Episode 136: The Things That Were And Shall Be Again: On 'Evil Dead II'

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.8 • 688 Ratings

🗓️ 30 November 2022

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"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. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Sam Raimi (dir.), The Evil Dead II Weird Studies, Episode 121 on Mandy and the Bandwagon Joe Bob Briggs, American movie critic Chalres Ludlam, American actor Weird Studies, Episode 88 on Mr Punch Kenneth Gross, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Joseph Cermatori, Baroque Modernity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Spectrevision Radio
0:03.3	Welcome to Weird Studies, an arts and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel.
0:20.8	For more episodes or to support the podcast,
0:23.3	go to weirdst. This is Phil. This week, J.F. and I are talking about the
0:56.0	1987 film, The Evil Dead 2, a slapstick horror film, or splatstick, if you like,
1:04.3	that is both funny and kind of scary. Exactly what that kind of means is one of the principal
1:10.1	themes we develop in our conversation.
1:13.0	The Evil Dead 2 is scary in a particular way, scary the way puppet shows can be.
1:18.9	We talk a lot about the affinities between the Evil Dead 2 and puppet shows in this episode
1:24.1	and how both end up invoking a spookiness that is in matter.
1:28.8	I'm not talking about matter and soul exactly.
1:32.5	Matter greedy for life, more like.
1:35.0	Matter in which life threatens to break out like some fungal corruption.
1:39.5	The evil dead, too, represents a materialism in which matter is just what we suppose it to be, mindless and
1:45.8	unliving, but in a precarious and unstable condition, always trembling on the threshold of life.
1:52.8	We are the things that were and shall be again, chant the deadites, as they are called
1:58.7	by the medieval knights that appear incongruously and comically
2:02.3	at the end? It's all silly fun, of course. This isn't a cerebral film in the least, and that's one
2:08.8	thing I like about it. But the Evil Dead, too, like the Punch and Judy shows we discussed in
2:14.2	episode 88, could be enjoyable occasions for philosophy. They can also be viewed
2:20.2	in quite another way, in a manner impatient of all philosophies and content with the shapes
2:25.6	and gestures imminent to the artwork. I am very often in this mood when watching a movie or listening
	...

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