Reviewed by CJ

Synopsis: The inimitable Bruce Campbell returns as Ash, the unlucky S-Mart employee who finds himself trapped in a remote forest cabin, surrounded by an evil force.

Ash takes his girlfriend to a cabin in the woods, only to find that its previous occupant (a famous archeologist) is gone.

Seems he had found the "Necronomicon" - the book of the dead. Inked in human blood, and written in eons past, the paasages (when read aloud) unleash the Evil Dead.

Naturally, Ash plays a tape recording of this particular passage, and all hell breaks loose. A force awakens in the surrounding forest, and Ash spends the rest of the flick fending off the dead, and insanity.

Does this all sound cheesy? It does. But it works! The makeup effects, and the jerky, stop-motion photography lend an unreal creepiness to the film that keeps you on edge.

Also, this film features Ash, a cult hero who never gives up. He's a compelling character because he just keeps on going. He also talks back to the dead, with lines like "Come get some!" and "Gotcha ya little bastard!"

In one scene, the Evil possesses Ash's right hand, turning it against him. I liked this because it seems that whatever force Ash is struggling against is toying with him now.

The unstoppable Ash confronts his evil, homicidal hand. In one of the movie's more memorable scenes, Ash's hand smashes plates over his head, and flips him onto his back!

Not to be outdone by evil, Ash pins his evil hand to the ground with a knife, and then proceed to amputate his own hand. He then jury-rigs a chainsaw onto his stump, and is ready to battle again.

By film's end, you're cheering him on, hoping he'll kick evil's butt.

On the negative side, the film seems very low budget, and the monsters make sounds that were sampled from howler monkeys.

Budgetary concerns aside, Evil Dead 2 has plenty of scares, and it has quite a few laughs as well.

Rating: 8.0 Chainsaws

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Last updated: June 29, 2000.