The Evil Dead (2013)

The Steve's discuss the 2013 reboot of The Evil Dead, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today.

What's Making Us Happy?

• Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3 (Theatres)
• X-Men Comics: Sins of Sinister (Comixology)

Movie Discussion

• The Evil Dead Franchise
• Why reboot it?
• Names and numbers behind the scene
• Nods to the original
• What to do when you friend unleashes demons upon you
• Is the nail gun effective as a weapon?
• And much more!

Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

Transcript

0:03

Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett Martin, and this is Steven Martin Bennett and, and welcome to a a Lifetime of Happiness, the podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy, while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way. And today we're going to read a passage from the Book of the Dead and hope for the best as we discuss the 2013 remake of the Evil Dead. Sounds fantastic. What could possibly go wrong? Absolutely nothing. Well, before we get into that bundle of joy, I'm sure what's been making you happy? My love. So this weekend we saw Guardians of the Gala. See volume three, the Final Guardians of the Galaxy Movie. Yes. And it was amazing. It was very good. Yes. It was very violent, very emotional. Mm-hmm. Very funny. Yeah. It was just really well done. It was, I really enjoyed it. It made me very happy. It's a great way to end the trilogy. I know a lot of our guardians have said on record that they're done with their roles. Yes. And I think it left it at a good place for all of them, especially the ones who found their happily ever after ending and the ones that didn't die horrible, tragic deaths. Yes. And to find out who those were, check out it out for yourself in the theaters. It's definitely worth the price of admission. Very much so. And you know what also was worth the price of admission? I don't know. Do tell reading about four months of X-Men comics at once and catching up on the sense of sinister. Yes, that was a very good time. A good time was had by all. And now that we're finished with a sin of sinister, it's time for. The fall of X. What do you like better reading it week by week? Or do you like binging week by week? Okay. I was gonna say, I like the binging a little bit. Maybe we should just not read until after X has already fallen and then we'll catch up. No, no. Okay. We're gonna go back into reading regularly. Yeah. Okay. We're gonna read regularly because That I saw too many spoilers in the interim. Okay. Well, for those who are interested or like the Xmon comics but haven't been reading them, what did you like about sins of sinister and what made it different than all of our other trips into potential multiverse dimensions? This one seemed to have. A long buildup to it because everything that had been happening since Crico was formed Yep. Had been building towards this. And so that was kind of awesome that everything played a part in getting us there. And it was interesting how just slight little changes can make certain people. Act certain ways, and then everyone else is like, well, I trust them, so I'll go along with this. And then little by little things happen and before long it's too late to do anything about it. Yes. So definitely catch up if you haven't recently, if you're a fan of comics. Yes. And what is the Evil Dead, besides something that I would guess is a romcom? Yes, it's absolutely a romcom. 100%. You know, of course with it being a romcom, it stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Falling in love with each other. Yes. This is a very progressive one. Yeah. No, it's not. Babe. Evil Dead is a franchise created by Sam Ramey that didn't actually start with The Evil Dead in 1981, which is where I thought that it all started. Me Too. Did you know that it actually started Within The Woods, which is a 1978 short prequel movie that's was created by Sam Ramey and also starred Bruce Campbell? Not to be confused with the Broadway musical. Into the woods very different. I did. You can see images of it on Google and it definitely was like Sam had just gotten out of art school and took a digital camera and said, let's shoot a movie folks. Not even a digital camera. No, that was back in the film days. Yeah. That was like, let, like let's take my little role of film and see what we can do. So it was enough to lead to this. Whole franchise, so it inspired many. But the series did continue mostly and is known for the Evil Dead Trilogy, which consisted of the Evil Dead in 1981, the Evil Dead two in 1987, an army of darkness in 1992 before expanding into comic books, video games, a TV series, and a musical. Yes. Now the musical I have heard is 100% Camp. I would think so. Yeah. Yes. I would not imagine it being otherwise. And why were rebooted at this point? So the franchise was successful. The original trilogy made over 50 million and its journeys offscreen via comics and video games continue to be profitable. But you know, the movie had embraced its campy side fully. With army of darkness. So this was a great opportunity to take the bones of Evil dead and bring back the horror while keeping the gore. And I think it was needed. It, like we've had similar discussions on how Friday the 13th just went to horror comedy and nightmare Elm Street had just become, Mainly horror comedy or comedy that where people died. Yeah. And and at the height of their game, they'd all been scary and terrifying. And, you know, there's something, there's something great about camp and horror together. Yes. But I also enjoyed just something horror for psych. Exactly. Yeah. And that's what this is. It is dubbed reimagining of the 1981 Evil Dead. The film with Sam Ramey, along with Rob Taper and the original