Welcome to The Queue — your daily distraction of curated video content sourced from across the web. Today, we’re watching a video essay that explores why the 2013 Evil Dead remake rips so dang hard.
Look, we’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: the most consistently good horror franchise is Evil Dead. And we all let out a collective breath when 2023’s Evil Dead Rise also slapped (and ripped, and gnawed, and sliced, and slashed, and …).
While no one would ever dare dispute that every entry in the series bats above the genre’s average, there’s no denying that the franchise’s trajectory hasn’t been exactly, uh, linear. Arguably, depending on how hard you squint, the only “straightforward” sequel is 1992’s Army of Darkness, which more or less picks up where 1987’s Evil Dead II left off. As it stands three of the five feature films in the series qualify as re-quels (a clumsy but helpful portmanteau of remake and prequel). Reinvention, rebirth, and “haha fuck you deal with it” are engrained into Evil Dead‘s DNA. And that’s wildly refreshing in an era rife with bad-faith “legacy remakes” of canonized pillars of the genre.
And if you want an unambiguous example of how to properly do a modern take on a beloved horror staple, look no further than 2013’s Evil Dead. Created in the video nasty shadow of the 1981 film, Fede Álvarez’s feature film debut managed to do its own thing while still earnestly honoring what fans loved about Sam Raimi’s original.
Unflinching in its violence and genuinely clever in the integration of its themes of addiction and collateral damage, 2013’s Evil Dead in a word: rules. For more on why here’s a video essay that breaks it down:
Watch “Why The EVIL DEAD Remake is Still Incredible”
Who made this?
This video on why the 2013 Evil Dead remake rules is by Ryan Hollinger, a Northern Irish video essayist who specializes in horror films. Hollinger’s analysis usually takes the shape of a personal retrospective. Indulging in a healthy dose of nostalgia, Hollinger’s videos are contagiously endearing, entertaining, and informative. You can also check out Hollinger’s podcast, The Carryout, on SoundCloud here. And you can subscribe to Hollinger’s YouTube account here.
More videos like this
- Want to see more of Ryan Hollinger‘s work? Here’s his video on the 1980s nostalgia of the Canadian eldrich horror flic The Void.
- Here’s another sample of Hollinger’s work: a video on how the found-footage disaster picture The Bay unpacks the horror of inaction during a public health crisis. This video has floated into my mind about once a week over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Which, given the film’s parasitic subject matter, is…appropriate.
- And here’s one more video essay from Hollinger that explores the groundbreaking and under-seen found footage horror film The Last Broadcast.