogue because English was not either writer's first language. So she has a heavy hand in terms of like creating something that would be more uh akin to American audiences. And according to an article published in 2018 by Jeremy Dick, Alvarez confirmed the film's relationship to the original, stating it continues from the first one. The coincidences of events between the first film and mine are not coincidences, but more like dark fate created by the evil book. So that confirms that this is not a remake, it is in fact a continuation of the lore. Okay, that's cool. So the film was produced by Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Robert G. Tapert, who are the producers of the original Evil Dead trilogy. And so this next point, the next few points I think are like really key to actually what I find interesting about this film. So stylistic changes to this, like from the original to this, include makeup effects. So more sophisticated and visually comparable to Linda Blair's makeup in The Exorcist, as well as some more clearly established agenda of the possessive force, identified this time as a specific demonic entity. So apparently, like in the original films, they're a lot more ambiguous on this point, with the primary occupation of the evil presence seemingly being to like simply torment, possess, and kill. But this one they really highlight is a being who has a specific agenda outlined in this book. And we'll talk a little bit about why I think that's a little bit like wacky and kind of does a disservice later on in the film, but I'll try not to like tear it apart too hard. But there are some key sticking points for me that I just find like a little ridiculous that they could have just done without. Sorry, Queen. I know you like it.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

No, that's it's and I think you saying that it's uh that's so true. You the film, thinking about it, like this film very much establishes like a goal for this evil entity, the evil.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Um and that I kind of like. It's like it has like it has a very specific agenda with these five specific people. Yeah. Which maybe actually now that I'm thinking about it is kind of cool. Okay, on the topic of CGI, as we mentioned, Alvarez states that we decided to make a 100% CGI free movie. That makes it an experience. So the film does not employ any CGI except for touch-ups to the lighting, and we could talk about that like even in the first scene. So we didn't do any CGI in the movie. Everything that you see is real, which was really demanding. This was a very long shoot. 70 days of shooting at night. There's a reason people use CGI, it's cheaper and faster, and I hate that. We researched a lot of magic tricks and a lot of illusion tricks. And this, okay, I think above anything else, it's so funny. I went in our initial discussion, like what, five minutes ago, I was like, oh, I'm not really into this movie. But now that I think about like what they accomplished with a CGI-free film is actually astounding, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Yeah, there's some there's some scenes in this movie like uh the meat slicer scene with Natalie that uh are done so well with uh the EFX.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

So speaking of Natalie, so the actor who plays Natalie, Elizabeth Blackmore, said that working with real things makes acting on set much easier because you're physically interacting with the content. Like when you're chopping off an arm, a little bit. That's awesome. And there's blood everywhere, it adds so much. And I agree. So I actually never thought about the impact of working with real things for CGI from the actress' perspective, but I do think it's really interesting to think like she was actually slicing something off, and there was actual blood spewing and pouring everywhere. That's probably gonna, you know, elicit more of a an you know, a response than it would if it was like you're faking it.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Yeah, I I just I just think like earlier I said I like splatter horror and I think when I watch this movie, I watched like Ash vs. Evil Dead or some other fun movies that do this kind of thing. It's like I just feel like as an actor, you'd have such a blast being sprayed by like fake blood or vomit and like having a laugh with the front with your like cast and crew afterwards, like you know, telling your family, Oh, I got sprayed with blood for this one shoot today. Like, I just feel like I'd have so much fun with that.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

It's funny though, because like Mia uh or sorry, Jane Levy, who plays Mia, she said that like there's a scene where she barfs in Olivia's face, and we'll talk about that obviously later. But she said that she actually felt like terrible because of the amount of like blood or fake, like whatever you want to call it, like even I don't know, innards that were on Olivia's face. She felt really bad for the actress, and I love that because it's just like the actress had a visceral reaction because she was getting barfed on.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Yeah, I think too. I I didn't go, I didn't look up any background to these movies other than I was curious again. I I was curious back in the day, but I re- I re-looked it up like why Levi didn't return for a sequel. And um, but she I think she did not have the fun time that I'm describing in this film, or she also did Don't Breathe by Fetty Alvarez, which I love. I love that movie so much.

SPEAKER_04 15:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Um, but she said, like, the I don't know, I think they're really dark and disturbing for her. We should do Don't Breathe. I love that movie. I love that movie so much. It's so good. Do you want to do that next? Yeah, it's such a good thriller, man. It's so good.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

It's so good. I love I I actually feel like that is like a near perfect horror movie, dare I say. Okay, sorry. Yeah, I digress, I haven't seen it in like six years. Okay. According to Campbell, Fetty pitched the movie to Raimi, and Raimi got excited and decided to go for it, most notably because of the lack of CGI. Campbell states it was a chance to not see the green garden hose spewing the blood in the background and take the modern day ability and have a decent budget and let people have it again. It grips you and it holds you and it doesn't let you go. And so part of the reason why they wanted to redo this was because of the modern day advancements in practical effects, which and the budget, right? Like back in the day when they did that, they didn't have a big budget. And like he said, you're seeing the practical effects and you're seeing their limitations. So I thought that was kind of cool.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

I think that's awesome. And I think I don't want to speak here for fans of the original Evil Dead, so uh I don't mean this if I'm if I'm wrong, I'm so sorry. But I'm pretty sure so like in Evil Dead one, I'm almost pretty sure that like most of the actors, like Bruce Campbell and stuff, either worked for free or a pittance, um, with like guarantees of maybe residuals or something. I think I remember reading that. And if you look at some of the effects of the originals, it's kind of funny. Like in the original Evil Dead, the moon is clearly a projector screen, like you can see you can see the square around the moon being projected onto the image that you're watching. And I think that's part of the reason why Evil Dead 2 is kind of like a soft, kind of like a sort of remake of one in some ways. Um because it like I think Raimi wanted to come back with a bigger budget, and like, and it is like number two is like just bigger budget, better effects. Um I think I can see that Raimi um, and I love his movies, wanted to do like I think he likes the idea of being able to do something justice, is what I'm trying to get at.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

So I think the originals were I think most I think most creative individuals like rel one, probably don't love the work that they produced, and two would relish the chance to right some of those wrongs. I'm just speaking from my own like creative experience. Oh, yeah, I think that's makes sense. Okay. Uh, but again, just just really cool. And I think part of the background that I wanted to really touch on was the pride that everyone put into wanting this to be practical. And I just think it was like really, really cool. And and now maybe I'm coming around. I don't know. But wait till we get into I ugh, okay. Just continue. Okay. So 95% of this was shot in chronological order. That's impressive. Which I know, right? So this was done because a lot of the film takes place in a controlled environment, and the level of blood and violence gets worse and worse as the film progresses. So by shooting in order, and remember, 70 days. So by shooting in order, the filmmakers could throw blood on the walls and not worry about it like messing up another shot where you could.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Yeah, you can just leave it there and it would like it would actually like make sense.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

And it would dry, right? Yeah, it would like it would like pick up the lighting in the right way, like it would do all this thing. So I just thought that was pretty cool. Okay, this last point before we go into critical response, I think is the coolest aspect of this film. So, on the topic of the evil presence, and according to Alvarez, there is no display of supernatural magic in the film because it forces the characters to struggle and process the things that are happening. Like, could this be a virus? Are the characters going nuts? Is Mia just really coming off drugs? And there is a scene I'll highlight later where I actually want to kind of really break down with you, which is when Eric first experiences the book. There is a shot from behind that closes in on him, and I believe that is the way that they display the supernatural force. It is in camera work and the audience supposed supposing that something may be happening.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

There's some good sound effects too. And um, I think Fetty Alvarez definitely pays tribute to Sam Raimi with some of the shots where the evil is clearly swooping through the forest. Oh, yeah, and swoops in the house. Like Evil Dead. Obviously, everyone who's watched the originals knows that, like, the if Sam Raimi gave the evil presence a first-person camera um as it traveled through the forest and like would open a door or something. I I love those shots so much. And interestingly enough, I mean, like, how how else would you show that?

SPEAKER_00 20:41

You know, like it's a force, yeah. All right, this is my favorite part of the podcast. This is a contest where Andrew fails 10 out of 10 times every episode we do.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Andrew, how the hell do you think Evil Dead did critically?

