Monday, April 11, 2016

[Review] Ash vs Evil Dead


From the same network that gave us Outlander, came this little gore-y wonder of the television series. This is not for the weak of hearts, this is not for people who feel nauseous at the mere sight of five liters of blood, severed heads and spilling intestines. Or hands growing eyes.


It helps to know what happened in the movies franchise, but it is not required. The ever insightful Ashley will do the cicerone-ing through the complicated labyrinth of his innermost thoughts and soul-searching... Well, this will be an easy journey anyway, because the internal landscape of Ash is as complicated as this tool:

Picture comes from this website: texasbeyondhistory.net
Ash (again) does what he does best - not thinking, he opens the Necronomicon and he reads again from it, while being drunk, and high, and trying to get laid (as per usual). We can all deduce from the title what happens after - the Evil finds a passageway to our world and starts wrecking havoc, killing left and right... oh wait, that would be Ash' doing.
Ash is this type of hero, no other hero dreams, wants, dares to be. He's obnoxious, sleazy, his ego is bigger than Kanye West's and mine combined, he's slow in the upper head department yet... yet you just can't not love this dumbo. He says fantastically ridiculous lines with a deadpan straight face. They surely have fun on the set. Bruce Campbell is damn awesome in this immortal role!


At the very beginning, two young people (Pablo and Kelly) join Ash' crusade against the Evil, and the three of them finally form one functioning brain. But why think when you can have a chainsaw connecting to your forearm, right? But you better fill it with gas or else... 
After these three a duo follows - Ruby and police officer Amanda; they are convinced that Ash is behind the trail of bodies they found. They are not far from the truth, though.

Yep, it's some random boy impaled on the ceiling fan. Don't ask.
 Apart from the obvious gore, there is also quite a bit of swearing here, and smoking weed/magic herbs, so it's most definitely not for kids. The humor is... well, not everyone will like it, it's very specific (hence the watching at least one installment of Evil Dead could help in ascertaining whether it's within our range or not). Myself, I laughed like mad. It's the purest form of entertainment, not pretentious, not heavy, just fun.
And Ash' nonsense is just golden. I tell you people, golden.

Pablo doesn't have the easiest life...
The light effects are awesomely done here, especially with the ominous, eerie music and the shots focusing on Ash' face, where only the part with his eyes is lit, casting a shadow on everything else. I live for such moments, I have to admit. 
While talking about music - Ash' jamming to AC/DC's "Back in Black" at the end of the last episode was probably the most epic scene in the long chain of epic scenes.

The best villain, ladies, gents and zombies!

This series is not for everyone, I warn you. It has its own specific sense of humor, it has hectoliters of blood, sawed off arms and heads, guts and other disgusting things thrown at the viewers. It's also done in such tongue-in-cheek, cheeky and campy way, it nullifies any eventual critique. The show openly and consciously basks in overdoing with the effects.


Oh and also, Ash has a slogan:

Enjoy, because second season will be back. Like the dead^^