This is the first in a series looking at the complete filmographies of directors who may not always get the attention (or the criticism) they deserve. We begin this series with cult horror director Sam Raimi. Alex Finch and Chris Denton take a look at his work.....
THE EVIL DEAD
BRIEF PLOT DESCRIPTION: 5 friends end up in a small cabin in the woods and some become possessed by demons. As you do. Much blood and gore follows.
CD: Although still censored in the UK, our emassculated version remains a pretty good horror film with Lovecraftian overtones. A bit rough around the edges, but decent entertainment. Bruce Campbell puts in a great performance as Ash. His perfectly judged debut catapulted him straight in to the genre-star stratosphere. Except perhaps Re-animator Jeffrey Coombs, Campbell is the only modern equivalent to Vincent Price. That he's ended up as more a Robert Quarry is the fault of his era, not his talent.
AF: Raimi's first is clearly a very low budget film, but genuinely scary and disturbing in parts. The plot is hardly original - but the humour and effects the film contains are. Campbell is talented, and as Chris says, deserves greater acclaim, but the rest of the cast are uniformly average, screaming at the right time, but little else. That this film is still censored whilst far worse films are released uncut just goes to show how backwards the BBFC still is.
THE EVIL DEAD II
BRIEF PLOT DESCRIPTION: The plot here is very similar to the first film - cabin in the middle of nowhere - demons - possession - blood etc.
CD: More Bruce Campbell, more of the same. Funnier than it's predecessor and with a dramatic structure this time, this is nevertheless one of those remake cum sequels that films like DESPERADO give a bad name. It's sometimes referred to as DEAD BEFORE DAWN, presumably as a kind of tribute to George A Romero. Sadly, some might say that slightly changing the name of a popular zombie sequel is the same sort of tribute that got Asda into trouble with the makers of Penguin chocolate bars over it's 'Puffin' chocolate bars. Best of the trilogy.
AF: Yep, as Chris says, the plot is almost identical, and the events of the first film have no relevance. But I'm glad Raimi chose to remake his earlier effort, for it's a much better film, with many moments of high comedy. The scene in which Campbell removes his own hand is a classic in the history of cinema, and the ending is also very amusing. Possibly his best film to date.
CRIMEWAVE
BRIEF PLOT DESCRIPTION: A lonely security guard witnesses his bosses murder. Black slapstick murderous comedy ensues.
AF: Raimi's first reasonable budgetted film is a comedy classic, and don't believe what anyone else may tell you. The tale of a lonely security guard who falls in love, only to witness the killing of his boss may not sound like 'high comedy' but, um, it is. Massively over the top, influenced by slapstick and silent comedy, CRIMEWAVE has it's faults, sure, but they're only tiny. A tighter narrative may have made the film perfect, but, hey, you can't have everything. Plus it has a fantastic ending involving nuns who can save the day, but have taken their vows of silence, which you'll just have to see to believe.
CD: Alex sees merit within this film, alas I cannot. It's irritating and pointless. The reason for the failure of this movie is obvious. It's Paul Smith. The portly character actor hams relentlessly as a rat-catcher here, adding to his other triumphs in DUNE, Altman's diaboloical POPEYE and RED SONYA. Four of the biggest commercial or artistic disappointmens of the Eighties. CRIMEWAVE isn't the worst of these, but it's certainly not the best either. Smith's hardly worked since, although he finally managed a hit with MAVERICK.
CRIMEWAVE is worth comparing with The Coen Brothers THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, which Raimi collaborated on, and which is another quirky comedy without the comedy.
DARKMAN
BRIEF PLOT DESCRIPTION: A scientist is attacked and left for dead. He recreates himself as Darkman, which leads to Batmanesque frolicks.
CD: Starts of terribly but gradually wins you over. Qui-Gon Neeson is over-qualified for the title role and the premise is sillier than CRIMEWAVE's. However when this enjoyable 'Batman-without-the-costly-rights-purchase-from-DC-comics gets going, it takes you along with it. The humour here actually works! Spawned two made for tv sequels no starring the oft-lauded (by me) face of Darkman at the movie's conclusion. A shame as the sequel the ending promises would have been worth seeing. The sequels we got clearly aren't. Students of racial stereotyping please note: The Chinese lab assistant is a kung fu genius and the black gang boss would be considered a bit extreme for SUPERFLY. Ethnic diversity has never been a Raimi strong point.
