Movie Review: Evil Dead (2013)

by Tony Dayoub

That's what I get for listening to you guys. Yeah, all of you bloggers filing out of the SXSW premiere of the Evil Dead remake declaring, "This time, they got it right," I'm looking at you. I know you weren't necessarily saying this time they got The Evil Dead right since Sam Raimi's 1981 film, though admittedly amateurish in its execution, is still about the most inventive first-time horror film this side of David Lynch's Eraserhead. I get that what you really meant is that 2013's Evil Dead does right by its predecessor in ways that the Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and umpteen other recent horror remakes never have. Raimi himself produced the new Evil Dead along with Bruce Campbell, the cult actor who made his name with the series, so it's certain they'd shepherd their baby through the often callous reboot process. But with each successive film of his, it seems more and more apparent that Raimi is making financial decisions not artistic ones. How else to explain the blatant inferiority of the new Evil Dead?

Movie Review: Red Riding Hood (2011)

by Tony Dayoub

Red Riding Hood, Catherine Hardwicke's uninspired take on the traditional werewolf tale (by way of the Brothers Grimm and Twilight) reminds me of those Syfy Original Movies which play round the clock on Saturdays. They are usually designed to capitalize on something familiar, like the recent Tin Man miniseries, a sci-fi twist on The Wizard of Oz. Their cast is usually an odd mix of fresh faces, has-beens, and character actors culled from Syfy's own original series. And the movies are often set in one barely adequate-looking studio set made to look even cheaper by the inclusion of horrible CGI effects work.