The Things That Were And Shall Be Again: On 'Evil Dead II'

"We are the things that were and shall be again." So a demonic flesh puppet tells Ash and his allies in a memorable scene from the classic splatstick flick Evil Dead II. In addition to being a rollicking piece of entertainment, Evil Dead II is an expertly crafted film whose director used every tool and technique to generate a cinematic experience that is – as the tagline went – "2 terrifying, 2 frightening ... 2 much!" In this episode, JF and Phil court the absurd by turning a fun 80s horror movie into a statement on the dread aspirations of matter and a shining example of the modern baroque.
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SHOW NOTES
Sam Raimi (dir.), The Evil Dead II (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/)
Weird Studies, Episode 121 on Mandy and the Bandwagon (https://www.weirdstudies.com/121)
Joe Bob Briggs (https://joebobbriggs.com/), American movie critic
Chalres Ludlam (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ludlam), American actor
Weird Studies, Episode 88 on Mr Punch (https://www.weirdstudies.com/88)
Kenneth Gross, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life (https://bookshop.org/p/books/puppet-an-essay-on-uncanny-life-kenneth-gross/1854?ean=9780226005508)
Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics (https://bookshop.org/p/books/cannibal-metaphysics-eduardo-viveiros-de-castro/9840023?ean=9781517905316)
Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles (https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-street-of-crocodiles-and-other-stories-bruno-schulz/11699271?ean=9780143105145)
Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets (https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-secret-life-of-puppets-victoria-nelson/10858474?ean=9780674012448)
Joseph Cermatori, Baroque Modernity (https://bookshop.org/p/books/baroque-modernity-an-aesthetics-of-theater-joseph-cermatori/16276768?ean=9781421441535)