Just when you had forgotten the existence of rapist trees, first-time feature director Fede Alvarez brings a blood-soaked, bile-spewing remake of Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic to the screen, ensuring that a new generation of teenagers will now look back on Harry Potter’s Whomping Willow with fear and suspicion. Eschewing the camp outrageousness of the low-budget original, Alvarez raises the gory ante. But though the gross-out factor is impressive and will delight gorehounds, the lack of humour underlines the now horribly tired clichés of the genre.
Mia (Jane Levy) is a young drug addict who brings big brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) and a few friends to an isolated cabin, so they can support her as she attempts to go cold turkey. Of course it’s not long before the posse discover an evil book and inadvertently summon some demons, Alvarez making canny references to Raimi’s directing style. Swooping cameras convey the POV of a rampaging demon, and some blood-soaked shots are lifted from the original.
In a dispiriting move, Alvarez continues horror’s grand tradition of reserving the more graphic torture and sexual violence for the mostly disposable female characters, as they’re transformed into Exorcist-like She-Demons with nymphomaniac, lesbian and even incestuous tendencies. Without Raimi’s lighter touch, these sequences feel seedy and predictable. Combined with precious little character development, the relentlessness can occasionally feel tiring.
With some nice inside jokes and impressive production values, Alvarez’s remake may not compete with Raimi for camp humour or cult classic status. Nonetheless, he has created a nasty little beast all his own.

In cinemas April 19