Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Dead by Dawn Evil Dead (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS The Evil Dead (91 minutes) was good, but not great. I'm going to be right up front and say what most of the fans of the Sam Raimi original were thinking — where was all the Looney Tunes-style mayhem? The gallows humor and cartoonish gore that elevated the original beyond mere exploitation is almost entirely missing here. And, if I may take a moment to get up on my soapbox, "pretty" does not and never has been the equivalent of "good actor." Director Fede Alvarez doesn't manage to get consistent performances from any of his leads, not even the leads who are enjoyable in other roles. In a fine example of a teaser opening, a young girl is running through the woods. Two men capture her and she awakens tied to a post in what the audience can safely assume is the basement of the cabin where the remaining film will take place. An old woman and her mysteriously deformed crew of silent onlookers have prepared a ritual straight out of the Stephen King film Sleepwalkers. By which I mean there are dead cats in varying states of decay hanging everywhere. How does one acquire that many dead cats? Can you buy dead cats wholesale? Once the opener concludes, the main film begins. A group of friends in sore need of acting classes are gathering to provide exposition about how Mia (Jane Levy) and David (Shiloh Fernandez) are estranged and recovering from the death of their crazy mother. Also, Mia is about to try a cold-turkey drug detox under the close supervision of her friends, Nurse Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci). In the midst of her detox Mia keeps insisting that she smells decay. I wonder if that has anything to do with all the dead cats in the basement? Turns out that it does, as the super best friends enter the biggest basement in the world and explore until they get to the dead cat room and find the Naturon Demonto wrapped in a garbage bag and bound with barbed wire. THANK YOU! PLATINUM GOLD SILVER PLUS After deciding to ignore the dead cats in the basement for the time being, the super best friends settle in for the night. Even though any reasonable person would head for the hills upon finding out that strange cultists have broken into their isolated cabin, killed a bunch of cats and burned something, these characters are idiots. They calmly return to the job of de-toxing Mia while occasionally paging through a book bound in human skin and covered with disturbingly specific messages. Remember, kids, it's just like Dark Helmet said in Spaceballs: evil always wins because good is stupid. Then, in a tasteful tribute to a brutal scene from the original, Mia runs through the woods, gets tied up by vines and tree branches, and assaulted by a bloody doppelgänger. From that point on she does her best to channel Linda Blair in The Exorcist. As much as her friends would like to blame her behavior on heroin withdrawal, it quickly becomes clear that something else is going on. It takes Eric a bit of time to admit that he read out loud from the book filled with specific warnings not to read it aloud, but once they figure out that they might have unwittingly released an evil abomination, they spring quickly into action. Chainsaws fly and improbable optimism abounds, culminating in an overly drawn out climax complete with raining blood. Whenever a remake comes down the pike there is the risk of it sucking out loud. I am happy to say that this remake didn't. There are enough ultracool bits to justify its existence and it even pays respect to canon with an aftercredits scene of Bruce Campbell as Ash, saying his signature line. Overall, I'm glad I saw it, but I walked out of the theater ready to go home and re-watch the original. Now showing at Wynnsong 7, Carmike 12 and Carmike Market HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandFair 15. comingweekly.com. To our sponsors, partners, volunteers and TOP DOGS!!! We would also like to extend a special thank you to the city of Fayetteville and their staff - Parks & Recreation, the Police Department, Fire Department, EMS, and the many City employees that make our city and event shine! We are truly a community produced event and we are proud of all of those that help make this event a success each year! 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