SPEAKER_02 21:04

Critically, I think this movie was critically well received. I'm gonna give this, I'm gonna say they put it in the B plus range. I'm gonna guess it's got like a high uh 70% rating, and I think the scoreboard audiences.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

You would be incorrect. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 21:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

So I'll first I'll tell you after uh how it did. But first, I wanted to say that financially it did really well. So the film grossed$25.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing first at the box office. And it went on to gross$54 million domestically and$43 million internationally for a worldwide take of$97 million against its$17 million budget, making it a box office super smash hit. You gotta love those returns on horror. Horror movies. I know, eh? People like, do you know that there was a huge thought of like, oh, you can't make money in horror? And I don't know if you've noticed, but like, since Scream and Beyond, and especially in the last few years with like long legs, weapons, people are coming out to see these films and they're getting critical acclaim. Hello.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

I mean, this is this is this is a huge, huge, this is a whole other conversation. But yes, I'll just briefly say that um look at Blumhouse, right? Blumhouse uh has uh financed and produced everything from your shit horror movie to your masterpiece. Um because these there you just you get there's obviously returns on horror movies, and uh the year that I'm pretty sure the year that the first Avengers like made one point whatever billion dollars in the box office. I'm pretty sure that year Blumhouse still made more money on horror movies um as a total versus Marvel. Just like the the horror movies typically, not all of them, but typically have a much lower budget, so you get away with much bigger profit margins. Uh I never thought about that. That is true.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Yeah. Okay, the Rotten Tomatoes score. It is 64% based on 203 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Audiences pulled by Cinema Score gave the film an average grade of C on an A plus to F scale. So I'm in I'm I'm an out.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

I'm one of the outliers that love this movie, then I guess. You are, yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

Because okay, people don't know this, but I do this part. So I'll collect these before I watch the film. Like I'll spend a couple days like doing like kind of the background, and then I'll kind of go into the scenes of note, which I call them, which is the scene by scene. But when I wrote down 64% based on 203 reviews, I was shocked. I was like, oh, I remember like really, really liking this movie. I remember it being like really like really cool. And so I was a little shocked, but then after watching it, you know, because of like not only comparison to other films, but I find it very mid because of the characters. It's like you can't, I don't think it's fair to like pin this movie on practical effects. Like, you need something else. The characters have these like side discussions. I just don't even buy that they know each other or care. Okay, I want to read one positive review and then one negative review, and then you can let me know what you think. So, positive review, independent horror review site, horror talk, gave the film four stars out of five, saying it is the most unrelenting and bloody horror film to come out of a major studio in a very long time. And a negative review, Richard Roper rated the film one star out of four, criticizing the film's unoriginality, the character's lack of intelligence, and the film's reliance on gore for what felt like cheap scares. He concluded his review by saying, I love horror films that truly shock, scare, and provoke, but after 30 years of this stuff, I'm bored to death and sick to death of movies that seem to have one goal. How can we gross at the audience by torturing nearly every major character in the movie? He seems a little bit like I wouldn't go that far. He seems like someone hurt him. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Like he's like, he's like, holy shit. I also too like I don't know what like there's like what I would call like it's weird because this movie does take itself seriously. So I'm gonna try I'm gonna try and word this as best I can. But there's like there's mean spirited, like torture style porn or torture and suffering, like in in shit movies like hostile, right? Like it's or saw, I can't stand those movies. I'm sorry. Yeah, it's like like I would argue sometimes saw is a bit goofy with it, but I I get I do agree with you there, and and a lot of it I think was done just for the gratuitousness of it. But like there's that mean-spirited watching someone suffer and scream, and you like it doesn't it's you're not having fun with it, it's just like man, this really sucks that character. Whereas, like, I don't know, in Evil Dead, I guess I'm just I just have I'm having a lot more fun with this movie where I'm like like ah, that would hurt. Oh, that sucks. Ooh, ah, that's definitely I don't really I don't feel like we're watching extended suffering just for the sake of suffering. I feel like the splatter horror and like the gore is fun. I don't feel like it's really too mean spirited where I'm like, I'm like, oh, that's this is really too much.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

I don't either. There is like one, and we'll talk about the scene like with Olivia. I it's funny in my notes, because I you know, I'm watching it obviously in chronological order, I'm not watching it backwards. Every scene I was like, this is possibly the most disgusting scene in the film. And then the next one I'd be like, this is possibly the most disgusting. So I didn't find any of it to be like gratuitous. I thought it was like, and I'll get into it. Like I liked the idea that the book was like forecasting or foretelling their fate. I thought that was really interesting.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

I also love to I love uh this movie. Maybe it's on the nose. I love the amount of foreshadowing this movie gives to the various objects and scenes you get down the line that will eventually lead to these characters' demises. Yeah, agreed. Okay, Andrew, are you ready to get into the possessive dark book of it all? Let's open the Necronomicon. Is it a Necronomicon? That's the that was the original book's name. Oh okay, that's awesome. Let's call it that. It is the like that is the eternal book. And that's the one thing that links all of these movies is the book. It's the Necronomicon bound in human flesh. Oh, it's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Quick aside here, and I don't really want to go too deep into this, but I loved Ash vs. Evil Dead, and I would go as far as saying that was the best TV show I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

It is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. It's so fun. If you haven't seen it, please watch it. And it's it's so sad that it got canceled.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Yeah, I agreed. Again, practical effects and just an amazing storyline. Anyway, okay, I digress. Back to this movie. Ugh, no, I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_02 28:29

Actually, you know what? We're Frank and I are now gonna pivot over to Ashers' Evil Demon. We're gonna talk about our love for that show for the next hour.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Imagine we talked about like the famous rom-com. Let's just go with it. Okay. We open with a woman strolling through a dark, cloudy forest. She looks worse for wear and seemingly has been through some shit. She appears to be running from a dark figure. So as she ducks for cover, two men discover her, knocking her out and chaining her to a tree. An older woman is on site and she begins to read text from an ancient book. And she says, Only the evil book can undo what the evil book has done. And I wrote, like, this book looks evil.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

I think the whole situation looks evil.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

It does. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

So the girl. Like the cast. Sorry, don't we cut you off there, but like the bystanders look like they're like the redneck killing family from Cabin of the Woods. Like they're just like, and they're the good guys. There's not a single character in this scene other than maybe the dad and the non-possessed form of the girl that look like they're normal people. But you know they're not. Let's face it.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

So the girl, who appears to be the face of innocence, calls out, she just wants to go home. And this is where I said, like, she's pleading on humanity. So she murmurs, she wants to speak with her mom, but her father, who has appeared, reiterates her mother is dead and that she killed her. And so as the father lights a match, I wrote Very Andy from Chucky, she says, I will rip your soul out. And her face begins to change into a Linda Blair level of exorcist. So this girl ain't so innocent, but rather an exorcist level of possessed. So in a painful display, her father proceeds to burn her alive. And if that wasn't enough, blow a hole through her with a shotgun. And so the cold open comes to a close, and we are to assume the not so innocent girl has indeed perished. I thought that was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

Yeah, it's uh that's sick. That's such a good opening. And I wonder at all I wonder, I wonder too, if if this is like at all, maybe an homage. Like in the origin in the original Evil Dead, um when they go to that cabin, I think they play recordings of someone of this guy talking about the book. And um, and he talks about uh I think he talks about like some families previously experienced this. So I wonder if that was kind of an homage at all. And maybe I'm completely off base there, but I wonder. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

