Evil Dead II (1987)

There are horror sequels that quietly expand on what came before, and then there is Evil Dead II, a film that arrived in 1987 and essentially declared war on the idea of the polite follow-up. Sam Raimi returned to the material that had launched his career, the low-budget, woods-set supernatural horror he had made with friends and sheer stubbornness at the start of the decade (you can read the coverage of The Evil Dead (1981) elsewhere on this site), and rebuilt it from the ground up. The result is less a continuation than a reconfiguration: the basic premise of a cabin in the woods, an ancient text and a demonic force unleashed by a recorded incantation is restated almost from scratch, before the film accelerates into something far more chaotic and self-aware than its predecessor. Whether that constitutes bold reinvention or a lack of new ideas rather depends on your tolerance for what follows.

Raimi was, by this point, a director with something to prove on a larger stage. The original film had found its audience through the midnight circuit and home video, but Evil Dead II came with more substantial backing, distributed through Dino De Laurentiis's company alongside Renaissance Pictures, the production outfit Raimi co-ran. The budget was meaningfully higher than the first film's famously threadbare resources, and the extra money went almost entirely on screen, into a programme of practical effects work that the production has never been shy about celebrating. The 84-minute runtime is, if nothing else, efficient: Raimi and his co-writer Scott Spiegel keep things moving at a pace that leaves little room to breathe, for better or worse. Raimi would go on, of course, to very different kinds of filmmaking, including the Spider-Man trilogy (reviewed here: Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007)), but his style in this period is as raw and unfiltered as it would ever be.

The film rests almost entirely on Bruce Campbell, whose performance as Ash Williams is the central point of debate for anyone approaching the film. Campbell is surrounded by a small supporting cast including Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie DePaiva and Ted Raimi (the director's brother), but they are largely functional presences around the edges of what is, essentially, a one-man physical endurance display. Campbell had been the lead in the original film and had spent the years between the two productions building a cult reputation, though he had not yet crossed into wider mainstream awareness. The role demands an extraordinary range of physical commitment, including stunts, puppetry interaction and extended solo sequences that would exhaust most performers. Whether that commitment translates into a genuinely watchable performance is, as with so much about this film, a matter of considerable personal opinion. For a comparison of how Campbell fares in a very different genre context around the same period, there is also coverage here of Maniac Cop (1988), in which he also stars.

Evil Dead II (1987) clearly occupies hallowed ground for many horror fans, and I understand why. Sam Raimi's gonzo energy, Bruce Campbell's committed physicality, and the film's pivot into horror-comedy have earned it a devoted following. But for viewers who don't connect with its particular brand of madness, it can feel like an endurance test disguised as entertainment. The film's reputation as a practical effects milestone is well-documented, but viewed cold in 2026, the rubbery gore and puppet work often tip into silliness rather than shock. Less impressive craftsmanship, more bargain-bin carnival. Campbell's performance, hailed as iconic by fans, reads as gratingly hammy to the unconverted: all bug-eyed mugging and flailing limbs without the emotional anchor to ground the absurdity. And while it's technically a reimagining rather than a straight remake of the first film, the cabin-bound repetition (same setting, same demonic incantations, same basic siege structure) feels creatively stagnant if you're not invested in the mythology. Most damning is the tonal whiplash. The film can't decide whether it wants to terrify or parody, lurching between genuine horror beats and slapstick without rhythm or purpose. What fans call "inventive" can feel like chaos without catharsis; what admirers call "unhinged" can simply feel exhausting. A film whose legend far outpaces its actual impact on this viewer. Its influence is undeniable, its passion evident, but passion alone doesn't make for compelling cinema.

So where does that leave me with Evil Dead II? Admiring the craft from a respectful distance, I suppose, the way you might admire a very loud pub band who are clearly having the time of their lives but who you would not choose to listen to again. The film's place in horror history is not something I would argue with, and Raimi's hunger as a filmmaker is evident in every frame. But hunger and execution are different things, and for me the gap between this film's reputation and the actual experience of watching it is wider than most of its admirers tend to acknowledge. Sometimes a legend is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

Rating: ★★  | Year: 1987  | Watched: 2026-04-06

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Trailer

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Sam Raimi: The Evil Dead (1981) · Spider-Man 3 (2007) · Spider-Man 2 (2004) · Spider-Man (2002)
More with Bruce Campbell: The Evil Dead (1981) · Maniac Cop (1988)
More from the 1980s: Nightmare City (1980) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Style Wars (1983) · Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
More horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Viy (1967) · Nightmare City (1980) · Angst (1983)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)