------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Remake or not?
Evil Dead II is not a remake of the first movie and was never intended to be. For legal reasons, Sam Raimi was unable to obtain permission to use footage from the first movie in order to make a recap at the beginning that would let the audience know what had happened in the first movie. To work around this problem, he re-shot some key scenes from the first, but with a simplified plot. For example, the recap was streamlined to show only Ash and his girlfriend (now played by a different actress) going to the cabin in the woods, instead of going with their friends as well. Approximately 7 minutes into Evil Dead II, the final scene from The Evil Dead plays again (Ash standing outside the cabin alone, turning around when a spirit is approaching him) and the story of Evil Dead II begins.
Army of Darkness (which is a sequal to Evil Dead 2) is my favorite horror/comedies of all time.
But, I was confused when I first watched Evil Dead 2 because it was almost a shot-for-shot remake of the first Evil Dead. I disagree with the Wikipedia article. Raimi didn't just use a snipit from the first movie. He remade that movie with better actors in the "same" roles and a few small changes thrown in the justify calling it a part 2. I say "remake" and not "sequal".
Anybody disagree?