We transition to a red Jeep driving through the woods to a remote cabin, and we meet a group of teens. I'm assuming they're teens. They have some idle conversation before Eric, played by Lou Taylor Pucci. Let's David, played by Shiloh Fernandez. No, she's waiting out back. So we cut to a young woman drawing on top of an old car. And I wanted to point out here that Fetty Alvarez has like a very careful use of lighting because as she's drawing, we kind of get this like beautiful angelic light source pouring through the trees above, like kind of creating like this peaceful scene. But I feel like we I think I sort of feel like this is like the problem with the movie, maybe is that it looks fake. Do you know what I mean? Like it gives this air of I don't know how to describe it, it just doesn't feel real to me. Like it's a real cabin that's there. Yeah, like it's a real, although it was a real cabin, it just doesn't feel like a real cabin. That's fair, yeah, that's fair. Okay, so we learn this young woman is Mia, playing by Jane Levy, and that her brother David and friends are here to support her in her recovery journey from drugs. So promise me you'll stay till the end, she says to David, and she proceeds to dump the last burstash in front of the rest of the friend group. Mia's plans to go cold turkey and have her friends there to support whatever may occur in the process. Now, I wanted to give a quick note here and say that I would never recommend. This is from personal, my personal experience with addiction. And if you're interested, DM me. But I would never recommend anyone going cold turkey, and I would recommend you seek professional help to alleviate some of the symptoms that come through like the withdrawal process. Okay, they enter the cabin and Mia immediately notices a strange smell. And to me, this is the exact same cabin from Cabin in the Woods. Did you notice, Andrew? Like how many parallels between this movie, and I will point them out as we go through the film, are identical to Cabin in the Woods, which is referencing the original Evil Dead. We learn that David and Mia are siblings and have struggled not only through Mia's addiction together, and we'll kind of get into that in a second, but the loss of their mom. We also learned that David wasn't able to be there when their mother died. And I sense here some resentment on behalf of Mia. So we are building a bit of a backstory here, although personally I find it a little rudimentary. Also, like I guess I want to highlight here too that like maybe part of the reason why this feels so grim, which you were mentioning earlier, is because the subject matter, like we're dealing with someone who is addicted to drugs, and the reason that they're there, like it's not like oh, Cabin in the Woods, where like we're all a bunch of friends going to party. Like that to me adds like so much levity. Whereas this is like extremely dark.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Yeah, like in the original Evil Dead in the and also in Cabin in the Woods, which is obviously a meta horror film, but they go there to party, they go there to have a good time. Not they're not there to like let's kick the habit of our best friend's drug habit, you know. Yeah, it's like yay!

SPEAKER_00 35:16

Like, and yeah, and then the next scene is like they're all in bikinis at the beach, like going like having like a beach bonfire beach bash, yeah. So we cut to Olivia, played by Jessica Lucas, and I just want to take a moment. Jessica Lucas actually says that Olivia's role in the film is to be like the audience skeptic. So she's the one, and and I'll talk a little bit more about this, but she's the one who has the most difficult time believing like anything from Mia is genuine and not just a symptom of withdrawal, which I thought was cool.

SPEAKER_02 35:58

Yeah, we get we get plenty of dialogue from her justifying her behavior, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

So um Olivia takes a moment to talk with David, and she says, We've already tried this whole thing before back in Flint last summer. So Mia made some promises and took the same dramatic vow. And Olivia wants to form a plan to keep Mia on the premises, even if it gets really bad, and she asks to leave. So to me, this scene is about the friends hatching a plan to kidnap Mia against her wishes and kind of soft launching it to David.

SPEAKER_02 36:38

So yeah, they Olivia also breaks it down to for David, and David had no clue about this. You can tell that she has previously not uh not only overdosed, but she her she has previously temporarily died from a drug overdose and um trying to quit cold turkey. Uh that and that she's previously tried to quit cold turkey, sorry, and like he doesn't know any of this. Um, this also comes hot at the heels. I want to mention this scene really quick because I love my foreshadowing and my foreboding. Um, this comes hot at the heels of the scene where David fixes the front door frame using a nail gun. And this is one of the this is definitely Chekhov's nail gun. We're gonna get a couple more of these items later in the movie, which I'll I will uh bring to your attention. But this is definitely Chekhov's nail gun here.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

Uh I thought you said these were Merlin's beard.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

These were Merlin's beards. Uh no, these are we get several items in the movie, and this is the first of many with the nail gun uh which plays into a delightful scene later on. Anyways, yes, back to the Olivia Scene Skeptic. And can you imagine like you like you're like, and back to our original programming?

SPEAKER_00 37:54

Like every time, like you take us, anyways. Oh, the audience. Okay. All right, I just want to say one more quick what was I gonna say? Let me say one more quick thing around the addiction uh issue before we move forward. And again, from personal experience to be with someone who is uh addicted, and you know, you've seen them struggle, and you've seen the amount of times that they have tried to stop, and you're so on board with their journey, and you're so supportive, only to find that they've regressed or relapsed. And once that happens more than you know, a dozen times, it becomes really hard to maintain support for that person. That is my personal experience, and I'm only speaking from myself, but I understand why Olivia feels the way that she feels. I also feel like I don't think that should warrant kidnapping your friend.

SPEAKER_02 39:03

No, let's see. Isn't that illegal? Forcible confinement, not the option here, not to pick up.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

Okay, this is where we no longer see the sunshine. So we immediately cut to a stormy night, complete with thunder, as we see Mia is freaking out, calling out she can't stand that smell anymore. And as Livia, a nurse, administers medicine to Mia, Mia cites the terrible smell once again, saying something is dead and it reeks. But oddly enough, it doesn't appear anyone else can smell it. And I will highlight why I think that is ridiculous in a moment. So just as we are meant to assume this is part of the withdrawal, their pooch grandpa, the dog, alerts the group to a rug in the middle of the room, and they move in to investigate, and what they discover is a very stinky basement. So a la Cabin in the Woods, the group descends the staircase into the basement dwelling. And I want to highlight something here. So I kind of just mentioned this, but this mimics, in my opinion, the exact scene in Cabin in the Woods where they descend into the basement, they discover something, and Cabin in the Woods came out before this did.

SPEAKER_02 40:28

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

And so I just think it's interesting that this scene, in my opinion, like directly mimics that scene.

SPEAKER_02 40:37

I think too, this is this is it's tough because Cabin of the Woods is directly mimicking the Evil Dead, yeah, uh, the original, um, with this, and that's like the classic, the infamous trapdoor, the and the infamous descent into the darkness as a not only as a physical thing, but also as a you know a metaphor for what's about to trick take place. And also I want to point out here we get Chekhov steps, okay? Um we get David uh as he descends, notes the steps um as he descends, and you can take over from here, but as he descends the steps, notices they're rotted and they they're they have give to them. The camera physically shows the step bending to his weight.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

So the group proceed to a room in the basement that houses what I'm guessing is like upwards of 20 dead carcasses. And David asks, What is this? Eric replies, I don't know, like witchcraft. And within seconds of this, they easily discover the book from the beginning of the movie, and they decide to transport it upstairs. Now I want to take a minute and say, instead of getting the fuck out of there, they decide to stay.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

But uh Mia lays it down here really well. What as soon as this scene happens where she says, You shouldn't have touched anything from that basement. And is there any more is there any line that is like more succinct than that? I don't know. No, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

But not only do they decide to stay, Andrew, what do they do next? They prepare a rump roast.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

Featuring Chekhov's meat slicer.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

But can I ask you something?

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Like, I understand this is a film, but I don't give a shit. You don't do anything with the basement. Your immediate next step, none of you smell it, which I find really interesting. Yeah, you go to prepare dinner. Yeah, like what the fuck?

SPEAKER_02 42:58

I made a note of this earlier. So, like, like I put a note here. Like, I know this, I guess it's a family-owned cabin, but I was like, who the hell would stay in this cabin? Like, I know when he opens a door, I know David, he's David says a line that's like, I think let's make this a home or something, let's let's get this fixed up or something. But like, I've been in situations where I'm like, I really don't want to go camping in this shitty tent, and I want to drive away. But like, this is like you open a door to a decrepit, stinky cabin, and you're like, Yeah, I'm gonna fucking sleep here, I guess. I don't think so. And then you that's one thing, okay. You know, maybe my girlfriend's there. She's come on, baby, fine. Or my friend, you know, you're there. Andrew, come on, I just want to sure, whatever. Then you do find you find a basement with smeared blood by a trap door, a trap, not a regular door, just a trap door hidden by a rug with blood smeared nearby, with dead hanging animals, a book bound in barbed water. Fire and then you shotgun with a spent gels, and you're like, let's make a pot roast, guys. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 44:10

And she's like seasoning it with salt. Like, someone's cooking in the kitchen with Dinah. Cooking it. Like, you know what I mean? Like, what are you doing, bitch?

SPEAKER_02 44:19

I would I don't even care. Like, I know we get the scene later. The book hasn't been read yet. I know we get a scene later with the washed out road. There is no physical obstruction that would stop me leaving that fucking cabin, that campground, whatever. I'd be out of there.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

Okay. As Mia decides to take a rainy, stormy stroll out into the woods, Eric, ever the inquisitive, begins exploring the book of the dead. So we get a cool behind-the-character shot motioning to the audience, he's being drawn in by the book. So initially, I thought this guy is a complete idiot.

