Although the original The Evil Dead is widely considered a horror classic, Evil Dead 2 managed to be superior. Sam Raimi established himself as a horror icon in 1981 with his hard-fought passion project, The Evil Dead, a supernatural horror with a limited budget and gruesome practical effects. Bruce Campbell stars as Ash Williams, the last survivor of an unfortunate group of friends who get brutally killed by infernal creatures known as "Deadites" after reading the Book of the Dead. Despite its limited release, The Evil Dead spawned a successful franchise and became one of the most influential titles in horror movie history.
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn doubled down on the first movie's extravagant brand of horror. It emphasized its comedic tone with a more action-focused approach. This time around, it's revealed that Ash didn't arrive at the cabin with a group of friends, but rather with his girlfriend, whom he had to decapitate when she got possessed by an evil force. This makes Evil Dead 2 both a sequel and a remake of the original, which allowed Sam Raimi to be more creative with his distinct mix of comedy and horror and expand the story into a wild time-travel adventure for the next sequel, Army of Darkness.
The Evil Dead is a terrifying, low-budget horror movie. Although its action pales in comparison to the sequel's frantic pacing, the original installment stood out because of its freakish scares. The evil presence in the cabin knew no limits, sometimes reaching controversial territory. However, Evil Dead 2 fully embraced its absurdity to create a unique tone that few horror movies have ever matched. The repulsion from moments like the infamous "tree sequence" in the original movie was replaced by the irreverence of clever gags like Ash's sentient, disembodied hand, which were less barbaric, but more spectacular.
Aside from the tone, Sam Raimi's direction in Evil Dead 2 felt more confident in every way. The gore is less serious, but never gratuitous. All the technical aspects, such as the forceful camera movements, the improved quality of the special effects, and the frenzied editing are still being taught in film schools to this day. Some of the more serious moments fail to stand out at times, as both the dialogue and the logic of the story are questionable, but nothing ever truly feels out of place.
The sense of dread from the first movie still lingers in every scare and benefits from a stronger performance by Bruce Campbell, who portrays Ash as a more defined victim of the haunted cabin. Ash is a memorable protagonist since his first appearance in the first movie, but it's only until Evil Dead 2 pushes him to the limit that he starts to exude a more relatable sense of desperation. On top of that, Ash's psychological breaking point in the sequel prepares him for his future appearances as a chainsaw-wielding savior. Few other horror movie protagonists have the opportunity to go through an evolution like his.
Of course, all of these qualities owe their existence to the first movie's success. It's important to remember that Sam Raimi and his crew were only testing the waters and had barely managed to gather enough resources to materialize their original vision back in 1981. The Evil Dead was - and still is - an intense horror classic that stands on its own, but Evil Dead 2 takes the cake when it comes to horror masterpieces.