star of the first trilogy, Bruce Campbell all producing it. And it was directed by Feedy Alvarez, who co-wrote it with RTOs sa Alvarez and the second one are also Behind Don't Breathe. While Tapered is best known for his work on Zena Warrior Princess, which I've never watched, but apparently. We should love in theory. Yeah. As long as we don't ever go back and watch. Is it Conan? Yeah. I don't wanna watch that. No, because he's a horrible racist. Okay. Well, funny story. When do you tell Producer Rob Tabert suggested the possibility of an evil dead remake to Sam Ramey and Bruce Campbell Ramey responded the most favorably, where Campbell was the least enthusiastic of the three because he felt that the original was exactly the sort of film. You know, they were pitching as a new generation of filmmakers could like see it and appreciate it and have this new take. But you had Campbell who was not happy to pass on the role of Ash, so they had to. Rework it so that the film would feature a new set of characters and the role of Ash would not be recast. Like it wouldn't be a new ash. And he was like, well, as long as I'm not being replaced, I guess it's okay. Well, I mean, it is kind of like, I doubt lo Jamie Lee Curtis would want anybody else. Well, I guess that's not true. She did let somebody else play Lori Strode. Yep. I, I, I, sorry. I do. Perfect example then. I mean, at that point, like I, I do kind of try to forget about the Rob Zombie. I know we do our best, but it does come back into play sometimes. Yeah. So she totally did let somebody else play Lori Strode, so yeah. So there's no reason why he should have been so protective, I think. But it all worked out for him later on, which we'll get to later. Yeah. We'll get it into more of the remake, reimagining reboot discussion at the end of the film. Fine. Now the movie Stars, Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor, Pucci, Jessica Lucas, and Elizabeth Blackmore following their group as they get attacked by Deadites in a remote cabin in the woods. Jane Levy, we know from Shameless, but most recently and most especially Zoe's extraordinary playlist on n nbc. Yes, Shiloh was a dude in the United States of Tara. Jessica was in Gotham and Elizabeth was from the Vampire Diaries. Yes. This is such. A different role than we've seen Jane Levy in. So I think it's kind of fantastic. Yes, I certainly agree. And it was released on April 5th, 2013 with a budget of 17 million in a box office of 97.5 million. Ensuring the franchise continues today. It's interesting that the first three made a total of 50 million. And this one made almost double that all by itself. Yes. And the tagline is The most terrifying film you will ever experience. Does it live up to that promise? No. Okay. Because I hate when movies say that, like there's always an article that'll come out online. There's like, this movie was so scary, I couldn't finish watching it. And usually I'm like, okay. And then it's like, No, that was just for the ad. Yes. And but the movie is quite good. Makes us happy. Yeah, it is quite enjoyable. It makes us very happy. I mean, had surprisingly a lot to talk about. Oh yes. So let's get into that. How does it start off? Well, what had happened was, yeah, the film starts with a young woman walking through the woods. She's dripping with blood, a figure stalk her and eventually jumps her, throwing a bag over her head. And having his redneck buddy whacker with the butt of his ax. Yes. So with that opening, did you assume the woman was the victim? Oh, 100%. I figured she'd escaped from some hellish demonic torture, and she was our survivor and that Ari that it was gonna be like. 72 hours prior is what would come up on the screen or something like that. Yes. Now the woman wakes up in a cellar in the presence of a woman who speaks only Welsh, and she's surrounded by what appears to be burn victims or inbreds. The young woman's father appears before her. She asked for her mother, daddy, please, and the father tells her that her mother is dead and she knows it because she killed her mother. The old woman hus the father to kill his daughter, and so he daes her with gas as she pleads with him. Daddy don't. Before he construct the match, the young woman tells him that she will eat his soul. Her eyes turn yellow, and as the father drops the match, she appears demonic and starts thrashing. The father, raises a shotgun, tells her he loves her, and then bless her head to clean off her shoulders. Yeah, that was kind of. Visceral right there. Just the head exploding. Yes, exactly. But in that sequence, the petrol that he pours over the girls' head was actually apple juice, which makes it sound really sweeter, both literally and emotionally. Yes. And returning to last week's conversation, for those who didn't listen, we talked about the John of the dead. The dead, and I said, I would be okay with you letting a zombie meet loose on the world. I do wanna go on the record that I do not want you letting demonic, evil possessed things in my body, letting me run around the world. Please shoot my head off. I will update my notes accordingly. All right, thank you. Sometime later, a car is driving to a quiet part of the woods where a cabin is. Meet David, his girlfriend, Natalie, and their friends Olivia, who is a nurse, and Eric. Olivia tells David his sister Mia is waiting for him in the back. David and their dog grandpa find Mia sitting on an old, broken down, rusted out. 1973, old Oldsmobile Delta 88, which is funny because it's from 1973. Yeah, smoking a cigarette while drawing. He gifts her a necklace that is supposed to help increase her willpower. She notes he doesn't believe it, but he points out that if she does, maybe it'll work. Yes. And, and now that we've met our group of victims, I mean, Cass pay attention