SPEAKER_04 44:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:56

But on rewatch, I'm wondering is he at fault? Or and actually, let me read the next part and then we can talk about it. So Alvarez didn't want an obvious display of magic, as we mentioned. So is this a great example of the subtle approach of the entity? So Eric uses pliers to release the book from its barbed wire bounding, and we see it's covered in skin. Doesn't faze him at all as he continues exploring its content. So the book is covered literally with hand-scrawled warnings. They say, Don't write it, don't hear it. They open the door to him. Despite the book's warnings, he takes a piece of paper and using a pencil scribbles over a hidden message. And what does he do, Andrew? Exactly what the book told him not to. He speaks the words.

SPEAKER_02 46:01

Yeah, this is so I think this is a case. Yeah, this is a case where like you I fully believe, based on you know, we've seen in Evil Dead Rise and other ones, the entity obviously permeates around the book, and I think this entity clearly can grab whatever curiosity you have and amplifies it. Like I can imagine like turning it up to 10. Like you, I I I honestly don't think it's just like a I think part part of it maybe is Eric beat a dumbass, but I think part of it is also like he is being manipulated and drawn into this book. It's like I imagine it's like really, really hard to ignore. Like something's entered his mind to say, like, you should do this. Because also I liked to, as he's with each barbed wire uh string um that he cuts open, we get an audio cue, and the audio builds per snap of the pliers that he does uh as he's like edging closer and closer to getting this book open to the release. And um there are those warnings, right? There's actually one warning in blunt leave this book alone. And this stupid asshole, this guy, reads the waking phrase, like what I call the waking phrase of the book. Um but then it's like, is he a stupid asshole? But yeah, that's the thing. He has the yeah, this goes back to my first point. So then I call him stupid the butt but the more you you look at this scene, uh, and I do think the entity still has this at least some semblance of power around the book itself before it's even awakened to manipulate someone around it to open it to deal with because like why else would you really genuinely do this?

SPEAKER_00 47:51

Right? I don't know. He kind of, but it's weird though, because it's like it's the one character that like already has kind of I guess he seems aggravated, he seems but you're right. I I don't we don't know enough about the character to know whether he would do this or not, so I guess we have to rely on it.

SPEAKER_02 48:10

We kind of get a throwaway line from him that he seemingly knows something about the occult because um earlier someone says, Oh, like when they see all the animals and shit um and the book, they're like, Oh, I don't know if it's Olivia or Nalley says, like, oh, it's like voodoo, and he's like, No, no, it's it's not it's it's witchcraft. Voodoo has to deal with more like dolls and props and stuff. This is different. It's like, okay, that's actually a cool thing to it, it'd be kind of cool if we knew more about Eric about why he is so into that. Um, but yeah, anyways, we end up here regardless. He reads the waking phrase. Maybe Eric watched Child's Play. Maybe, and it's like, oh, in Child's Play, that was voodoo. This is bad.

SPEAKER_00 49:03

This is obviously different. Okay. As he does this, we cut to Mia, she's wandering aimlessly through the foggy forest as a malevolent force envelops her, causing her to throw up violently. A frazzled Mia enters the cabin and announces she's leaving. She'll do it, but she can't do it here. To which the group informs her she must remain to continue the medicated withdrawal, citing, We're just here to help you. Frustrated and defiant, Mia races off in one of the vehicles, and as she's driving, she notices a figure suddenly appear. A figure bearing a striking resemblance to herself, and veers off the road and into a ravine.

SPEAKER_02 49:54

Yeah. So uh the next scene here is pretty famous. It's famous in the original. This is done a little more um, I guess, real uh not realistically, I guess it's it's a little more serious, a lot more seriously. Sorry, it's a lot more serious than even the first one, but like explicit. So just a content warning here, kind of we're kind of veering into essay assault territory here.

SPEAKER_00 50:18

So So she falls into this bramble bush, and as she attempts to escape, the tree branches they latch onto her and they hoist her in place. In place for what, you might ask? So she lifts her head and she sees the complete exorcist version of herself, another Mia across from her, possessed. And so a dark substance begins to ooze from its mouth, slowly making its way inside Mia, infecting her from within with the evil curse. Ooh, and it's very gruesome and it's very, it's very yeah, essentially she's being raped.

SPEAKER_02 51:05

Yeah, I will say I think uh the the good thing about the scene, I guess, is that it is really quick. Like once the the belching of the black tree branches um happens, it's it's really not drawn out. The scene, I don't think the scene delights in this at all. Um, and so we do get a cut pretty fast to her being found by the gang right after this.

SPEAKER_00 51:30

Yeah. Yes, it is a assault scene. So the group do locate her and return her to the cabin. So David moves in to check on Mia, and she whispers to him, like, you have to get me out of here, that there's something in the woods. And what I find so interesting to hear again is like I said, in child's play, we have this effective dramatic irony. Like the group is convinced Mia is sick, but we know that she's possessed. And so, like, by trying to help her, all they're doing is like determining, determined to keep her in place, and that's exactly like where she does not need to be. So Mia tells David she thinks the force is in here with them now, and David tells her it's all in her head, she'll feel better tomorrow, but we as the audience know the truth, and so this is where I kind of felt really sad for her.

SPEAKER_02 52:24

Yeah, I also like uh Jane Levy, I think, is absolutely freaky. Like, she's very this scene is very like her acting and stuff is very different from before when she's freaking out. She's the scene, the way they the lighting the scene when David enters the room and she's cowering under the bunk beds, um, and she's under the bed, it's her facial expressions, like I think Jane Levy freaking kills it here. Um, and I love the desperation and her fear level is now like 10 out of 10. Like, I we we need to get out of here.

SPEAKER_00 52:59

I will say there are five actors in this film in total who fun fact, their first letter of their first names spell out the word demon. That's crazy. But I think they're all exceptional actors, like I especially Eric. Like, um, that guy, I fucking love that actor.

SPEAKER_02 53:22

I mean, I hate I hate Eric, yeah. The actors kids.

SPEAKER_00 53:24

Well, yeah, I hate the character. But now I'm like, is it his fault? I don't know. Okay, we return to Eric, Ever the Explorer, as he continues to research the dark book. And he's as he flips through the pages, we're treated to an image of the possession process: a young woman held hostage by a thorn bush. So David heads down to the witchcraft basement and begins to remove the carcasses, noticing a bloody trail in the rain. As he approaches to investigate, he locates a very damaged pup. His dog grandpa, covered in blood. He peers up and discovers the murder weapon, a bloody hammer. Convinced it's Mia, heads into the cabin to find her. He finds her taking a hot shower, so hot that it's scorching her skin. Finally, they remove her from the cabin and start making their way to a hospital. Interestingly, Eric dives into the Book of Evil once again and discovers another image of a woman pouring scolding water on her body. And we're starting to put the pieces together that this book is foretelling the fate of the possessed. So maybe Mia is not struggling through withdrawal after all. Because keep in mind, every single character at this point thinks that she is struggling through a withdrawal.

SPEAKER_02 54:47

Yeah, I this is I think at this point, it's like this is what drives me nuts about Eric's character. And I get not wanting to admit that you're the cause of all the stuff happening to somebody. I fully understand that. But at this point, maybe speak up and say, guys, we're dealing with something a lot more serious. Like, this is this is gonna get real bad before it gets better. He does end up doing this much later.

SPEAKER_00 55:14

Much later when I think. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:22

He's like, whoopsie, did I do that?

SPEAKER_02 55:26

He like goes into a room, there's just corpses everywhere. Uh guys, I know you might asleep in, but I read from the book. Fuck Eric.

SPEAKER_00 55:40

As David makes his way to the main road with Mia in tow, we see that it's been flooded and there appears to be no way out of the forest. That will not let them leave. Two points here. This is another display of a supernatural occurrence without the obvious magic, and two, another identical parallel to Cabin in the Woods. They're unable to leave the cabin, albeit in a much different way. Yes. But I like that. I like that they're the force has like ensured they cannot escape because it wants to devour them. And I think that's fucking cool. Like, that's a cool aspect of the movie.

SPEAKER_02 56:25

Yeah, they the book is the trap. It's been sprung. You are in, I picture like they're in a gigantic bear trap right now.

