David and Mia are siblings. As kids, they spent vacations at the family cabin deep in the woods. After their parents’ passing—their mother’s illness ultimately taking her life—David left, leaving Mia to care for her. When Mia began struggling, she turned to drugs, even briefly dying before being revived, a significant event in her past. Now, David is back with his girlfriend Natalie and friends Eric and Olivia, intending to bring Mia to the cabin and force her through detox. It’s always curious how these cabins appear in movies and shows—they're so far from any real signs of civilization. Who owns that land, and just decides to build a log cabin? It isn't like it's part of a managed holiday park with regular upkeep or neighbors nearby; it’s isolated and wild. It feels more like camping out in a shed. And the isolation makes them vulnerable—anyone could break in and use the place for anything they wanted: a free vacation, a drug lab, something far worse. The film includes Kandarian demon incantations, resurrections, and exorcisms. Unfortunately for this group attempting an intervention, that’s precisely what's been happening in the cabin’s cellar. Mia, heightened by her withdrawal symptoms, and the dog they brought along can detect a strange odor. Investigating, they discover a hidden room filled with skinned dead cats and other small animals hanging from meat hooks. There’s also a package wrapped in black bags and secured with barbed wire—clearly meant to remain unopened. Curiosity proves dangerous, as it always does, and when the package is opened, it contains The Book of The Dead. While the original's tape player is gone, portions of the Kandarian script have been translated into English. Reading these passages unleashes chaos in a disturbingly familiar manner. A voice warns, "One by one, we will take you." I enjoyed this film, but it’s frustrating too. On one hand, it’s incredibly graphic, the sound design is excellent, and it contains numerous references to both *The Evil Dead* (1981) and *Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn* (1987) without feeling cheesy. The actors aren't exceptional, but they are at least as effective as the original cast—with the obvious exception of Bruce Campbell; it’s hard to imagine anyone adequately replacing him. On the other hand, the “intervention” storyline initially served as a good reason for them going to an isolated location and continued to be useful when Mia started experiencing bizarre events, which they attributed to her withdrawal. She was either lying to let them think she was unwell or genuinely losing it. However, early on, after Mia insisted there was a smell in the house, David and Eric found evidence of witchcraft in the cellar—something the audience already saw in the opening scene. At that point, they could have simply left, called the police, and been done with it. But they didn’t. The characters in *Evil Dead* consistently make some of the most foolish decisions I've seen in a horror film in many years. Horror films often feature characters who do questionable things, but these characters take it to another level, making even the typical Camp Crystal Lake vacationers seem like brilliant scientists. They had numerous chances to escape what was happening, and their stubborn refusal to do so made it impossible for me to feel any sympathy for them; when you don’t care about the characters, the tension vanishes. My wife commented that if they'd done the sensible thing, there wouldn’t be a film at all. But with today's larger budgets and improved filmmaking skills, I expect more. The intervention plotline seemed promising at first—it felt like it set things off on the right track. However, their later decisions didn't make any logical sense. Like most horror movies, the ending fell apart as well. Despite all that, I did like it, as I said. It wasn’t quite the masterpiece I had hoped for, but I found *Evil Dead* to be an entertaining way to spend ninety minutes. Anyone who doesn't enjoy horror won't appreciate it, but fans of gruesome content will find it worthwhile. You won't see much common sense on display, but that probably wasn’t the point.

Source on TMDB