real quick to their names. The first letter of each of their names, specifically as I go through them, David d Eric e. Mia, m Olivia O, and Natalie N. That's Demonn. Oh my goodness. I did not pick that up at all when I was watching it. I would never have picked that up, cuz half the time in these I'm like, you're just gonna die. I don't even need to learn your name. Now here's Looking at you, Natalie. Yeah. And Eric's hair and glasses are a nod to eighties hard. Does it work? Absolutely. He definitely looks like a different time than the rest of the cast. Something that's also interesting is Mia is wearing a Michigan State sweatshirt and in the original version, Ash is also wearing a Michigan State sweatshirt in the opening stain. And this is an homage to the original series director Sam Ramey, who is from Michigan. There you go. So like if you made movies, you'd put WVU sweaters on Everyone. I would. Now the broken down car, that was very specific game statement make was very specific for a reason, wasn't it? Because it's Ashe's car from the original film. Sitting there for 30 years. 30 years. Rusting away. Yeah. Yep. And like the necklace. Have you ever gifted someone something because they loved it even when you didn't believe in it or like it? Yeah. I'm more likely these days to gift someone something that I believe in that I don't know whether they'll believe in its power or not. But I know that it'll be really good for them. So we're not gifting Lisa any precious moments anytime soon? Oh God, no. Okay. That's where funny fact, precious moments are where Sam Ramey got the idea for deadites. Okay, there we go. Now everyone gathers around a, well, Mia, an opiate addict pulls out a bag of powdered drugs and pours it down the well vowing to be done with it for good and going cold Turkey. And as an addict, that always works well, which she makes a solemn vow to her friends and the universe later, Olivia tells David that this isn't the first time they tried to get me off drugs. That what last time she lasted eight hours before relapsing and overdosing where she legally died, but was revived. So what do you think of their Get me a clean plan of not letting her leave. Yeah. I've never been a fan of the cold Turkey approach for addicts because the side effect of the withdrawals can be dangerous. But I guess with Olivia being a nurse and she's with them, that it's gonna be safer and being in the middle of nowhere, it's not like she can get access to a new stash. But we all know that when someone goes cold Turkey in a movie, it never goes well. So however, it may or may not have gone in real life because they're in a horror movie. This was destined to fail from the start. Yes. As with any plan they had, in fact, by definition of being in a horror movie. Correct. Now the group enters the cabin where Mia complains about the smell. Even though no one else can smell it, not at all. We learned here that Mia fondly remembers her mother and a song she used to sing to them, but David doesn't want her to. It also appears the mother was emotionally abusive towards Mia due to her mental illness and that David left them in their friend group behind for quite some time. So the cabin had also been broken into, and someone left at a mess and broke the lock on the front door, and they get to cleaning and fixing it. But if I had come to a remote cabin and the cabin had been broken into, I would've gone room to room with a knife before, like totally setting up and being like, oh my gosh, it's a mess. I would've been like, okay, we're going in pairs to check this out. Everybody be safe. That was in the director's cut. It happened. They're okay. I watched the director's cut. It was not there. All right. It was in limited scenes. Now that evening, Mia starts screaming as she is apparently suffering from withdrawals. Well, not apparently. She is. Is, yeah. Now Olivia gives her a Saturday, but Mia continues complaining about the rotten smell that nobody else seems to notice. Their dog, grandpa sniffs around the floor where they find a door leading to a cellar under a rug omen for good tidings always, especially when you note that the floor is smeared with blood. Yes, David and Eric go into the cellar and discover the stench is coming from the rotting corpses of animals, tiny, small animals. The wooden support the girl was tied to and burnt at in the beginning is there. They also find the evil book from before wrapped in wires and plastic. Mia says they should not have touched anything from the basement wise, wise words, Mia Wise words. Yes. And fans of the original will notice quickly. It is the same cabin. The cards are laid out in the order that Cheryl reads them in the original. And there's the leftover blood marks, the basement's similar. The shotgun is the same, even though in the original or in this one, the shotgun changes here and there. Yeah. And a book. So it does make me wonder if in the interim of the last time they visited the cabin, is that when the events of the first film took place. Cuz I had assumed that like the break-in was the opening scene. But maybe both happened whenever they used to visit there when they were younger. And now kind of like the Marvel Comics timeline. Maybe it hasn't been 30 years since Ash was there and it's more of a sliding timeline. So did they come there as children? Ash and his friends rented it and at some point, and then this happens after that, like I'm not sure where. That all falls in the timeline, but if the cards are still out and stuff like that, I'm guessing that the ash stuff wasn't literally 30 years ago. Yeah, I would, who knows, but. With the shotguns, as I mentioned, the double barrel shotgun, it keeps changing. It goes from having a pistol grip stuck to a full stock. Now I have no idea what any of that