SPEAKER_00 56:33

So the group begins to implode slightly and begin to rethink their strategy about keeping Mia here against her will. So they agree in the morning, they'll bring a sedated Mia to the hospital, quote, when the road clears.

SPEAKER_02 56:50

Yeah, also, really quick. Like, we first, this is that flood scene, very brief. I'll just say it's the first time we maybe second time we see the possession starting to take hold of Mia. Mia gives David a cruel smirk through the windshield as he's stares from the flooded, washed-out road back into the car at Mia. And Mia doesn't go in a full smile, but she briefly gives an evil smirk to David.

SPEAKER_00 57:18

Okay. Mia suddenly appears in the living room, bearing the same shotgun we saw in the cold open, firing a shot and nearly annihilating her brother. She begins screaming, one by one, we will take you, before collapsing. As Olivia moves to remove the gun from Mia, Mia hops on top of her, barfing a bloody concoction into her mouth. And this is where I wanted to give you a fun fact. Jane Levy, and this is what you said earlier, she admitted that her role was a physically demanding one, also due to the many hours that she had to spend in the makeup chair. However, her least favorite scene to do was the one where she has to vomit all over Olivia's face because she felt sorry for Jessica Lucas. And I thought that was funny. But yeah, it doesn't sound like she, like you mentioned earlier, she really enjoyed this role. Like it wasn't a fun thing.

SPEAKER_02 58:16

I just feel like if an actor, like, hey, for this scene, you're gonna get barfed on this blood concoction. I'm like, let's fucking do it. That would be so I like I think it'd be so fun to film. Like obviously, you know, it's not like real gross stuff, it's just like you know, it's a it's a makeup uh uh it's just you know, it's a solution made for the the screen, so it's like fucking spray me with it, man. I I'd be I'd love to do that. Yeah, especially like you you know it's fake. Yeah, and I I guess we don't really hear a complaint from the actress who played Olivia there, so no, you don't.

SPEAKER_00 58:46

In fact, she's like totally on board, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:48

Also, too, so we get we get right right before this. This again, this is why I can't Eric man. Um, right before Mia in the third like in the throes of possession when she comes out a shotgun, Eric gives a little speech um that nothing is fine and everything has been getting worse. And it's like, yeah, but you're one sentence away from the why is it getting worse, Eric? Like he just won't, he stops right there. He's like, Yeah, not you know what I noticed, not that have you guys noticed nothing is fine and everything's been getting worse. Yeah, we have. Like, do you have some insight? Nah, that's it. That's all I have to say. It's like, I am Eric, come on, man. Like, just say you read from the book, you got curious, it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 59:36

Listen to this. Okay, so Olivia does manage to free herself from the demon, and the group lock the Mia demon in the witchcraft basement. Olivia covered in blood, and in awesome, she gave her enough sedative to put down a horse. Eric, flustered, says, he's scared that's what he's scared that what's happening to Mia has something to do with the witchcraft down in the basement. I fucking hate this guy that he caused.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:09

Like, they don't what I don't like about the scene either is like we don't even get like an off-glance to the like maybe the side of the camera, or like he looks the side of the like as if he feels an ounce of remorse for what he's done. He's just like very much like, yeah, I think it's something to do with like what's in that basement, as if he doesn't remember doing it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:30

But that's what I'm wondering. Like, if if in his defense, if this was a demonic entity or is maybe he doesn't remember, but he does later, so that's not true.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:44

Yeah, yeah, it's true, it's true, Eric.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:47

So the heat is pretty much like relentlessly turned up at this point, and this is the part of the movie that I just love, like from here on out. So Olivia heads to the washroom to clean up, and as she does this, the evil book flips to a page of a woman brandishing a knife who has seemingly sliced her own face off. And as we know up to this point, the book foretells the future. So Olivia begins to pause, unable to move, urinating down her leg as the possession seemingly takes hold of her. So now we have two demon-possessed women in the house.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

I think two. I think we we as the audience can kind of put together that this evil spreads via like bodily fluid or something. Um, the vomit was clearly done on purpose to infect um Olivia with the evil. Turn it into her sorry.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:44

No, I I'm just wondering because it's like a does a demon possession I'll give you an example. In The Exorcist, which I haven't seen in like 30 years, the demon possesses an individual at a time, and we know famously it moves into a character who then kills himself to kill the demon. Yeah, in this movie, it seems like it can occupy multiple people at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:18

Yes, so I I I I'm on maybe unfairly drawn in the on the lore of the other movies, but um, you know, in the other movies, Ash, I think, brands them, like gives them the moniker Deadites. Um, but basically, the evil is not just like it's not just one demon that can do one thing at one time. It can obviously be everywhere all around them. And I think um my interpretation with this movie is that the evil spreads its possession force or threat or whatever via either injuring another host or or or like bodily fluid spraying on them.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:03

Okay, Eric hearing some commotion in the bathroom begins to slowly approach, calling for Olivia. He opens the bathroom door and we can hear slithering. Olivia, he calls, and as he approaches, and I was not prepared for what happened next. She is slicing her mouth off.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:25

I I don't know what it is, man. I can see people be blown up, limbs blown off, sought off. But when it comes like sharp glass serrated blades and carving of like that, like carving between the fingers, the the mouth. Oh man, that makes you wince every time. This scene, I was like, oh god, I had that missile reaction to it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:44

I was like, oh, and the fact that she's doing it and like she's not in pain. Yes, oh but what happens next, Andrew, grossed me out the most because I hate, hate, hate needles. Yeah, and she lunges at Eric and begins stabbing him relentlessly in his right eye through his glasses with the needle.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:17

I think this too, this is like such a realistic, like stabby stab with a needle.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:22

It's insane.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:23

You're not seeing you're not seeing blood spray or him come under super bad injury right away, but you're seeing the little tiny pinholes, and then yeah, you oh you just you can imagine, you you can imagine what that would feel like. And it's just like he's defending himself and he's screaming. It's like I'm wincing the whole time. Like, oh god, that would be terrible. Like, that would be so awful.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:44

Now, is this not some type of penance for him?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:50

Uh, this guy, this is just the start of this guy's penance. I know this guy is the movie gets it, girl. This guy gets it so good from every single bot, like every single tool and weapon in the movie. He becomes the proverbial pincushion for this entire movie. It is crazy the amount of punishment this guy's body takes before he dies there.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

But then I'm like, you know, anyway, okay. So he does manage to free himself, and as she crawls across the floor toward him, he bludgeons her to death. And that was his girlfriend.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:29

Yeah, it's he's he and I do like that he's appropriately horrified while he does it.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:34

Yeah, he is. Like, this is definitely not in his like innate nature.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:39

And I think unlike unlike the other members of the of the of the cabin hold, the household there, I think he hard realizes that she's possessed and is like he knows he has to put her down as opposed to like I'm killing my girlfriend. It's like, nope, I'm killing a demon that's already killed my girlfriend. I think he kind of realizes that.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:00

But it's also like it would be like no less difficult.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:03

No, no. I just I'm just thinking like he does respond appropriately and pretty quickly to being attacked by this possessed girlfriend of his. Like it seems like it would be so easy for you, Andrew, just to do that. Uh, I mean, if I just got stabbed repeatedly with a needle and then I had to pull the needle out of my eye, um, I might take a toilet lid or whatever, smash someone's skull in two. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:30

I'm not cutting that part out. Okay. So we have our first kill. Eric finally admits to David he read some sort of a prayer from the book and he released something evil. So we cut to Natalie. Yes, she still exists, I wrote. She is such a throwaway character.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:53

Yeah, you know what? It's so funny that you mentioned because like we don't get almost anything from her. No, we get literally nothing from her. She's just there, right? She's there to be a kill. Yes. She's fodder. She does have one of one of my favorite, she is in one of my favorite scenes, though, despite her being fodder.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:12

Oh, yeah. Like her whole okay, we'll get into it. Okay. As she heads into the kitchen. This time, not to make a rump roast, but to gather first aid. She hears Mia sobbing below. And as she peers over, we see the trapdoor to the basement open and a cowering Mia at the foot of the stairs. What does Natalie do? She approaches. She begins apologizing to Mia about the group's decision to keep her in the basement. And Mia says he's not going to stop until he has all of you. And as Natalie attempts an escape, Mia drags her beneath the floorboards and into the basement.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:59

