10 Great Films Under 95 Minutes Long
2. Evil Dead II (84 Mins)
Sam Raimi’s ‘80s cult classic. More of a reboot than a sequel, it ignores the events of the first movie and repeats the time-tested premise of teens holding up in a creepy abandoned cabin in the woods. The protagonists play a recording which recites several lines from an occult book, The Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, and unwittingly unleash a demon.
Evil Dead II fully commits to horror-comedy in a way that its predecessor only dabbled with. A significant portion of the film’s charm is due to Bruce Campbell’s iconic performance as Ash Williams, who when confronted by supernatural horrors, responds by becoming increasingly unhinged. Ash’s reaction when inanimate objects in the cabin come to life is a particular highlight.
That isn’t to say Evil Dead II doesn’t have its share of scares: the Deadites (possessed zombies who love to trash talk) are genuinely unnerving. Through a combination of stellar work from the make-up department, practical effects, and stop-motion for some of the more energetic scenes, Evil Dead II creates a convincing horde of beasties for Ash to plough through with his trusty shotgun and chainsaw arm.