means, and it looked like a good gun to me in all this gun leans. Yeah, but it sounds like a fun fact for gun enthusiasts, which I'm sure is right up there in our target demographic. Yeah, I, I think that is exactly who we cater to in the demographics. Yes, exactly. So the next day, Mia's wondering outside in the rain, kind of just walking in circles. Eric opens the cover of the book, which is scribbled all over with the warnings, like, leave this book alone. Do not fucking read this naturally. Eric looks through it and finds a page with some words scribbled on it and warnings to not speak right or hear what is in it. He also accidentally cuts himself and his blood goes onto the pages. Also never good with a demonic book. Yes. He puts a piece of paper over the book and does that thing from like grade school where you would put something over with textures Yeah. And rub the crayon on it to see what's written underneath and things. And it reveals several words that he begins to read. A straw Estrada. Montrose, don't say that last one first. Again, you'll unleash the evil deadites on us. Okay. And it calls something to them. Yes. So Eric gets them all killed, huh? Yeah. Yeah. So what would you do if you found the book? Obviously I would probably open up the package. Like that was wrapped in chains and things because you're like, maybe it's like money or something. Like maybe it's an expensive thing. But once you look at it and you realize, huh, that doesn't feel like leather is that dried skin, and then you open it and it like written in blood, says, do not read this. I would've stopped at that point because they were fine until he did that. Yes. Like opening the book. Didn't do anything. It's the, all the other shit he did that brought it on. Yeah. It, it's pretty bad now. 20 minutes in and shit goes south. Was this enough of a setup for you or did you want more character development first? So I think I would've liked more character development before the withdrawal started last night. A little more baseline interaction to help us feel closer to the characters. Especially Natalie. Yeah. You know, we all get their motivations for be being there and that's great. But I'd like to know them a little bit more if they could have had like, A family dinner or something before the withdrawal started. Mm-hmm. Just so that we could have gotten a little more interaction and been like, oh five of oh, together. Oh, you really are really close friends. I see the connection. Yeah. I, that would've been like, five minutes would've been great and I mean, it's only an hour and a half movie. It could have had the, it could have had for five more minutes. Yes. Now outside Mia starts being sick and hears a faint voice calling her, and then sees a figure staring at her. She comes into the cabin and starts grabbing her things, saying she can't be there anymore. She throws down her willpower amulet and jumps out the window to steal Eric's car. But as she drives through the woods, she sees the figure again and drives the car into a swamp. Women drivers, am I right? Yeah, there you go. You're appealing to that demographic, babe. Now, if Mia had gotten away, do you think she would've been safe from demons or did it already have her? So I believe at that point she would've been safe. I think that there's probably a proximity to the book, cabin spell type of thing that. If she had gotten far enough away, I think she would've been fine. Yes. Now, if she had gotten away and had been fine from the demonn, would she have relapsed again? 100%. She would've gotten back to town, found some smack, and done it. If it was to fight off the fact that she was like literally attacked by a demonn, would you have forgiven her after that? But she hasn't been attacked by a demonn yet. She was being haunted or stalked or whatever. She Right then she probably thought it was withdrawals. Yeah, who knows. But yes, when she comes to, Mia tries to get out, but the figure rises from the swamp and she runs away tumbling into a thorn bush. The branches and sticks wrap themselves around her arms and legs, and the figure, which is a bloodied and horrifying version of herself, regurgitates a black wormy thing with thorns that makes its way up her legs and goes right on inside of her, the good old fashioned way. Yep. David and Olivia hear her screaming and find her on the ground, leaning against a tree with no brambles, batches, branches, or thorn in sight. The group suspect she was trying to harm herself. Now the branches and sticks are very reminiscent of the first movie, which did it better. So this seemed to be more of a possession and less of a raping by the forest. So I'm gonna go with this one because raping by a tree was a little much I would have to agree and just graphically, this is better what the time is. But also the whole weird tree sex thing was weird. Yeah. Especially because there is one. Quick shot of her in the original going, yeah, like as if it were pleasurable, and I was like, mm. Weird. I'm not so short. Yeah. So back at the cabin, David goes into a room where she tells him that there's something in the room with him. He says it's in her head. She sees a demonic reflection in the mirror. Meanwhile, Eric helping them all out is reading the book and sees the page detailing me as fun times with the branches. David goes outside and sees blood on the ground. He calls for grandpa and finds him in a hole beneath the tool shed. Grandpa is whimpering. David runs into the tool shed and pulls him out of the hole, but he dies. David suspects Mia bludgeoned him to death with a hammer that was laying nearby. And dog deaths hit you differently as a dog dad, huh? Yes, they do. Now, if you found the scene, do you think that Mia would do such a thing because of drug withdrawals? No. I think at this