THE EAST [2013]

The East is an eco-terrorist thriller starring & co-written by Brit Marling and directed by Zal Batmanglij.
The story takes no time spinning itself into a cleverly woven espionage tale that is sure to intrigue, even if it does take itself way too seriously.  However you soon find as much as the film is driven by plot it seems to forget about the human element of these characters and therefore loses any sense of danger it might have had.
It's got some heavy strengths and weaknesses all of which make for a briskly paced thriller that doesn't quite hit the intensity it should of but never outwears it's welcome.

3 doc's named Doc out of 5

EVIL DEAD [2013]

Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell & Roger G. Tapert, the lunatics who brought you the camp cult classic The Evil Dead give their producing stamp of approval on director Fede Alvarez's psychotic remake, simply titled Evil Dead. 

Overflowing with shockingly gory sequences and disturbing violence, the film surprisingly has a wickedly dark, DARK sense of humour I found absent in the trailers.  It's been a long time since a horror film has been this bloody and fun, without sacrificing it's substance over style.  Like the original, it aims to shock and it does so with flying colors, pleasing this gorehound who was cautious going into this remake.  Apparently Raimi wants to combine the character of Ash with the surviving character of this film into a future story, which makes me wonder if this is really a remake or sequel.

3½ "drug withdrawls" out of 5