Filmmaking

If you’ve been a fan of science fiction television and movies for a bit, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with actor David Hewlett. He’s best known as the snarky, take-in-small-doses Doctor Rodney McKay who was featured as a recurring character in SG-1 only to be promoted to a regular in my personal favorite entry in the franchise, Stargate: Atlantis, but you may also know him from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dark Matter, the amazing cult classics Cube and Pin (so creepy), and most recently in the Golden Globe winning, Academy Award nominated (SO MANY NOMINATIONS!! Congrats Guillermo!!), The Shape of Water.

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If I have one giant pet peeve in any narrative story, it’s when smart people do really dumb things to help advance the plot. Sometimes I can turn my brain off and forgive certain things, but not when the entire plot of your film is predicated on bad mistakes. In a recent IO9 article, they asked Bruce Campbell about the secrets of great film-making. He responded

“I think horror movies are better if people give a shit, and make a decent movie. I feel like there’s lazy film-makers in general out there. I [would like] a little more industrious film-making, please. I just think they need to work a little harder, pay attention, and don’t treat audiences like they’re stupid.”

I wish director Fede Alvarez would have followed that basic rule in making this film. To be fair Evil Dead isn’t all bad. It has some great moments in the middle of the flick, but the beginning and the end surpass my ability to suspend disbelief.

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