point Mia is more likely to do self-harm, not harm a dog, not even a little bit. Do I think she was involved with this? Like, because since the possession mm-hmm. She's been with them. Yeah. So I definitely don't think it was her. Me either. Now, Mia's Withdrawal also works as a great plot device to keep them there when so often the answer is, get the fuck out. Yes, it works, huh? Yeah. Now he runs back in the cabin and tries to get to Mia, but she's taking a shower and the water is turned all the way up to where it becomes scalding hot in her flesh starts burning, and we actually see the hot, watery, old-fashioned hot water heater on the hall. On the wall, like catching fire itself. Yeah. And the group pulls her out in time and Eric looks at an open page in the book and notices a picture of it with a person with burning flesh. David takes me in as Jeep attempting to drive her to a hospital as she's filming at the mouth. Unfortunately the roads are flooded, bridges out and he has to turn back. Yes. Now, is the flood cuz of the demons or is this just an unfortunate coincidence? So I think that this storm is uncharacteristically strong, so I believe it is the book, making sure that they are stuck there because it goes along with my proximity thing. Mm-hmm. If they can't get away. Then the book can get to them. Excellent. Yes. And maybe just past that river, if they had found a way past it, they would've been safe. Most likely. That was probably the barrier. Yeah. Now Olivia gives me another sedative. While the group argues about what to do with her, she comes into the living room, dragging a rifle. She holds it up and fires near David, and the door swings open as Mia lets out. A frightening scream, she says, in a possessed voice. You're all going to die tonight. Olivia tries to get the rifle away from her, but Mia tackles her as her eyes turn yellow and she spits blood all over her. Olivia kicks her into the open cellar and Eric closes it. He theorizes. This has to do with the witchcraft they found in the cellar and we all say no. No shit. In addition to the many nods of the original film, this version also has several audio clips taken directly from the original film. One of the more noticeable instances of this is when Mia's first possessed right after the door is thrown open by the force outside the cabin, the lines you will die like the others before you. One by one we will take, you can be heard in the background as Mia screams. This is taken directly from the original film when Ellen Sand Weiss's character Cheryl was possessed. In addition, when the main characters first arrive at the cabin, a Hello, demonic voice moans. Join us. Can be heard in the background. This is another audio clip taken from the original. I love that. Mm-hmm. And like the original, Mia isn't the first person trapped in the basement. Ah. Now Olivia tries to clean the blood and throw up off of herself, but she sees an image of herself mutilated in the mirror, which shatters. She walks away, but then freezes and her eyes twitch as she wets herself. Just pease all over herself. Yes. Next to her is the book Open to a page with a person holding a knife and their severed face flesh. Eric goes into the bathroom to find Olivia who is cutting the flesh from her cheeks with the broken glass. Horrified. He stumbles backward and slips on the cheek flesh. Olivia stabs him with the broken glass and then the face with a needle. Eric throws her off and breaks off a piece of the toilet, which he uses to bludgeon her to death. Just as David and Natalie come in with Eric quickly saying she tried to kill me. Yes. Now were you more upset about grandpa or Olivia? Olivia. Yeah, sorry. I was shocked. Olivia went so early. She was the best friend of all the characters that felt like Natalie is the least consequential and the easiest to get rid of first. So this one kind of shocked me that Olivia went this early. Mm-hmm. She's the first of the core group to go and I never would've pegged her as first, especially with it being Jessica Lucas. Yep. So David tries to patch up Eric's wounds and asks Natalie to bring a jar, a jug of water and sugar because he's been bleeding. So they need that to help stabilize him. Eric tells David that it's his fault this is happening because he read from the book. So I have a line of questioning here for you my love deal. If someone released something evil on us and our friend group, by doing something as stupid as reading passages from a clearly demonic and forbidden text out loud, what kind of repercussions should or would there be if they survived the evil? So I say the person is forever banished from our group. And knowing the people I know, I would make sure that karmically, all of that came back to the person. Now, if throughout the course of the events to survive said, emergency incident that they brought upon us, if there was a chance to survive, that includes sacrificing, said idiot, would that be just and fair as they say in death becomes her. You brought this on yourself. But what if you found out I was the idiot and I read the Latin from the books out loud? You're more likely to be forgiven. