Horror comes alive in 'Evil Dead'

MANILA, Philippines - A remote cabin in the woods becomes a blood-soaked chamber of horrors when a group of 20-something friends unwittingly awakens an ancient demon in Columbia Pictures' “Evil Dead,” the highly anticipated reboot of Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult-hit horror film “The Evil Dead.”

Featuring a fresh young cast, “Evil Dead” is a bone-chilling film that combines all the raw excitement and gleeful gore of the acclaimed original with a series of shocking new twists.

Mia (Jane Levy), a young woman whose life has been marred by loss and addiction, asks her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez), his girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) and their childhood friends Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) to join her at the family’s rustic cabin to help her overcome her demons. Once there, she ceremoniously destroys the last of her stash and swears off drugs for good in front of her friends.

Inside, they are shocked to discover that the abandoned cabin has been broken into. The cellar has been transformed into a grotesque altar surrounded by dozens of mummified animals. Eric becomes fascinated with an ancient book he discovers there. In thrall to its mysterious contents, he reads aloud from it, never suspecting the terrifying consequences he is about to unleash.

As Mia’s withdrawals worsen, she begins to unravel and attempts to flee, but is turned back by a frightening vision. At the cabin, her behavior becomes so violent that her friends are forced to restrain her. Trapped by a dangerous storm raging outside, they begin to turn on each other one by one. As the brutality of their attacks increases, David is faced with an unimaginable choice.

Fede Alvarez makes his feature film-directing debut with a screenplay written by Alvarez, and Rodo Sayagues. Producers are Rob Tapert (“30 Days of Night”), Sam Raimi (“Spider-Man” franchise), and Bruce Campbell (who starred in and co-produced the first film).

Alvarez says his primary goal was always to create the scariest movie possible. “The movie that I pitched was for me the movie that I saw when I was twelve and saw `The Evil Dead' for the first time. It didn’t look like anything I had seen before and it was set in such a crazy universe. That was the tone I wanted to recreate and that’s the idea that we all agreed upon, right away.

“We were committed to one thing: making sure that we kept everything that is necessary and timeless about the original and updated the rest,” Alvarez says. “We kept the idea of a group of best friends in what is meant to be a safe place. Once there, they try to kill each other. For me, that is a very scary feeling, worse than strangers menacing you in a zombie movie. Your best friends are turning against you one by one. The walls are closing in. That is part of the magic of the originals. It has always stayed with me.”

Raimi guarantees there will also be a lot of surprises in the new film “It’s got a whole new storyline,” he says. “The situation’s similar, but the ways in which the kids are possessed and their interactions are all different. It delivers great new visuals and scares for the audience.”

Campbell describes the new film with one simple word. “Relentless. Fede has done everything he could story-wise to slowly suck you into a vortex that you just can’t get out of. It grips you and it doesn’t let you go.

“This isn’t a jokey little horror movie,” he warns. “This is a full-on, strap-yourself-in sort of ride. It gets more and more outrageous as it goes. It’s high-octane fun. And kids: if you find a book in a cabin in the woods, just turn around and drive away.”

Adds Raimi, “It’s the ultimate experience in grueling terror. And I dare you to see it.”

(Rated R-18 Without Cuts by the MTRCB, “Evil Dead” will be shown soon exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide.)