But I have to mention here this is the payoff from earlier, because as Natalie descends the steps, that rotted step that we were shown earlier does snap. And that's what ultimately causes her demise in escaping. She tries to, we have a scene of her trawn up, trying to hoist herself up with her upper body. We see her face freeze, as we know, we assume that uh Mia has grabbed her ankles or and and drags her into the basement.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:25

And I will also cite that this is another perfect example of the demon preying on our humanity. Like that is a smart tactic because humans are, in my opinion, humans are inherently good.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:41

Yeah, and Jane Levy's like pleading voice, whatever, it's so innocent sounding that's like you really do like your heart really does bleed for her when she's like, I need help, or you know, like she's crying, it's like, oh man, you just want to comfort her.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:56

But girl, you ugly.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:59

Can you imagine? Okay, girl, you ugly. So this is where we see full exorcist Mia. She crawls her way up Natalie's body, telling her she can smell her filthy soul before biting into her hand. The only defense Natalie has is an X Acto knife. She's rummaged up from the basement, but Mia is not afraid of this, but rather chooses to lick the blade, splitting her tongue in two. Yeah, this is I'm like you, like shooting, stabbings, whatever. I have a very, very hard time with drowning, and I have a very, very hard time with just what I'm seeing right here, which is a blade slicing anything.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:44

And it's so good. You see the close-up of her splitting her tongue with this X-acto knife, it's so gruesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:50

And she enjoys it.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:51

Oh god. And I also think we're meant to assume that when you're in demon form, you're not experiencing pain? Question mark?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:01

I I mean, I would it if it's a demon, I would expect that the person, if they're still in there, experiences everything and can't do anything about it. Which would make it so much more tragic.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:12

I know, really, right? So as David frees Natalie from the basement. Can I interrupt you for a second? Did you know that Natalie is David's girlfriend?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:23

Yes, but it's like like there's like no chemistry with them. There's no real scenes where we get like their girlfriend boyfriend. Like, they don't even have a moment where they talk, do they? I don't think they have one, like they don't even have a moment where they're a side in the room, like being tender and being like, what the fuck do we do? Like, yeah. We really you are you put it you hit the nail on the head there. Like, Natalie is kind of a a nothing burger. She's like, she's kind of there just to be a fifth person.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:55

The actress is fucking awesome, though. Like no shade toward that. It's just like it's a nothing character. You know what we could have used?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:03

We could have used a top gun level like making love scene where they're like, take a little time, a little time to think it over, you know?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:14

Yeah, we could have we could have definitely made the runtime like five minutes longer for this superfluous scene like that. I would have I think that would have been great.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:24

Um, okay, so at this point I wonder. Oh no, okay. So as David frees Natalie from the basement, Mia says to him, Why don't you let me suck your cock, pretty boy? And at this point, I wonder, does he realize now that she's not going through withdrawal? That's what I kept asking myself.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:47

Yeah, he he he often I don't think he ever remarks upon like anyone being possessed. He just like gives a look, like, oh, what? Do you know what's funny?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:56

I when I initially wrote this script, I was thinking this was gonna be like really boring, like, oh, this happens and then this happens. But now that I'm reading it, I'm like, this movie is batshit crazy kind of.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:08

Yeah, like this this movie's pacing is like it's once we especially get to the Mia shotgun scene, it is relentless.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:17

Yeah, it's really like there are no quiet moments. No, there's no downtime. So we cut to a very frazzled Eric. He's attempting to burn the book of the dead, but it just won't burn. He says the book refers to an evil entity, a taker of souls, and that once he feasts on five souls, the sky will bleed again and the abomination will rise from hell. Lo and behold, there are five individuals here. He continues to say, if we want to help Mia, we have to kill her. This is what I find so bizarre about the book. Why does the book, and this kind of goes back to the cold open, why does the book foretell what it is going to do, and then in the exact same book, foretell how to stop it?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:12

I think because the book itself, we don't go the we don't get any lore on this, but I think it's meant to be like a dark like wizards or necromancer's tome, where it's like here's here's what you get if you experiment with this evil magic. But if you have to undo this evil magic, like this is how you go about it. I think that the the book itself is it's it wasn't made by the evil entity, I don't think. I think it's like a book to partake in the occult and dark arts with like a basically an undoing spell in it. If this is just me, by the way. I'm just spitballing here, guys. I know there's probably people out there, and I know they I think in Ash versus Evil Dead and in the other movies they go into the lore of this book a lot more, but uh they do.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:04

Yeah, I need to rewatch it because I I thought the book of the dead was indeed a like it was a character all unto itself that had an agenda. But maybe in this book, in this movie, that obviously might not be the case. But you're right, there will be people that will uh provide us information that I I could use. I didn't I didn't look this up because I just wanted to like kind of chat about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:28

Yeah, I think it's I think it's this book asks a lot of interesting questions that you don't really get the answers to in this movie.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:36

It's basically like the Celestine prophecy.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:39

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:41

I'm trying to get these zingers in here, but I don't know if they're like working. It's not a comedy podcast, guys. We're not professional comedians. Girl, you gotta read it, honey. Yeah, you're not wrong. You know what you need to do? Run a bath. Yeah, I do that. Okay. We cut back to poor Natalie. She attempts to rinse her hand from the bite, and as she does this, her entire hand becomes or begins to necrotize. This poor girl has had zero to do in this entire film, but this is her moment to shine. So the necrotization begins to usurp her entire arm as the possession takes hold. She has a moment here where she sort of snaps out of the trance of possession. She grabs the aforementioned meatsaw and proceeds to chop her own arm off. And I wrote that the effects here are fucking amazing.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:43

Yeah, there's this scene starts out amazing too. Like she squeezes, I don't know why I love it. It's maybe it's like watching a pimple pop or something. But uh, she walks she squeezes these black globules out of her hand to start with. And at the start of the scene out of these two holes, and it's like really well done. Like you can physically see the actress squeeze the injury in her hand, and these two black like globules like of liquid or something ooze out, and it's like so satisfied, it's so cool. And then, of course, we it starts necrotizing her arm, and we get one of the best, one of many in this movie, but one of the best splatter scenes in this movie when she begins to take a fucking beat side of her arm. And I also love too that while this is happening, possessed me is like, don't cut it off, don't cut it off. Like, I love that she doesn't want Mia, seemingly doesn't want Mia or Natalie, sorry, to cut off her arm and stop the infection.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:44

No, she's there to encourage it. Yeah. Um, again, I wrote, I didn't realize until this moment that Natalie is David's girlfriend. He promises her everything is going to be fine as he tapes up her wound. Eric, who has been a bit of a naysayer this entire film, I might add, says, she just cut her fucking arm off. Does that sound fine? And I appreciate David's optimism. Like, everything's gonna be fine. We'll we'll get out of here in the morning, honey.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:20

Yeah, David's like still trying to be the hopeful hero here.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:26

But back to the book, Eric tells David there are a few things they can do to end this alive burial, bodily dismemberment, and impurification by fire. And David is still slightly skeptical of the demonic possession, saying maybe she just needs a doctor.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:49

Referring to Mia. And he goes into this and he says his mom died in a mental hospital, and he always feared Mia and he would end up like her. So I think it's interesting that he would rather believe she is sick or mentally unwell than possessed by a demon because of his trauma-informed view of their relationship.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:19

Yeah, I do think at some point you just gotta like get with a program, though. Like, Olivia's head is bashed in and her face was carved by Eric's own account. Uh, Mia came out and shot at you and took almost took your arm off. Your girlfriend cut her own arm off with a meat slicer. So why would you think that actually Mia just needs a doctor?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:52

I think if they just all gone to a doctor, this would be fine personally.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:55

But like, if me if they brought me to doctor, then what happened with Natalie, David? Like, do you think Natalie's also suffering a mental health psychosis?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:04

Like, no, no, no. Natalie slipped.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:07

Yeah, you're right. She slipped onto a meat slicer that was still, and she just sat there for a minute while it carved its way through her arm.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:15

So the antithesis of David's optimism is Eric, who says, I'm going to burn this fucking place down. Which is kind of logical. So a lot in the next, you know, as we wrap up kind of like act three, a lot is about to happen here. So as he says this, we cut to an exorcist version of Natalie, complete with the aforementioned nail gun. Not only has she nailed herself in her face, she begins an onslaught on David and Eric. And I find it cool that every time something insane happens upstairs, the demon below like giggles in ecstasy. Like Mia's down there, just totally raking it in. And at this point, not only has Eric been completely stabbed in the eyeball, but now he is littered with nails.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:11