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. We can move on now. Okay. Natalie goes into the living room and finds that the cellar door is open. Mia is still down there crying and asking for help in her regular voice. What am I doing down here? My legs hurt. I, I can't move. As Natalie tries to go down and get her, Mia's voice becomes low and demonic and threatening, saying, he's not gonna let you live. He won't stop until he has all of you. I can smell your filthy soul. Natalie tries to run, but Mia grabs her and bites into her hand. She tries to defend herself with a box cutter, but Mia takes it from her slices her own tongue. Down the middle, she grabs Natalie and kisses her, forcing blood into her mouth. David finds them and pulls Natalie out. They nail the cellar door shut, put chains across it. Locking Mia down there. Yes. Now, at this point, did you feel there was any coming back from Mia, your first go around? So one would think not, but as that she's innocent in her possession. I don't believe she can be blamed for the things done during the possession. Yeah. But do you think that sh she could be at that point un dispossessed? Yes, because at this point she hasn't taken any damage that is fatal. She would need to see a plastic surgeon or two or two. So I would say, you know, until something happens and she's like a living corpse. I say there is a way out. There you go. I was like, at this point, first time around, I was like, she's a gunner. Like I just wonder how many people she's gonna take out along the way. Now David finds Eric trying to burn the book, but it doesn't work. He tells David about what he knows from the book. An evil entity has been unleashed, a taker of souls, and it's attached to Mia's Soul. It seeks a collection of five souls, and then the sky will bleed, and then it'll honor something called the abomination from hell. Eric says they have to kill Mia to save her and to save themselves. Now you found out something interesting in this as well. Yes. This actually clears up a confusing plot point for many from the original trilogy as to why the book survived Ash throwing it into the fire in the first one, but appeared back unscathed in the second one. Demonic books are known to do that. Yeah. Kind of like how. In hocus pocus, they couldn't set boo on fire. Yeah. And who knows, maybe the book was like a sentinel, where the first time it like dies and then comes back and then it's immune to it could be. Who knows? Yep. Now, Meanwhile, Natalie tends to the bite wound on her hand, which is disgusting. Yeah. She has to force her hand under the water as if her hand didn't want to be washed, and she's able to get these thick black things out of it. And at first you're like, yeah, but at first I was like, oh good, she's getting that out. It's gonna be okay. But as soon as she does that, Like a demonic necrosis starts going up her arm almost instantly, and then she sees the electric knife from whenever she was carving meat for dinner the night before, and she reaches for it. Mia Peeks from the cellar says, don't do it. Don't do it. But Natalie slices into her arm, David and Eric Finder as her arm falls off, and Mia giggles in the cellar. Would you be able to cut your own arm off to stop an infection like this? After 37 seasons of the Walking Dead, I am prepared to cut off a limb to save myself. I would need you. I don't think I would physically be capable of doing it. I would need you to do it for me. Yeah. Okay. Now, thank God for duct tape. They used that shit for everything here and I Googled it and it can be used in emergencies like this. Interesting. I would've thought to try to cauterize the wound first to try to get it to stop bleeding, and I'm wondering that since they didn't do that, if that's why all of his patients die. I mean, who knows? Like, I mean, when I like was reading it, they were like, it's certainly not the first, second, first or 50th thing that you would want to put on top of it to cover it. Yeah. But like in the event where there is nothing better and the option is let it bleed out or put duct tape onto it. Yeah. Duct tape is better. Now were there better options like. A shirt or any other thing that could cover the wound in the house or the stove. Yeah. And like burn it. Yeah. Were, were there better options? Yes. Was that an option period? Yes. So I also want to note how good Jane Levy is in this movie from her scene with the box cutter in the basement when she sliced her tongue to like a serpent's tongue. Mm-hmm. To the way she darted her eyes and laughed while Mia was mutilating herself. Jane went all in on this role, and I am so here for it. I would have trouble watching this movie with Jane during these scenes. You know what I mean? Yeah. All right. Now, Eric tells David there's three ways to put an end to this. The possessed must be cleansed and purified by either burying me alive, dismembering her, or burning her alive. David doesn't like any of those options, and Eric calls him a coward. I think Eric should shut his fucking mouth since he's the one that got them all into this. Exactly. Now, if presented with those options, which one would you choose for yourself? Okay, so I have a deep, deep, deep, deep, deep fear of being buried alive. Burning alive would be right after that, so I think I would rather be dismembered and bleed out. Because I think it would be the quickest death in the end. I, I would have to agree knowing that the dismemberment, I would want you to start with like my neck. Yeah. Like start decapitating me and then afterwards do whatever you want with my limbs, but like, just get the head off the body first. Oh. Anything. Anything. You might wanna wait till the demonn leaves before you start doing that deal. That's still deal. