Though he’s most well-known for being one of the most influential directors of the modern age,Sam Raimihas spent a great amount of time in his career focusing on producing, and the results are something of a mixed bag to be perfectly honest. Don’t get us wrong, we here at Collider love Sam Raimi and his contributions to the industry more than Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) love saying “groovy.' His contributions to theEvil DeadandSpider-Manfranchises alone are nothing short of genre-defining, and it’s been great to see the filmmaker get back in the directing chair again withDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Raimi has just spent the bulk of his time in the world of film production, which has yielded some great films. It’s hardly surprising that many of the projects Raimi has produced are horror-centric, and some of them are modern classics. However, not every attempt to scare and fright is a hit, and other pieces in Raimi’s filmography aren’t as much of a home run.
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‘The Grudge’ Relies on Slow-Moving Intimidation Rather than Rampant Jump-Scares
If you thoughtMoanagetting a remake after less than a decade was fast,The Grudgehas it beat for the fastest remake ever made. Based on the 2002 filmJu-on: The Grudge, the Raimi-produced American remake was released in theaters two years after the original film. In recent years, the amount of timebetween the release of the original foreign film and its English-language remakeis becoming shorter and shorter, but back in 2002, a mere two-year gap was unheard of. Still, Raimi and the rest of the production team decided to keep the story set in Japan and have the film be directed by the original filmmaker,Takashi Shimizu. The only major difference is the casting ofSarah Michelle Gellarin the lead role, which was clearly enough to win over an international audience.
The film made over $180 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of only $10 million — an incredible turnaround that would make even Blumhouse blush. Audiences were captivated by the hectic and terrifying story of Karen (Gellar), a nurse who moves to Japan for her career. Little does she know that a curse has been placed upon her home, and now a malignant supernatural force finds itself on her doorstep.
The 2015 Remake of ‘Poltergeist’ Should Have Never Been Made
IfThe Grudgeis a remake done right,Poltergeist(2015) is the exact opposite.The 1982 original(produced and maybe even partially directed bySteven Spielberg) is an all-time ghost story classic thatstill holds up pretty well to this day. On the list of horror franchises that are begging to be rebooted,Poltergeistis pretty low on the list. That didn’t stop 20th Century and Sam Raimi from trying to give the spooky story a facelift, but the only thing scary about this film is how often CGI appears in the film. Despite having some solid acting talent likeSam Rockwell,Rosemarie DeWitt, andJared Harris,Poltergeist(2015) manages to pack in all the same story beats of the 1982 film but with none of the impressive practical effects and stressful pacing. Instead, we get a significantly less intimidating snooze fest that relies way too heavily on computer-generated effects instead of the puppetry and stop-motion of the original.
‘Don’t Breath’ Is a Masterclass in Suspense
In a film with a setup likeDon’t Breath, typically the characters who are robbing a blind man’s home would be the villains of such a story, but what if the burglars were the protagonists and the blind man was a terrifying antagonist?Don’t Breathanswers that question by throwing a trio of young adults into the home of an alleged wounded veteran, where they’ve heard there are riches in the house that can save their entire lives. Some of the group’s members are understandably apprehensive about stealing from an innocent blind person, but when the Blind Man (Stephen Lang) discovers there are uninvited people in his home, the three thieves quickly realize that this is one seriously dangerous individual. The deeper the main character Rocky (Jane Levy) goes into the house, the more deranged and dangerous this blind defender becomes.
‘Umma’ is About as Generic as a Horror Movie Can Get
Motherhood plays a major theme inEvil Dead Rise, and thankfully, it handles the theme much better thanUmmadoes. The nicest thing we can say aboutUmmais thatSandra Ohis always giving a hundred percent regardless of whatever movie she’s in. She may even have a future in decent horror works, butUmmacertainly isn’t that, instead being a bland slog that fails to build suspension or momentum in its ghostly tale. If you want a truly disturbing horror movie that also tackles the topic of motherhood in a profound way, maybe watchHereditaryinstead.
Most monster movies typically have some supernatural or scientific creature in the proverbial monster role, be it heralding from another dimension or coming to Earth from the stars.Crawlhandles things a little differently, instead making some very real-life animals the villains of the tense story. Set during a severe hurricane in Florida, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) tries to find her father in an almost entirely flooded house. The ordeal is dangerous enough, but things turn even worse when Haley begins seeing scales and tails under the water. Now surrounded by a horde of hungry alligators, Haley has to use her smarts and agility to wade through these shallow depths.
‘65’ Is a Historic Waste of Potential
So imagine you hear this concept:Adam Driverplays a character from the far-off future, gets sent back in time, and has to fight dinosaurs in a bout for survival. That sounds spectacular, but unfortunately,65doesn’t soar as high as its premise. The problem with65is that it doesn’t do nearly enough with its rock-solid foundation. Yes, there are dinosaurs, laser guns, and Adam Driver, but strip those three elements away, and you’re left with every other survival horror film ever made. There’s shockingly little to differentiate65from other survival films, and that’s a crime worthy enough to declare this a misfire of Jurassic proportions.
Things have now come full circle for Sam Raimi withEvil Dead Rise, as the legendary figure returns to the franchise that began his filmmaking journey. There was certainly a lot forEvil Dead Riseto live up to, mainly because the previous films in the franchise, particularly the 1981 original, are so beloved and celebrated. Thankfully,Evil Dead Riseis already making a great first impression on horror fans. Packed with tons of blood and gore, terrific Deadite performances, and the added seal of approval from Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, it seems that theEvil Deadfranchise will remain one of the best in the horror genre. The series seems to be in good hands with directorLee Cronin, and while we hope Raimi stays with any potential sequels as producer, we wouldn’t mind seeing him returning as director again either.