Yeah, he's got nails in his chest, he's got nails through his arm, his hand, he pulls out. It's he's a pincushion here.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:18

He is. And so David tackles Natalie, freeing Eric from the relentless torture. It appears even David has been hit. It also appears Natalie has disappeared. But as David looks up into the reflection of the TV, we see Natalie brandishing a crowbar. She brings it hard down on Eric's hand. And in my opinion, I know I already said this, we have the coolest practical effect in the film of his hand just being obliterated.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:51

Yeah, she strikes with such force, it comes down between that ring finger and her middle finger and splits, it splits Eric's hand in two. It's so gruesome. Poor guy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:05

So she just continues beating him. And as she's about to deliver the final blow, David blows her other arm off with the shotgun.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:17

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:18

And now she is armless. So an armless Natalie pleads to David, my face hurts. And again, I love that the demon does this last ditch attempt at humanity. I think that is like it's it's Swan Song is pleading in human form. So she starts to sob and crawl toward him. And he confusingly accepts her advances, cradling her in his arms. And this is I did have a quick question here because she we don't hear or see any more from this character. So are we meant to believe that she is dead because of loss of blood? Like her other arm was blown off, and so the dismemberment worked? Like what yeah, I didn't really understand that.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:18

Yeah, I kind of think of it. I I'm trying to think. It's funny because I didn't write any notes on the specific like this cradles, the this like her plead scene here, but now that you bring attention to that, we don't we don't get her again, do we? No, she's a toast. I I think she bleeds, I think she's I think the body's bleeds out from both arms and just can't like even the evil can't get the motor function going because there's no blood in the body left.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:45

Yeah, because at some point, like you like dismemberment will work because it doesn't have anything left to control, right? I'm assuming.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:52

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:54

Okay, so we transition to David, carrying Eric to one of the vehicles before dousing the cabin in gasoline. We're heading to the home stretch now, Andrew. I'm sorry, Mia, he says. I love you. And just as he's about to torch the place, we hear a lullaby from below. A lullaby he's familiar with. Recognizing he can't proceed, he hatches a plan to bury Mia alive. But first he needs to find Mia in the basement. He descends into the basement, sedative in tow, and begins his search for his possessed sister.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:34

So I thought this was go ahead, go ahead. We also see him before he descends in the basement, we see him like make a contraption, right? Yeah, am I right about it? Yeah, and he makes like this this two-needled device wrapped in wire, and you're like, what's this gonna be? And we yes, because this is right, yes, as as soon as he makes the decision, you know what? I'm not gonna burn her, I'm not giving up on her, I'm gonna bury her. We get a quick little montage, very quick, like five, you know, 10-second montage of him building something, this the little device with two needles and stuff. Um, and we also, I'm gonna draw attention to it. I'm sorry, this would be annoying for the audience, maybe, but we also get our first glimpse. What would be an Evil Dead film without another chainsaw? So we do get a glimpse of the chainsaw, and he stares at it briefly, I think, and then it's it's written off. You know, he does not grab it and he builds this contraption with these two syringes wrapped in wire. Um, which I thought it's funny, it's been a while since I saw I actually I completely forgot about this entire I completely forgot what happens up until the blood rain scene. So um, I was like, I don't what is he doing? Like, is this like a double sedative? Like, you know, that even the demon can't fight it. Um, but no, he actually descends with a single syringe. So I was like, what then what did he just build? And obviously we find that out later. So I thought it was I thought it was cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:54

But good call on the checkoff's chainsaw. Yeah, sorry, I love that stuff. Me too, me too. No, like I actually think this is a funny through line throughout this podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:05

There's a lot of aforementioned uh things. This this movie makes a point to do this a lot, and it and and it's obviously on the nose. I'm not, you know, it's not like ooh, I caught that. Uh, I just love that the movie does this a bunch of times, and there's a payoff for every every time the camera cuts to a weapon or method of death, we we get the payoff pretty soon after. I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:29

Yeah, and it's relentless. It it the the the pace is.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:32

Yeah, it's just like non, it's it's coming at you like a freight train, it's non-stop.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:36

It's coming at you like a slow burn, but I don't okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:39

Yeah, maybe not.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:45

So there's a struggle here as Mia tosses David against the basement wall several times, and I kept wondering if they just wanted to show this because they had multiple takes.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:56

I think too, this is very this for me was an homage to OG Ash being thrown around by the Deadites. And I think I a lot of people would agree with that. This is one of the few times, maybe a couple times in the movie that pays an homage to the source material. Um, I thought this was done purposefully to be campy and purposely to be a bit funny of him being thrown, like there's a there's one light source being at a corner of a room, and he's getting thrown at it multiple times. So I I love this. I love that scene.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:27

I thought this was like, oh, Shiloh, you did an amazing job. Let's include all of them.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:34

Your your acting being thrown is fantastic. Here's all six takes.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:39

Yeah, I did find that really funny. Okay. She begins to drown David, but before she can complete the job, Eric comes from behind, knocking Mia unconscious and saving David from his watery grave. As the two share a quick moment, a battered Eric finally breathes his last breath. And man, I wrote, did this guy ever go through it?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:04

Yeah, because he before Mia's fully knocked out and dead, she stabs him one last time. Like he takes the he takes the Xacta knife into the chest. Like this guy, like from start to finish, from the needle scene to the nails to the Xacta knife, becomes a pin cushion for like the last half hour.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:26

But I've gotta ask, like, I think the funny thing about this is that he fucking caused it. Yes, absolutely. Not that, like, you know, I I'm gonna not apologize anywhere because I apologized last time for making it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:43

This is just you deserved it, girl. Let's skill. Let's let's start in a previous podcast, which uh how deserving of someone is death in a movie. Um, you know, this movie, I would say Eric rates a 10 out of 10.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:57

Um Maggie, Maggie, an eight out of ten.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:04

Okay. So we cut to David burying me alive, and there's this amazing shot where her eyes are closed. We cut to the shovel and we go back and they are open. And the demon begins pleading again, struggling, crying out, David, I can't breathe. But this time he's wise to its tricks, retorting, You're not her. The demon taunts David about their mother, telling him every time she screamed your name, I told her you'd be coming back to see her, but you never did. And she waits for you in hell, the demon says, and begins to giggle. What a bitch.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:43

Yeah, I love that. That's so mean. I love that I love the a lot of the I love what the demon in this the demon throughout this movie says a lot of depraved stuff to try and elicit like the horrific reaction of the character. It's terrorizing. I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:59

Dude, she told her brother she'd suck his cock.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:01

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I love the depraved stuff that demon says to get it's like just gross. To horrify these people, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:08

So he raps at the burial, and when he hears the struggle below the dirt cease, he uncovers his sister, jumpstarting her heart with adrenaline and bringing her back to life. So this is kind of cool. So apparently, director Fetty Alvarez stated that his favorite scene in the movie is this one. And in order to help Fernandez with his performance, Levi was really buried alive in the grave below him, with plenty of safeguards, of course, to prevent her from suffocating. This was done so that Fernandez would show genuine apprehension and try to get Levy out of the sand as fast as possible.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:50

That's insane.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:52

That's really fucking cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:54

Really cool, but that I think as an actor, I think be even I know it's temporary, but being buried alive would be yeah, that would that would be hard.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:03

I would never do that. There would be two things in my contract: no tits and no buried alive.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:09

Like you wouldn't show your own tits, or you wouldn't want to see a no, I wouldn't show my own tits. Okay, that's fair.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:14

No, those are for my my uh monogamous boyfriend as we get married in the chapel. Yeah. Okay. After a couple of failed attempts, he considers the revival unsuccessful, and just as he's about to give up, sending his sister off to the afterlife, we hear the words David utter from below. Mia is indeed alive, folks. And at this point, it almost feels like the film will come to a close, but not before more batshit craziness. So David asks Mia to wait behind as he gets the keys to the car, and just as he does this, Eric appears from behind and submerges a blade into David's neck.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:04

Yeah, I thought I thought Eric was dead. Me too. I also love this Liss possessed version of a character because I find Eric's really scary as the possessed one here because he's he's the first one that's kind of silent and more of a stoic, unlike demon person. Um I really thought this scene and his the shots of him hanging in the background were really really freaky. I liked it a lot. I was like, is there a difference? That's so good.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:37

