Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead,” which came out in 1987, tells the story of two Michigan State students—Bruce Campbell and Denise Bixler—who head to a secluded cabin in western Tennessee for spring break. There they find the Book of the Dead and an audiotape that summons demons from the surrounding forest when its words are spoken aloud. The archeologist’s daughter who originally recorded the tape, Sarah Berry, arrives at the cabin with her boyfriend, Richard Domeier, along with a couple of questionable locals, Dan Hicks and Kassie Wesley DePaiva. The initial film was made on a small budget, had a cartoonish feel, and was quite intense, but it took itself seriously as horror. This follow-up also has that cartoonish and extreme quality, though it leans much more into comedy horror. It’s enjoyable for what it is, but the beginning, which attempts to summarize the events of the first film, feels muddled and doesn't align well with what happened before. Raimi explained that he couldn't use elements from the original movie, so he created a seven-minute recap using only two actors instead of five—with Denise Bixler stepping into the role of Linda. However, there are other things that don’t quite add up: the Book of the Dead and audiotape are located in a room rather than the basement, and Ash (Campbell) later seems to “rediscover” that the bridge is out, something he already knew from his experiences in the first film. After navigating that strange and confusing introduction, the movie becomes an entertaining, exaggerated horror comedy filled with gore, displaying a level of creativity that suggests it was made by someone quite eccentric. Bixler does well replacing Linda, though her role is unfortunately short, and you only get brief glimpses of how attractive she is. I needed some time to connect with Annie (Berry), but eventually I did, and she proves to be a suitable supporting character. There are several funny and exciting moments throughout the film, like the scenes featuring the demonic hand. The movie has a running time of 1 hour and 24 minutes and was filmed in Wadesboro and Wilmington, North Carolina (in a studio), with additional work done in Detroit. Scott Spiegel also contributed to the writing. GRADE: B-/C+

Source on TMDB