Film

Evil Dead II

Name: Evil Dead II
Genre: Horror, Comedy, Fantasy
Released: 1987
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie DePaiva, Ted Raimi

Sam Raimi's demented sequel to his own low-budget shocker ditches straight horror for full-tilt splatstick: buckets of blood, a chainsaw hand, and Bruce Campbell's face doing more acting than most scripts require. It plays like a live-action cartoon, equal parts gross-out and slapstick, gleefully committed to its own absurdity. Perfect for anyone who wants horror that dares them to laugh out loud instead of scream.

TMDb rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like horror that tips into slapstick, where the splatter is so excessive it turns into a joke and the camera never stops moving.

Skip it if you want a scary film that stays scary, since this one would rather make you laugh and flail than hold your nerves tight; its goofiness may wear thin fast.

What it asks of you: Expect a brisk 84 minutes that barely pauses, with a shape built on escalating set-pieces rather than slow dread, so attention stays on the mayhem, not the mood.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Braindead1992

Peter Jackson's pre-Hobbit gross-out masterpiece takes the splatstick baton and runs it into a lawnmower massacre; if Evil Dead II made you laugh at gore, this dares you further.

But The effects are gleefully cheap by design, and the finale's escalating carnage might overwhelm even seasoned gorehounds.

Army of Darkness1992

Same hero, same chainsaw hand, now with time travel and a one-liner every thirty seconds — the trilogy's cocky, quotable victory lap.

But It leans much harder into quips than scares, so if you wanted the horror dialed back up rather than down, this goes the other way.

Re-Animator1985

Lovecraft filtered through the same splatter-drenched sense of humor — mad science, reanimated corpses, and a villain who steals every scene he's in.

But Its comedy plays more deadpan smirk than manic slapstick, so the laughs land quieter than Raimi's cartoon chaos.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Evil Dead II

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Disorder in the Court1936

Raimi cited the Stooges directly as inspiration for the film's gleeful body-horror slapstick — the chainsaw-hand gags descend straight from their eye-poke choreography.

Raimi has said outright that the Three Stooges shaped Evil Dead II's violence-as-comedy — watch the source: eye-pokes, saws, and chaos escalating purely for its own sake.

But It's black-and-white, decades removed from horror entirely, and the violence is cartoonish rather than gory — a big tonal jump.

Shaun of the Dead2004

Proof the horror-comedy formula travels well past the eighties — zombie mayhem played for real laughs and genuine heart, with a script that respects both genres equally.

But It's gentler and more character-driven; anyone wanting nonstop gore-gag mayhem may find it comparatively restrained.

An American Werewolf in London1981

John Landis blends transformation horror with black comedy and a wandering, doomed sense of humor — a genre sibling from the same golden age of practical effects.

But The comedy is drier and more melancholy than Raimi's manic energy, and the tonal whiplash can catch newcomers off guard.

Drag Me to Hell2009

Raimi himself, decades later, doing what he does best — a possessed-object curse comedy with the same gross-out glee and gleeful, swooping camera.

But It's more polished studio horror than scrappy DIY chaos, so some of the original's ramshackle charm gets smoothed away.

Tremors1990

Giant subterranean monsters, small-town heroes, and a script that never forgets to be funny while everything explodes — practical-effects creature-feature joy.

But It's monster-movie fun rather than possession horror, so the connection to Evil Dead II is tone, not plot.

The Cabin in the Woods2012

Takes the cabin-in-the-woods setup and turns it inside out with meta horror-comedy smarts, skewering the genre while still delivering real scares and gore.

But Its self-aware, genre-commentary angle is a different kind of clever than Evil Dead II's earnest lunacy, and some prefer the straight thing.

Trick 'r Treat2007

An anthology horror-comedy with a wicked, playful streak and real love of practical gore — good late-night company if you want more Halloween-flavored mischief.

But It's an anthology, so momentum resets every twenty minutes rather than building one long, escalating nightmare like Evil Dead II.

The Frighteners1996

Peter Jackson borrowed Raimi's kinetic camera style wholesale and applied it to his own possession-comedy, making this the clearest stylistic descendant most people never trace back.

Michael J. Fox plays a con-man ghost hunter in a film that swings from screwball comedy to genuine unease using the same hyperkinetic, swooping camera Raimi pioneered.

But Its CGI ghosts have aged more visibly than Evil Dead II's practical gore, and the tonal shifts are less tightly controlled.

Repulsion1965

Both trap a lead character alone in one location as body and sanity seem to betray them; Repulsion plays that exact structure dead straight, decades earlier, in an entirely different genre.

Strip out every joke from Evil Dead II's premise — one person alone, losing their grip on reality inside a claustrophobic space — and you get this cold, serious masterpiece of psychological disintegration.

But There is no gore, no comedy, no relief — just mounting dread, so anyone wanting Raimi's manic energy will find total silence instead.