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Good idea. Suddenly a noise is heard. Natalie comes in now possessed with nails in her head. And she's holding a nail gun and shoots it at Eric, who gets it. A lot of nails in him. David tries to get at the rifle and he gets a couple nails in his knee, but Eric took a whole bunch. Yeah. Natalie starts hitting David with a crowbar. Eric shoots her with a nail gun and she goes to start bludgeoning him with a crowbar before he can deliver the fatal blow. David blows her hand off with the rifle. Natalie appears to revert back to normal complaining about the pain she feels before she dies, which, yes, now in, now that we know she doesn't survive, yes. In the final script, they cut out many of Natalie's lines. Surprisingly enough, in the original script, she talked more and was more of an actual character. She even had this whole backstory about how she met David that they took out. So do you feel they cheated Natalie's character? Very much so. She definitely was the one that felt like she would die first because she was such a lack of character. Like the girl in Scream Five, that everyone assumed she was the killer because she had such a small part. Yeah, the whole thing with Natalie's backstory and how They met and everything would've been great for that dinner scene that I said they needed to have. Yeah. Now a nail gun is actually not a very effective weapon for long rage combat, unless modified by some sort of super weapon ninja master. Oh, they won't fire normally at all unless they're against something. And even if you remove that safety feature, they don't fly very far, precise, or with any significant impact if further than like six inches to a foot away. Also adding this to my notes. Good. Now, can we talk for a moment about some of this amazing practical effects that with the, we see with the score because oh my gosh, they had the choice to do cgi, but as an homage to the original, they wanted to do as much with practical effects as they can, and I think that it is just stunning what they were able to achieve. Yes. With practical effects, especially not just cgi. Yeah. Like it's visceral, it's gross. Like when Natalie's arm was hanging on. Buy small pieces of skin and then gravity tore it loose and it fell on the floor. Like bravo. Yeah, really good and gross. Now David finally decides to burn the cabin while Mia is still inside. He pours apple juice, I mean gasoline on the floor, but before he can drop the lighter Mia in her normal voice starts singing the lullaby that their mother used to sing. And David can't do it outside. A bolt of lightning strikes a tree, setting it on fire. What song would I have to sing to you to stop you from burying me to death? Maybe if you hummed and danced to the Buffy theme that would do it. That I couldn't, like I was trying to think of other songs that I would be like, yeah, that's a song that I would know that was definitely him. And I was like, Nope. Just the Buffy song. What if I sang our wedding song to you? What is our wedding song? I have to look it up. There you go. Okay. I like it a lot. Damnit, I I walked myself into that line. You sure did. Oh, and the vein on your forehead is still out. All right, let's move on. So he hatches another plan. He grabs two syringes of car battery among some other thing, and starts to dig a hole outside. He heads into the cellar and he finds Mia, who slashes at him with the box cutter and throws him around like she, like, not in a sexy way. She beats the living. She, she, yeah, completely. She tries to drown him, but Eric steps in and hits Mia. Who, and then Mia sticks Eric, with a box cutter in the stomach. David goes to him and Eric finally dies. All right, let it out. He had it coming. He had it coming. He had it coming all along. Excellent. Fuck you, Eric. Yes. Now David takes me outside with a bag over her head and starts to bury her. She talks to him in her normal voice and pleads with him, but he won't buy it. She starts telling him about their mother and more of her abusiveness as she was dying and how far gone she was. Their mother kept asking for David who was never there and how Mia would've to keep telling her that he's coming back. He completely buries her and then waits a while as the rain stops and the fire on the trees goes out. David digs Mia back up and pulls her out. He grabs the car battery with the syringes attached to it and sits them in her chest trying to revive her. It's like the clear machines at the hospital. Yeah, a defibrillator. That's it. I couldn't think of the damn word. The battery runs out of power and it appears she's not coming back, so he covers her body and walks away tearfully. However, Mia arises and talks to David. She's back to normal, and they hug Director. Fedi Alvarez stated that this was his favorite scene in order to help Shiloh Fernandez with his performance. Levy was really buried alive in the grave below him with plenty of safeguards, of course, to prevent her from suffocating. This was done so that Fernandez would show genuine apprehension and try to get levy out of the sand as fast as possible worked for me. Yep. Now, if I was possessed, would you be able to be burying me alive while I beg, screamed and spoke about our great love story no matter what kind of weird Sherlock Holmesy, Matt Locke MacGyver plan you had for bringing me back? Yeah. As long as I knew it would help bring you back, I would do it. Okay. But what does David do in real life again? Like how did he bake an a e D out of. Those two items. Hmm. All I know is he abandons his family. I don't know what he does for a living. All right. Sounds good. Now, do you, did you think this first around was back for good or that this was a trick? I believe she was back for good because her face was healed and that was probably for the best as well. Yeah. She could never give good head ever again, or she can give really good head depending on how you look at it. Yeah. Now the two go back into the cabin to get the keys to David's Jeep, but it possessed Eric's behind him and he stabs David in the neck. David goes into the hallway and gets Mia outside and locks her out. He grabs the rifle and shoots at the gasoline container, letting consume the cabin in the flames and killing himself and Eric for good. A plot hole was present in the theatrical cut when the abomination rises from hell to kill Mia after David blows up the cabin killing him. In the dead eye version of Eric, the neon states that the