The AT&T Performing Arts Center has once again jumped on the '80s nostalgia train, bringing in Huey Lewis & the News to play at Annette Strauss Square on Thursday, June 13, as part of the group's 30th anniversary tour for their iconic album, Sports.
In the mid-1980s, there was no bigger band in the world than Huey Lewis & the News. Sports, which yielded such hit songs as "The Heart of Rock & Roll," "Heart & Soul," "I Want a New Drug" and "If This Is It," sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
In 1985, they became even bigger after they wrote "The Power of Love" — which earned an Oscar nomination — and "Back in Time" for the Back to the Future soundtrack, launching them into true superstardom.
Their reign was short-lived, however. Although their follow-up album, Fore!, was well-received, subsequent albums were not. Consequently, the band has released only three albums of new music in the last 20 years, none of which have come close to the sales of albums released during their peak.
It's no surprise, then, that Huey Lewis & the News have returned to the material that made them stars. In addition to the tour, the band will release a special digitally remastered edition of the album on May 14, with live bonus tracks that were recorded — you guessed it — back in the '80s.
Horror franchises tend to endure because of several reasons. First and foremost, the title conjures up nostalgia for older viewers, as the many of the most popular ones started in the 1970s or ‘80s. Sequels can recycle key elements of past films as long as they tweak the formula enough to offer something original. And they’re also relatively cheap to make, as new films can bring in young or lesser-known actors to be terrorized.
All of those reasons make Evil Dead Burna smashing success, giving viewers reminders of the past while still becoming its own thing. The film is almost non-stop from the jump as a series of people, known colloquially as “deadites,” get infected by a malevolent force. A long, 15-minute opening set piece introduces the main characters, including Alice (Souhelia Yacob), her brother-in-law Joseph (Hunter Doohan), his girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan), and his parents, Susan (Tandi Wright) and Edgar (Erroll Shand).
They’re all mourning the death of Alice’s husband Will (George Pullar), who they think died while driving drunk. However, the infection in Will’s corpse soon latches on to Edgar, whose descent into murderous rage is initially masked by his intense grief. With the family all gathered together in an older, decaying home, no one is safe from the rampage of the supernatural force.
Written and directed by French filmmaker Sébastien Vanicek and co-written by Florent Bernard, the film is aimed directly at horror fanatics who are used to copious amounts of blood and gore. From the opening scene to the film’s final intense moments, Vanicek and his team come up with numerous hide-your-eyes sequences that test the stomachs of weak-willed viewers. But for those who can’t get enough of such things, they also indicate a creativity and willingness to push boundaries that is both thrilling and entertaining.
While some previous entries in the Evil Dead series leaned comedic, this entry follows the previous two films in 2013 and 2023 as as a pure horror. However, that doesn’t mean that the film is devoid of lightness. One of the most enjoyable aspects is Vanicek comically adhering to the concept of Chekhov’s gun. So many different potential weapons are introduced and later used that you can’t help but laugh when they come into play.
Ultimately, it’s the performances by the lesser-known cast that make the movie what it is. Doohan (Wednesday) plays a mild-mannered character who seems to be the main protagonist early on, but he cedes the spotlight to Yacob as the film goes along. The French actress knows how to hold the screen through both her actions and line deliveries. Shand, with his craggy face and bald head, turns into a superior villain, able to chill with just his intense stare.
Evil Dead Burn is not for everybody, but it’s another great addition to what’s turning out to be a banner year for horror movies. With highly effective, cringeworthy action sequences, moments that lighten the mood when needed, and a cast that carries the story, it’s an announcement of bigger things to come for all involved.
