Evil Dead II is a very similar movie to the first in terms of setting and plot. The sequel opens with a bit of backstory on the Book of the Dead. Said book would not be referred to as the Necronomicon until Army of Darkness. The picture then recaps the events of the first film.
Is Evil Dead II a Remake of the First Film?
The recap does not use footage from the original and is slightly different than the events depicted in the first installment. Because of this, most casual viewers assume Evil Dead II, despite its title, is a remake. All of the other characters aside from Ash and his girlfriend, Linda, are absent from the recap. The intent, however, was not to alter the continuity of The Evil Dead.
The location remains the same as the first feature. But that does not make this follow-up effort a retelling of that story. While the recap of the material is somewhat different, it ends exactly where the first film leaves off, and the story simply carries on from that moment. It might not seem like much. But having Ash on his own represents a very different dynamic than when his friends surrounded him in the original. For nearly half the movie, it’s just Ash in the cabin plagued by the evil forces that took his girlfriend. And we get to witness his battle with said evil forces as they try their best to drive him insane. This is where Evil Dead II really comes into its own.
Evil Dead II Evolved the Tone of the Franchise
While there are moments of slapstick humor in the original, the tone of the sequel pushes further in that direction. It is just another way in which this feature is a progression of the first.
The Ash character has progressed as well. He is a nervous, quiet type in the original. Not the sort one generally expects to survive. In the first half of the sequel, he seems just as surprised as anyone else he managed to live. Ash spends the first 60 minutes of the second movie in a cocoon of hysterical panic. He doesn’t emerge as a hero until the third act. It’s a natural progression given the amount he has been through. His arc doesn’t work as well without the first film to set it up. Ash is not nearly as hyper-masculinized in Evil Dead as he is in the second and third installments.
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Make no mistake: I do not mean to say Evil Dead II doesn’t stand on its own. It does. Evil Dead II is a self-contained story that doesn’t require knowledge of the first to appreciate. However, for maximum enjoyment, one should view the films back-to-back to see how well Evil Dead II works with its predecessor. The second installment in the Evil Dead franchise does what every great sequel should. It works as both a follow up and a standalone effort.
Why Does the Recap Footage in Evil Dead II Feature a Different Actress Than the Original?
Director Sam Raimi, producer Rob Tapert and company made Evil Dead II at a different production company than the first and did so for virtually no money. Raimi didn’t have the rights to any footage from the first feature. Therefore, they reshot it. Bringing back all of the actors from the first would have been expensive and complex to orchestrate. So they only used Ash and Linda and focused on the major emotional highpoint of The Evil Dead, which is Linda’s possession. This is the sole explanation for the film’s reshot opening. And it is far from the first sequel to have to reshoot footage because of a rights issue. Nearly all this is explained on the commentary track of Evil Dead II.
The story we are treated to after the recap might be similar to the first movie and there are several scenes that are meant as an homage. But the rest of the characters around Ash are completely different than those in The Evil Dead. And that makes for a completely different story. Evil Dead II is mindful of what worked in the first film. But it has a tone and style that is unique unto itself. These considerations help make this follow up effort one of the best and most highly regarded horror sequels ever produced.
Updated June 12, 2024
