Evil Dead 2 (1987)

Film and Plot Synopsis

“Evil Dead 2” is a cult classic horror film released in 1987, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell. It is both a sequel and a soft reboot of the original “Evil Dead” film, with a slightly altered storyline. The movie follows the protagonist, Ash Williams, as he faces off against demonic forces unleashed by an ancient book, the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, also known as the Book of the Dead.

‘Evil Dead 2’ Movie Summary

The film begins with Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) and his girlfriend, Linda (Denise Bixler), traveling to a remote cabin in the woods for a romantic getaway. As they settle in, they discover a tape recorder and the Necronomicon, a book bound in human flesh and written in blood. Ash plays the tape which is a recording of archaeologist Raymond Knowby (John Peaks), the cabin’s previous inhabitant, reciting passages from the Necronomicon, also known as the Book of the Dead. Ignoring the warnings recorded on the tape, the passages summon demonic spirits, known as the Kandarian Demon, that possess Linda. Ash is forced to decapitate her with a shovel. Ash buries Linda’s body in a shallow grave near the cabin.

The night grows more sinister as the evil force continues to terrorize Ash. The evil force throws Ash though the woods. Ash is briefly possessed by the demon, but when day breaks, he is explicably returned to normal. Ash tries to flee the area but discovers that the only bridge to the cabin has been destroyed. Despite his efforts to escape, Ash is trapped in the cabin as the evil force gains strength. Linda’s revived head attacks him and bites his hand. Ash runs to the shed near the cabin, where Linda’s headless body attacks him with a chainsaw. Ash overpowers and slashes the deadite Linda to death. However, his right hand becomes possessed and tries to kill him, and he severs it with the chainsaw before attempting to shoot it with a shotgun. The demon hand avoids destruction before mocking Ash and escaping.

Desperate, he discovers the only way to defeat the demons is to destroy the Necronomicon. Just as Ash prepares to destroy the book, he is confronted by the arrival of more visitors to the cabin: Annie Knowby (Sarah Berry) – Raymond’s daughter, her research partner Professor Ed Getley (Richard Domeier), repairman Jake (Dan Hicks), and Jake’s girlfriend Bobby Joe (Kassie Wesley). Annie and Ed are returning from a dig where they have discovered missing pages from the Necronomicon. The pair seek to uncover the secrets of the Necronomicon, as Annie’s father had been researching it. Initially, they mistakenly believe that Ash murdered Annie’s parents and lock him in the cellar.

Groovy. Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell)

The new foursome continues listening to Raymond’s recording. The recording details how Raymond’s wife Henrietta (Lou Hancock) was possessed by the Kandarian Demon which required Raymond to kill her and bury her in the cellar. A deadite Henrietta reveals herself and possesses Ed. Ash dismembers Ed with an axe. Bobby Joe tries to escape, but demonically possessed trees attack and drag her to her death. Annie translates two of the Necronomicon’s pages before Jake turns on them and throws the pages into the cellar. Jake then forces Ash and Annie at gunpoint to find Bobby Joe in the woods.

Mysteriously, Ash becomes possessed once again and attacks Jake. Annie retreats to the cabin and accidentally stabs Jake after mistaking him for the possessed Ash. The deadite Henrietta reappears and kills Jake. Deadite Ash tries to kill Annie, but Ash regains his humanity and returns to his normal self upon seeing Linda’s necklace.

Together, they formulate a plan to retrieve pages from the Necronomicon that could banish the evil spirits. Ash modifies the chainsaw to attach to the stump of his right arm and shortens the barrel to the shotgun. Annie and Ash go into the cellar to retrieve the missing pages. They retrieve the pages and Ash kills Henrietta. Annie begins to recite the incantation as the cabin is attacked by the demonic trees. As she reads it, Ash’s severed hand uses a Kandarian dagger to stab her in the back. Annie manages to complete the incantation before succumbing to her wounds. The spell opens a whirling temporal vortex which sucks in all the demons, as well as Ash and Oldsmobile Delta 88.

In the final moments of the film, Ash awakens to find himself in a desolate landscape, surrounded by medieval warriors. The knights confront him and initially mistake him for a deadite. A real deadite appears and Ash blasts it into oblivion with the shotgun. The knights celebrate Ash as a hero and the Ash collapses and screams in anguish, leaving viewers with a cliffhanger ending that sets the stage for the next installment in the series, “Army of Darkness.”