The Evil Dead series is, somewhat oxymoronically, one of the most popular cult horror series of all time. In fact, there are so many different DVD editions at this point, one can barely contain them on his or her shelf.

Which is why fans of the series are a little reticent to be overjoyed about the prospect of a remake. Recently, the director attached to the project – Fede Alvarez, whose filmography starts and stops at a CGI-heavy short film called Panic Attack – recently talked to the Spanish magazine El Pais about all things Evil Dead.

We’ve Google-translated the most interesting sections below, for your reading pleasure.

On the possibility of offending the fans of the original films:

"As fans of the original we know […] we are going to offend those who are also fans […], but we cannot make a movie just for them … we have […] pretty decent English but not [enough] to give realism to the dialogue, [so having Diablo Cody do a rewrite] was essential to that."

On the topic of casting total unknowns as the leads:

"The only recognizable face [from the series is] Bruce Campbell, but [it] will be in a cameo toward the end of the film. Another thing that will change [is] the characters and some story details, while keeping the basic outline of friends who are beleaguered by demons in a cabin alone."

The article goes on to imply that the remake will be less reliant on humor than, for example, Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness, and more like the original Evil Dead, which was intended to be a straight horror flick (eye-gouging Ketchup effects notwithstanding).

There are a number of concerns here, as there are with every remake, ever. First of all, why hire a director whose credit (singular) is full to the brim with CGI, a film tool that goes against just about everything the Evil Deads stood for? Secondly, does anyone really want to watch another generic, humorless horror movie set in a cabin in the woods just because it sports the Evil Dead brand?

Evil Dead Remake to be Straight Horror Flick

Then again, if they’re going to remake this thing, it might be preferable for them to steer completely clear of the over-the-top hilarity that made Evil Dead 2 so special. Leave that to Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Evil Dead 4, if that ever becomes a reality. (Hey, a man can dream...)

Either way, if Campbell doesn’t feature heavily – like metric ton heavily – in the film, then there’s pretty much no point in him featuring at all, except to remind all the aged, cynical fans of how much they wish they were watching the originals.

The Evil Dead remake, written by Alvarez with a polish by Diablo Cody (Juno), is tentatively scheduled to hit theaters in October 2012.

Source: El Pais [via Bleeding Cool]

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