{"id":27546,"date":"2013-04-03T16:03:37","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T20:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=27546"},"modified":"2018-11-09T13:49:01","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T18:49:01","slug":"talking-about-the-evil-dead-reboot-with-director-fede-alvarez-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/03\/talking-about-the-evil-dead-reboot-with-director-fede-alvarez-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking About The EVIL DEAD Reboot With Director Fede Alvarez – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FedeAlvarez\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This weekend, director Fede Alavrez’s remake of Sam Raimi’s classic horror film The Evil Dead<\/strong> opens. Recently, I had a chance to chat with the director about the film, working with Raimi and the perils of remaking a cult classic. Part of our discussion moved into territory that would spoil the film, so we’ll save that for later this weekend.<\/p>\n

Q: Over the last several years, we\u2019ve seen a lot of horror film remake that no one has been too happy about, but the word coming out of SXSW (following the screening of The Evil Dead<\/em>) has been very positive. Did you have to live with the worry that fans were not going to be receptive no matter how good a film you put out there.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: A little bit, at the early stages when we didn\u2019t know exactly what the movie was going to be. Remaking a cult classic sounds like a fool\u2019s errand and it\u2019s going to be impossible to succeed. But it\u2019s so different from all those other movies in that it isn\u2019t a big studio release. This is a franchise that is owned by Sam Raimi, Rob Tappert and Bruce Campbell, the guys who did the original movie. They\u2019re the ones who wanted to do a new Evil Dead<\/strong>, they\u2019re ready for a new film. It comes from them and they\u2019re the creative producers. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s completely different from those other horror movies you\u2019re talking about. Those are properties that are owned by studios and they\u2019re not connected to the original creators at all. They do three or four different scripts from different writers and then one day a director comes in and shoots it. This movie, I write it with one of my best friends. The two of us are the biggest Sam Raimi fans since we were kids. So we write it from scratch. We do two drafts and then we had Diablo Cody do a pass on dialogue but we didn\u2019t use much of that, so that\u2019s why she doesn\u2019t have a credit. Then we shot the movie and cut the movie and my director\u2019s cut is the one you\u2019re going to see in the theaters. <\/p>\n

And that doesn\u2019t happen often in Hollywood. Usually there\u2019s a producer\u2019s cut and that doesn\u2019t have much to do with what the director wanted to do. And like I said, [those other remakes have] a script that was written by several writers trying to do different things and that\u2019s why those movies sometimes don\u2019t work as they\u2019re so many voices at the same time. This one is just Sam and myself basically just going out and making the movie. It\u2019s a more independent film in a way.<\/p>\n

Q: How involved was Sam in giving feedback during development? It seems to be that it would be like an adoptive father trying to raise a kid while the biological father was looking over his shoulder.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Part of his job was to give us as much freedom as he could. He knows as a director that the last thing a producer has to do is not be in the director\u2019s face forcing him to do something that he doesn\u2019t want. He was really committed to giving me that freedom. He said at the beginning \u201cI am going to give to you everything that they never gave me, which is complete freedom to do whatever you want to do.\u201d And he knows his audience better than anybody. He was really helpful in the process of the writing. When he read a scene that he knew that the fans were going to love, he would always encourage us to keep going and go a little further. He was a great mentor to have. He struck the perfect balance between being there and giving me all the room possible to make the movie I want.<\/p>\n

\"Evil_Dead\"<\/a>Q: I think most people see the decision to cast the film\u2019s lead as a female character instead of a male one as a concession that you just can\u2019t replicate what Bruce Campbell did in the original films. Was there anything else that came out of that decision that you discovered you could do while in the writing process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Well, it wasn\u2019t so much that we said \u201cWell, since we can\u2019t use Bruce let\u2019s create a female character,\u201d as it was more an organic thing of the story. The thing, though, is if I talk too much about it, I\u2019ll be spoiling the movie. The heart of the story is kind of the same as the heart of the original story \u2013 these women are driving these men crazy, right? The women are the ones to get possessed first and the guys are the ones who have to deal with it. Such a great idea from the original and it\u2019s something that really sets apart the original film from the rest of the trend which was always a woman being chased by a guy with a chainsaw or a hammer or whatever. Evil Dead was completely contrary with guys being harassed and tortured by the women. That\u2019s something I think is a key idea in the original and is definitely back in this one.<\/p>\n

We have a new hero, in a way, and at the end of the day Jane\u2019s character is that person. But like I said, if we talk too much about it I think we\u2019ll be in trouble. But it wasn\u2019t just trying to do something different from Ash it was just something that organically happened with the story. <\/p>\n

Q: In the film you stayed away from a lot of computer created visuals and instead opted for practical effects.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I think horror needs to be done with practical effects. Nobody\u2019s scared of CGI. Even if you don\u2019t consciously recognize the CGI, I think your mind does. And if for some reason you see something that feels off or weird, you\u2019re not scared. So we knew that we wanted to be scary, graphic and gory we had to go practical. All of the best moments of the movie are not only practical, but 100% real. It\u2019s the same kind of effects you could have done in the `50s. <\/p>\n

And also you want to pay some respect to the original movies. Those movies are classics, they\u2019ve stayed around for ages. You want to make sure that you don\u2019t make a film that is forgettable in two or three years. And when you use CGI usually movies get dated fast. Usually the greatest CGI in five years looks weird and then ten years later is unwatchable. <\/p>\n

And it is here where our conversation veered into spoiler territory, so see the film this weekend then come back on Sunday for Part Two.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The perils of remaking a classic.<\/div>\n

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