The new Evil Dead redband trailer is here. Warning – this clip is most definitely NSFW.
For those who aren’t film geeks, a coming attraction’s “band” is what you see before the trailer starts, telling you whether the trailer is for all audiences or adults only. If the screen is green, it means the trailer is okay for everyone to watch, even if it’s an R rated movie. If the screen is red, the trailer is for adults only.
Often when a trailer plays before an R rated movie, it can get more explicit, much like the old grindhouse trailers that had nudity and hardcore violence.
So the new Evil Dead trailer has debuted, and it is indeed bloody, and the violence in it is quite nasty. But you also get the feeling that the wonderful, no budget spirit of the original is long gone, and has been traded in for more extreme gore.
What struck me as funny is the trailer reminded me more of Cabin in the Woods than the classic Sam Raimi Dead films. Cabin in the Woods of course borrowed a lot from Evil Dead, and put its own reverential twist on the proceedings, which made it really fun. But watching this trailer, you wonder what’s going to make this remake any different from so many other horror remakes we’ve seen lately.
There’s the speeding evil force flying through the woods, but without the low budget shaky cam that Raimi innovated, it looks like just another CGI time-lapse effect, a la The Matrix. There’s also the tree that wraps around the girl from the first film, as well as the frightening looming light bulb that will probably fill up with blood.
There’s also a pretty nasty moment with an electric knife, but what’s sorely missing is the fun of the original series, and indeed, that’s what’s been missing from a lot of horror remakes these days. I’ll certainly reserve final judgment until the finished product is out, but so far the trailer for the Evil Dead remake makes me pine for the original films, and it sure hasn’t made my skepticism disappear by a longshot.
The new Evil Dead was also supposed to come out after the remake of Carrie, but now the news has come in that Carrie’s being pushed back to October 18. The Hollywood Reporter tells us this move is to take advantage of the Halloween season. At the same time, we see more horror films opening earlier in the year, usually because they’re crap and people will go see anything that’s opening in January. (Not to mention the major studios are still low balling the genre).
A number of filmmakers I know in the horror community are praying the remake trend is finally going to come to a close soon, although it often takes a big flop for Hollywood to get the message. Let’s hope that the remakes of Evil Dead and Carrie could actually be good and they won’t be the huge disasters that finally force horror directors to come up with original ideas.