abomination needs to claim five souls before it could rise. In the theatrical cut, only four characters were possessed at the time of their deaths. Eric, Olivia, Natalie, and Mia. Leaving the audience wondering who the fifth soul was, as David seemingly died as himself. Harold's daughter from the prologue could not have been the first of the five souls as she died long before the main events of the film. This plot hole was fixed in the extended director's cut. Which restores the scene showing David while he is burning alive, along with the dead eye, Eric, in the cabin. Getting possessed by a demonn before his death, meaning he was ultimately the fifth soul clean for the abomination to rise. I watched the extended cut, so didn't I didn't have the question. Okay. Was it good? I didn't get to see it. It was only a couple more minutes, but it filled in plot holes. There you go. Now outside it starts raining blood, which is never a good sign. Never. Except that one time now a hand burst from the ground and grabs at Mia. It's the abomination. Oh Lord. Help It chases after Mia, who grabs a chainsaw from the tool shed and tries to run. She hides on the Jeep and manages to slice off the abominations legs, crippling it as she tries to run though the abomination tips the Jeep over and it falls on Mia's arm. Oh, she pulls herself free, severing her hand just above the wrist. The abomination inches towards Mia, but she sticks her arm into the handle of the chainsaw and kills the abomination. Its corpse sinks back into the ground. Oh. So yes, I wouldn't wanna fuck with the abomination, but as far as worst case scenarios, if it's survived, do you think it'd be an apocalypse level descr destruction, or do you think it'd just be an ongoing body count, like a Freddy or adjacent? I would tend to think that once it starts raining blood, It will be apocalypse level destruction. Yes. Now, Mr. I can cut off my arm if I need to. Could you tear your own arm off? You mu crazy person? No. Goodness. Cutting my arm off is one thing, but pulling on it until it tears off. I don't think I could do that. I would probably pass out from the pain first. Yeah, I agree. I can't do it. I would just say, I would try and like killed the abomination there with my arm under there and just, yeah, I would've like, But I mean, she couldn't get to the chainsaw and she was inches away, so the only thing she could do. Was give herself a few more inches, which means ripping off rain. Oh, no, no, it's just too much. I don't like it. I wouldn't be a final girl I don't think. Mia grabs her willpower necklace as the bloody rain stops and the sun comes out. Mia walks away now free from the curse, but alone. Meanwhile, the book lies outside the burning cabin, closing itself, and waiting for its next victim. Thoughts on the ending. I like it. I like how it's open-ended, that the book can find another unsuspecting idiot to wake it up. Yes. And until Eric or another version of him comes around in a mid cut credit scene or in a cut mid credit scene, we see Mia passing out on the side of the road as a man comes out to help her. She wakes up in his backseat as he promises to take her to the hospital and the credits resume. It was cut in my opinion, because it's pointless. So in the extended cut that I saw when her eyes open, I think they were trying to make you go, oh my goodness, is she possessed, but her eyes are clear and not yellow. And even though I think it was trying to make you wonder, Since her eyes were clear, I think it was definitely not Demonn Mia. So in the end, I think it is pointless. Other than answering the question, did she, she she got saved. Yes. Now Ash appears after the credits to say Groovy and dramatically turn to the audience, making old straight white men everywhere have a boner. Yep. And probably jizzed in their pants. Yep. Now at the end of the film, towards the end of the credits, you can hear a man talking about his experience of having opened and read the spell in the Book of the Dead. This extra, this exact track is from the cassette recording in the original film from 1981 when the books first found along with the cassette player. Yes. Now, director Fede Alvarez initially kept things ambiguous and said that due to several inconsistencies, With the previous Evil Dead Trilogy, the movie could be either a remake or a late sequel. However, Sam Ramey, Rob Tapper and Bruce Campbell later claimed that this film was a sequel set in the same continuity as the original trilogy. Their plan was to make another sequel starring Mia and then a sequel to the Army of Darkness during Campbell as Ash and one final crossover film where Ash and Mio would team up to fight the dead eye. Universal Studios eventually passed on the sequels, which is strange to me, seeing as how this one made did so much money. Yeah. Yeah. And they developed an army of darkness to idea into the TV series, Ash versus the Evil Dead together with Ramey, Tapert, and Campbell when the show was canceled after three seasons and Campbell retired from the roll. All further plans were scrapped now. The Evil Dead sequel was reworked as Evil Dead Rise, which came out just last month, and we haven't seen it yet. But now I want to, I really do too. All right. Final thoughts? I really like it. I think it, it honors what came before, but gets the series back on track in terms of pure horror. Excellent. I loved it too, and I consider myself a new fan of the Deadites, or not them themselves, but the horror behind it. Yes. Yeah. So I would love to hear what y'all think of the Evil Dead movie as well as the universe. You can do that by emailing us at happy life pod gmail.com. Or you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at Happy Life Pod. And until next time, everybody, stay, stay happy and don't read the book out loud.