Okay. So Eric is indeed possessed, and David, our hero, up until this point, is indeed hurt. He's hurt badly. He calls to Mia go and shuts himself inside with demon Eric, who's twitchingly approaching him. He's coming, Eric says quietly. And just as he says this, David blows the cabin to smithereens, burning it up in a fiery blaze.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:05

Yeah, the classic heroic sacrifice.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:09

And just as you again think the movie is done, Mia Cowers.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:17

This is my favorite. This is, I think, when I look back at this movie, I mean, I'm a sucker for when like the heroine goes from the victim to like the killer. And I love this this entire scene that you're about to we're going to clinches this movie for me.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:37

Can I be honest with you? I actually thought it would have been interesting to see David as the final boy doing the things that we're about to see. Like, I totally appreciate like Mia's arc, but I feel like this film just does a disservice to the character of David. And I'm not like fully super invested in him, but like up until this point, like, I mean, it just seems like it, you know what this movie does? This is another thing. I think this movie just like obviously it's not afraid to pull its punches with murdering off characters, but it it uh I just found it a little shocking that like that's it for him.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:20

Yeah, I guess you could have I think you could have had an ultra ending here where unfortunately you don't save the sister. Mia does have to die, and it is David versus you know the abomination here. Um the two of them survive in their, you know, or or both, yeah. I think I think that also would have worked well, and I think David does go through it in this movie as well. So I I agree with that. I agree with that take very much.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:49

So as Mia cowers outside, the skies do indeed rain blood, as in the foretold prophecy, and a being emerges from the ground. So fun fact, Andrew. According to reports in the press, the film used 70,000 gallons of fake blood. And in an interview, Alvarez said they used 50,000 gallons for this final scene alone.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:18

Oh, yeah. I mean, you're spraying they're clearly they're obviously spraying blood through, like, you know, like the rainmakers that they use for these scenes. Um, the amount of blood you'd be pumping to film that for the duration of the scene, I fully believe that easily.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:32

But listen to this: this is compared to 200 to 300 gallons used in the original film. Wow. Is that crazy? Like, that's fucking insane. I don't think we can grasp the magnitude of like the amount of fake blood that they were using. So Mia locating the keys gets inside the vehicle, but before she can make her escape, is accosted by the demon. Now, earlier, like when David hatched his plan to bury Mia Live, we saw a quick glimpse at a chainsaw in another moment of foreshadowing, as we mentioned. So, as Mia escapes the vehicle and heads to the shed, what does she find, folks?

SPEAKER_01 1:35:13

The fucking chainsaw!

SPEAKER_02 1:35:18

And we also get like we we get like a we get a pretty intense pursuit of like she crawls through that hole that the grandpa, the dog was found in to get into the shed. And I liked I just really liked the intensity of the of the camera work with the chase scene there. So I thought that was fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:40

She almost grabs, I don't know if you know, she almost grabs a machete. Yeah, it you see the machete. And then looks up, deciding the chainsaw would be like a little bit more badass. And then I was thinking to myself, like, is this an homage or like a wink wink to like other slasher films?

SPEAKER_02 1:36:02

Yeah, I don't know. It plays a cute audio cue. Like, she looks at the machete and then it like plays a little noise, and as she looked as the camera pans up with her vision to the chainsaw. Um, so maybe, but it's also, of course, we're gonna get that machete also in this movie pretty fast. This is like really like a Bill and Ted's level of like.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:26

So the demon Mia scurries forth, herself brandishing the machete. And as Mia tries to make an escape through a cubby, the demon begins slicing through multiple times before Mia can free herself. Mia, chains on toe, cowers under the Jeep while desperately trying to fire up the chainsaw. As the demon approaches, Mia indeed does fire it up, slicing the demon's leg clear off. But as she attempts an escape from beneath the jeep, the fallen demon drops the Jeep on top of Mia's arm, preventing her from her escape. And as Mia attempts to tear her arm free, we just see the skin, tendons, and veins pull apart in a bloody disgusting mess. And I know that I've said this multiple times throughout, but this is the most disgusting scene in the entire film.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:32

Yeah, it's done so well. The tearing of the skin, especially, is so gruesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:38

As the demon crawls toward Mia, it says, You're going to die, you pathetic junkie. Mia finishes tearing her arm free and continues to eviscerate the demon by shoving the chainsaw into its mouth, causing an epic display of blood spatter and gore. Go to hell, bitch, she says as the demon corpse sinks into the ground.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:10

I just love so this scene. I love the side shot of Jane Levy clearly has a chainsaw and like a mannequin or something. Because like the body of this demon's very limp has the chainsaw. I noticed that. I just love this. I think it's so awesome. I love the blood spray, the blood rain, uh, the execution of this abomination. I really, really liked it. And again, the practical effects. Yeah, it's just awesome. And the the the chainsaw split, you see, you get a visceral scene of the chainsaw going from the splitting the head down into the spine before she pulls the chainsaw out. It's just fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:55

I think this also, if there was ever any doubt, we now know that dismemberment does indeed kill the demon. Yes, yeah, like the demon has no place to go but out of the dead body, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:14

Yeah, which was named in the book as one of the three methods to kill the demons. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:19

Told by our dear Eric, ever the scholar. So Mia stands alone as the cabin burns behind her and the sky ceases to rain down blood. We end with a battered Mia walking toward the angelic light. But before we can call this a happy ending, the last thing we see is the very intact book of the dead. So that's Evil Dead.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:52

And after we I know we kind of gave a little review, so what's your what'd you what's your summary of how you feel about this movie?

SPEAKER_00 1:39:59

I mean, if I haven't been clear about that before. Okay, this is what I think. I I stand, I say, I'm gonna say exactly what I said at the top of the film, even after all of that. I believe that it's like very, very like again, practical effects, unrelenting action, really amazing, bloody, gory, gooey horror. I think is the strong suit of that movie. I also feel like another strong suit is not seeing magic or possession done through special effects and through camera work, rather, is amazing. However, perfect example. I don't know who Natalie is. I didn't even know she was David's girlfriend. So I don't give a flying fuck about these characters. So I will give it a solid six out of ten. Six and a half out of ten.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:53

That's fair. I think I think this doing this podcast, this review, has kind of brought to light those issues that I don't think it really I think I was so focused on it being such a fun splatter horror special effects written movie. But yeah, these are at least a few of these characters are pretty paper thin. Um Natalie, again, obviously when we talk to the characters, guys, that uh we don't mean any shade towards the actors because obviously it's the director and the writer that gives these things, you give these people stuff to do. Yeah. Um, but Natalie is does nothing this whole movie. No, um, she's like I said, I know I said nothing burger, but she really is. She's kind of she's kind of just a placeholder as one of the five to die. Um up until again, but then she's given one of the gnarliest scenes in the movie. Yeah. Um, we have Eric, who it's he has such disdain for David, which is I think is trying to evoke their history of him not being a good friend. I can understand that. But Eric seems so detached from empathy for any of these characters, yeah, that he just comes off as this asshole that read this book and caused all the shit to happen. Um, and he even there's this horrible scene. We didn't even there's too much to talk about here sometimes, but um, there's this horrible scene where he says he's gonna burn the cabin down and Mia has to be burned, and he calls David a coward and tells him to run, like he kind of like he always does, or something like that. And I'm like, you bastard. I'm like, David came here to support you guys and the sister. You read from the effing book, and you're calling him a coward that his sisters possess, like, time and place, man. Um time and place.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:43

What other time and place would they even find themselves in this situation?

SPEAKER_02 1:42:48

And Olivia, the voice of kind of rationale, I think, is probably our most other developed character, but still, you're right. I just didn't I wasn't sad when these characters died. I'm just more delighting in the gore. Um, so I agree with you. I think I'm gonna take my I'll take my review down after doing this. I think I would give this still a seven. I used to give this like an eight or a nine. I think I give this a seven.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:14

All right. Well, is there anything else you would like to say about Evil Dead 2013?

SPEAKER_02 1:43:22

Uh, nope. I think you've said anything to say. If uh if you're still here and have not watched it, please watch it. Um, it's still a fun, good time. It's a great popcorn movie. Watch it, you know, with your friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, partner, whatever. It's fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:36

All right, folks. Join us again soon for our next feature film.