Posted by kozara:
^ Did they go the Army of Darkness route because the horror with madcap comedy combo was more successful and fun for the cast & crew?
I don't know the answer to that one. My first thought is that it was studio financed and therefore designed to appeal to a wider audience - less "grueling horror". I don't know for certain though.
Am I correct that Evil Dead II is basically a remake of the first one's plot with more comedic elements?
Many people would say yes. I would disagree with those people. Sam Raimi himself, director of the series believes all three films could be edited together into one four and a half hour marathon of Deadites.
Here's the thing. When Evil Dead II began production, the producers were unable to secure the rights to footage from the first picture - uh oh! That means no flashbacks, and in the realm of low budget horror, if you can't provide a quick recap of the events of the first film, you're often screwed.
So, they decided to reshoot the absolute miminum of material from The Evil Dead to get audiences up to speed when they watch Evil Dead II. Therefore, we see Ash take a girl named Linda to a cabin, awaken an evil spirit, and survive the first night...
This is where Evil Dead II officially begins... As you may recall, The Evil Dead concludes with the evil unseen entity smashing its way through the house and directly into a screaming Ash... End movie! This exact same sequence occurs about 10-15 minutes into Evil Dead II culminating in the first appearance of "Demonic" Ash... It's where I'd argue Evil Dead II technically begins, everything else was just a prolonged recapping of events important to the sequel due to the fact that Sam Raimi simply couldn't edit in a flashback. We don't see any of the other characters like Ash's sister because she plays no role in the sequel, while his girlfriend Linda actually
does.
I've thought about this
way too much.