Why would I watch this!?

I recently watched the Evil Dead reboot for the 5^th or 6^th time, and as an Evil Dead fan, and a fan of horror movies in general, I really started to wonder WHY would I ever go back to this movie so many times if it is infinitely inferior to the other 3 Evil Dead movies?

It’s no secret the remake is really poor in comparison to the low budget charm of the original, the mix of horror and comedy of the sequel, or even the badassness of Ash in Army of Darkness. So why have I seen this clearly inferior remake so many times and actually enjoy it each time? The answer is actually in the effects. Now before all the Evil Dead fans lynch me and rip me to shreds THE EFFECTS IN THE ORIGINAL EVIL DEAD TRILOGY ARE NEARLY PERFECT, but here’s the thing….nearly. Both Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness did not need to worry about having spectacular effects as the entertainment value of both of those movies is primarily in their humor and creativity. Now the original could have benefited from better effects, especially since it was a much darker and more serious film, but due to budgetary constraints its effects are charmingly simple and very creative. So this brings us to the reboot: due to the much higher budget the reboot had more to spend on effects. Which it did so gladly, and the best part is it spent its effects budget on REAL effects very little cgi seems to have been used in favor of prosthetics, makeup, and buckets of fake blood.

However, using expensive practical effects is far from enough to make me repeatedly watch a movie; what really sells the Evil Dead Reboot for me is the way it preserved the feel of Evil Dead with its expensive practical effects. A lot of the effects used in the Evil Dead trilogy (especially in I and II) are very much centered on grossing the audience out; with over the top gore and unidentifiable body fluids. Using its increased budget the reboot brought the disgusting back in SPADES. Faces get cut off, blood is vomited, and that scene when demon possessed Mia licks the x-acto knife and cuts her own tongue still makes me cringe, and that is the point I’m getting to here. The reason I watch the Evil Dead reboot is that it manages to elicit a very physical reaction of disgust and revulsion from me EVERY time I see it. No other movie has managed this not any previous Evil Dead movie, not Dead Alive (Braindead), not even John Carpenter’s The Thing. So the reason I repeatedly watch the Evil Dead reboot, is because it effectively creates and shoots its spectacular practical effects in such a way that it makes me cringe every time; delivering to me an experience no other movie ever seems to be capable of doing.