I had never seen Evil Dead 1 until Monday, when I streamed it off Netflix. Naturally, I had to follow this with Evil Dead 2(not seen in over a decade) and Army of Darkness, which I’ve seen 10 times.
I have to say, I was surprised to discover that I find Evil Dead 2 to be the best one. I had assumed Army of Darkness was my favorite, but I have to say that Evil Dead 2 was amazing.
Which one do you think is best? Yes, I’ve included Within the Woods, a film I have not seen.
Army of Darkness still wins for me.
The best parts of Evil Dead 2 are better than the best parts of Army of Darkness, but the worst parts of Evil Dead 2 are more boring than the worst parts of Army of Darkness.
^ Agreed. Army of Darkness at least keeps you interested throughout the movie.
Shop Smart. Shop S-mart.
I totally agree with you. I give AoD a bit of an edge, because, hey Bridget Fonda…Also it has a brief recap of everything.
This, plus AoD has way more and way better quotable lines. Both Raimi and Campbell were at the top of their “B-list about to move up in fame and reputation but still having just enough ‘don’t give a fuck’ fun for it to really show onscreen” game for AoD.
ED2 is the best if you are after over-the-top horror, but AOD is a lot more fun.
Mark me down for AoD as well, though I don’t approve of the “Directors Cut” that they tend to show on TV these days. A lot (though not all) of those scenes wound up on the cutting room floor for a reason, and I generally prefer the S-Mart ending.
Hail to the king, baby.
Your primative minds wouldn’t grasp why Army Of Darkness is the best one, has to do with molecules and stuff.
Army Of Darkness wins for me, but when I was a kid the first Evil Dead was about the most terrifying thing I could ever imagine. I think in its time it was genuinely frightening and very well done as a straight up horror movie.
Evil Dead 2 is interesting but I feel like it was more of a bridge between the straight up horror of the first (which was fantastic) and the campy romp that was AoD. So it’s unique but it doesn’t do either straight horror or whimsical horror superbly and seems somewhat in the middle. But I still like it, and at its best moments it is quite good.
Groovy!
AoD, ED2 is good but AoD is so much more fun and quotable
This is my boom stick, aw baby that’s just pillow talk etc.
Capt
Army of Darkness, no doubt, but the animated series ReBoot did an extensive spoof of Evil Dead which is worth watching, starting at around 9:08 here.
Army of Darkness was great, but it’s not really an Evil Dead movie, it’s a time-travel action adventure movie. So I’m going to go with the second one, which took what was good with the first one and improved on it.
And I’ve never even heard of Within the Woods.
It’s the short movie that Ramey (sp?) used to pitch to the studios to make The Evil Dead. I think I read that it’s no longer available and that the originals re lost; ie, you can’t find it anymore.
I’d love to be misremembering this though. I’d like to see it, for a sense of completeness, not because I think it will be good.
My favorite is the stage musical.
I went with the The Evil Dead. The others may be have higher production values and more quotable lines, but I have to give props to the one that really started it all off.
Here is why Evil Dead 2 is the best of four interesting movies … of which I’ve seen three:
Evil Dead 2 firmly established the Evil Dead Mythos in a real movie with real (within reason) distribution and reasonable production values, all things considered. It also segued into AOD, so I consider it to be AOD part one, or optionally, AOD is Evil Dead Part 2 part 2.
Evil Dead is my favorite, but not as good a movie in a number of ways, IMO.
How do you spoof a spoof?
I wouldn’t classify Evil Dead 1 as a spoof. It’s just an way, way, way over the top horror movie. It’s not even really a comedy.