Trailer: EVIL DEAD (2013)

I respect Sam Raimi's '80s cult classic EVIL DEAD, but much prefer the jokier sequel-cum-remake Evil Dead II. Fans have been waiting for a fourth movie from Raimi and star Bruce Campbell for around 20 years, but it never seems to happen. A remake was also mooted many years ago, but that's actually come to pass—with Raimi and Campbell as producers. Uruguayan director Fede Álvarez (who came to many people's attention with his short film Panic Attack!) is behind the remake, and Sony Pictures have finally released a full trailer for fans to nitpick. You can take a look for yourself above, but please be warned that it's NSFW and certainly not for the squeamish. NFTS?

My first impression is very favourable. It has the same glossy look as we've come to expect from recent remakes of '80s horrors (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, A Nightmare On Elm Street), which is light years away from the original's dirt cheap aesthetic, but that doesn't bother me. What matters is the trailer showcases the same kind of virtuoso camera-moves (including nods to Raimi's iconic style), a reprise of some iconic moments (tree rape!), and that ugly mania that infected the original. And it will apparently add its own unique elements, like making the character Mia (this remake's Ash counterpart) an alcoholic struggling with sobriety.

You can never judge something accurately on the trailer alone, but it certainly looks very promising—even if Cabin in the Woods has made its premise look particularly dated and clichéd. I just have to wonder if a theoretical sequel will follow Raimi's lead and become something much funnier, or if fans will go back to begging Raimi/Campbell to make Evil Dead IV again.

EVIL DEAD premieres 12 April 2013 (UK/US)