AF: Hmmm. Possibly the most average film that Raimi has produced. Highly influenced by eighties gritty comic books, the lead character fails to engage the audience, and the whole thing is just, well, okay. Liam Neeson went on to far better things, as did Frances McDormand, but the rest of the cast haven't, which comes as little surprise. Feels too much like a pilot for a tv series for my liking.
ARMY OF DARKNESS
BRIEF PLOT DESCRIPTION: Ash travels through time to the middle ages. More demons etc. More gore.
CD: Not quite as kinetic as its immediate predecessor, this direct follow up to EVIL DEAD II still has plenty of things going for it. Bruce Campbell has obviously honed the part of Ash to perfection by the time of this movie, making you wonder why he isn't used more often in mainstream cinema, especially considering the recent semi-revival of his genre. Another fine actor who's been a bit overly intimate with Mr Career-Doldrums is Marcus Gilbert. He's in fine form as aknight in not so shiny armour. Ridiculously, EVIL DEAD III is sometimes critcised for being overly commercial. Overly farcial, I might concede, but it remains, nevertheless, fantastic entertainment. The section where Ash is trying to remember the magic words he has to say is worth the effort of viewing by itself.
There are two different endings to this film, but don't worry, they're both equally poor.
AF: This third outing for the rather unfortunate Ash is not the best, relying too much on comedy rather than horror to satisfy the audience, but it is still an entertaining piece of fluff. Raimi ignored the ending to EVIL DEAD II, but then continuity between these movies has never been a particuarly strong point for him, I guess. If plenty of cheap laughs involoving skeletons and medieval fighting is your thing, then this won't disappoint.
THE QUICK AND THE DEAD
BRIEF PLOT DESCRIPTION: Lots of gunslingers take part in a competition to kill each other. Sharon Stone has some ghosts from the past to confront.
CD: The nineties Western revival stuttered with this Sharon Stone vehicle. The device of gender swapping the Clint Eastwood part is mildly interesting, but not exactly new. It was used long before in HANNIE CALDER, not to mention CALAMITY JANE to name but two. THE QUICK AND THE DEAD is kind of vaguely feminist if you really stretch it. It was better described by a friend of mine as 'a bit like Euro 96'. Basically all you get here is a knockout competition between gun slingers, with Gene Hackman as the nasty cheating all-conquering git and Stone, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lance Henriksen amongst the other competitors. For entertainment it does alright, but let's face it, Euro 96 was much better. That Gazza goal, Pearce's penalties, the SAS, Gareth 'narrowly miss a barn door' Southgate. God, football tournament's are great. Three Lions on my shirt, Jules Rimmet Still Gleaming, etc.......
Oh, I'm probably going off the point. This is a film review, not Nick Hornby's new internet column. Well, to summarise, THE QUICK AND THE DEAD is okay but nothing special and Matt Le Tissier could have won it for us if only Venables had given him the chance.
AF: This very monotonous film is probably the worse of Raimi's efforts to date. For one thing the film is about half an hour too long, extremely repetitive, and only the performances save it from extreme tedium. Fortunately DiCaprio is amusing enough as Hackman's bastard son, Stone suitably stoneyfaced (no pun intended) and gritty, Hackman can't seem to do any wrong in the nineties and Lance Henriksen is superb as an overconfidante gunslinger. But some nice acting and inventive cinematography can't save it. Average.
A SIMPLE PLAN
BRIEF PLOT DESCRIPT: Two brothers (and a friend) find a bag of money in a crashed airplane. Jealousy, mistrust etc. ensues.
AF: Raimi's first 'serious' film is flawed, slightly overlong, but extremely good. Another of these 'we've found lot's of money, what shall we do with it?' movies, this works so well because of the carefully constructed relationship between Paxton and his mentally disabled brother, Billy Bob Thornton. The ending drove me close to tears, which came as quite a surprise. Bridget Fonda also continues her 'career revival' which began with JACKIE BROWN as Paxton's pregnant wife who comes between the two brothers. Infact there's not a bad performance in the whole film, and while the leisurely pace may annoy some, I found it only enhanced the slowly building tensions between the lead characters. Beautifully shot in snowy conditions, and obviously influenced by long time friends The Coen Brothers, this film is well worth seeking out.
CD: Hasn't yet seen the film.
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