Month: July 2013

Hamilton wins for the Silver Arrows in Hungary

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Hamilton Hungarian Grand Prix 2013 winner

Lewis Hamilton scored his first victory for Mercedes thanks to an impressive drive at the Hungaroring.

The 2008 world champion pulled himself clear of a fraught race behind. Kimi Raikkonen fended off the championship leader Sebastian Vettel to the runner-up spot.

Mark Webber salvaged fourth for Red Bull while Romain Grosjean’s chances for race victory was spoiled by a drive-through penalty.

Hamilton’s initial battle was with qualifying rivals Vettel and Grosjean, after a thrilling opening lap in which slow-starter Vettel had to defend from the Lotus as Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg also tried to get involved.

The Red Bull was right on the gearbox of the leading Mercedes initially, but as the opening stint wore on, Hamilton was able to pull away, while Vettel came under pressure from Grosjean.

The crucial moment for Hamilton was when he emerged behind Jenson Button after his first pitstop.

Hamilton made the important pass, not so for Vettel. The defending champion couldn’t find a way by after making a pitstop too.

The McLaren and Red Bull made light contact, leaving Vettel concerned about his front wing and allowing Grosjean plenty of opportunity to attack, as Alonso closed in too.

It took until lap 24 for Vettel to finally pass Button, with Grosjean clashing with the McLaren as he tried to follow.

Both were able to continue, but the incident will be investigated post-race.

Grosjean still got a penalty though… Following his second pitstop, he boldly passed Felipe Massa’s Ferrari around the outside of the fast Turn 4.

But the race stewards adjudged that he had exceeded track limits in doing so and was given a drive-through penalty, dropping Grosjean out of contention.

By the time Vettel was clear of Button, Hamilton had a commanding advantage over the triple world champion that he would not lose.

The other Red Bull driver was not defeated yet, though. Webber ran a very long first stint on his medium tyres and spent a while in the lead.

On their slightly different sequences, Hamilton twice emerged right behind Webber after pitstops, and twice passed him on the outside of Turn 3, with Webber ending up taking to the run-off in the second move.

Those passes ensured Webber had no chance of delaying Hamilton’s progress as the Briton achieved Mercedes GP’s third victory of the 2013 season.

Meanwhile Raikkonen worked his way forward on a two-stop strategy, spending the early part of the Hungarian Grand Prix trapped behind Massa before bringing himself into contention.

His consistent pace meant that he emerged in second place as the final stops played out, with both Red Bulls behind him.

Vettel tried his utmost to pass Raikkonen in the closing laps and complained that the Finn was over-defensive in what turned out to be a decisive battle with two laps to the flag.

Webber tried to chase down the pair but had to settle for fourth, while Alonso fell away from the leaders and could only fend off Grosjean for fifth.

McLaren got both its cars in the points on two-stop strategies, with Button seventh and Sergio Perez ninth.

First-lap contact with Rosberg and a later brush with Adrian Sutil hampered Massa’s day and he finished eighth.

Rosberg tumbled down to P12 in his incident with the Ferrari. He recovered to ninth before a fiery late-race failure.

His retirement allowed Pastor Maldonado to end the Williams team’s points drought in tenth position.

So a fantastic result for Lewis Hamilton. His fourth victory at the Hungaroring and yet his first for the Mercedes. He becomes the first British driver to win for the Silver Arrows since Sir Stirling Moss back in 1955.

Formula 1 now heads into the summer break and it will be fascinating if the other teams can keep up this close competition as the racing resume at Spa-Francorchamps next month.

Race results from the Hungaroring after 70 laps:

1.  Hamilton       Mercedes    1:42:29.445
2.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault +10.938
3.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault +12.459
4.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault +18.044
5.  Alonso         Ferrari +31.411
6.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault +32.295
7.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes +53.819
8.  Massa          Ferrari +56.447
9.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
10.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault +1 lap
11.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
12.  Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
13.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
14.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault +1 lap
15.  Pic            Caterham-Renault +1 lap
16.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
17.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap

Retirement/non-finishes:

Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes +66 laps
Rosberg        Mercedes +64 laps
Bottas         Williams-Renault +42 laps
Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari +28 laps
Sutil          Force India-Mercedes +19 laps

World Championship standings, round 10:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel        172
2.  Raikkonen     136
3.  Alonso        133
4.  Hamilton      122
5.  Webber        105
6.  Rosberg        84
7.  Massa          61
8.  Grosjean       49
9.  Button         39
10.  Di Resta       36
11.  Sutil          23
12.  Perez          18
13.  Vergne         13
14.  Ricciardo      11
15.  Hulkenberg      7
16.  Maldonado       1

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          277
2.  Mercedes                  206
3.  Ferrari                   194
4.  Lotus-Renault             185
5.  Force India-Mercedes       59
6.  McLaren-Mercedes           57
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         24
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              7
9.  Williams-Renault            1

Next race: Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps. August 23-25.

Hamilton snatches Hungarian Grand Prix pole from Vettel

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Vettel and Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton achieved his third successive pole position in Formula 1 in a superb duel with championship leader Sebastian Vettel at the Hungaroring.

The Mercedes driver denied the triple world champion in the final moments of qualifying. His margin was less than four-hundredths of a second.

Vettel seemed to have put himself out of reach with an incredible first flying lap in Q3 that was eight-tenths of a second clear.

It was an impressive lap and Red Bull even had a fresh set of tyres for both Q3 runs. Their rivals were all saving their rubber for their final lap.

Initially, Vettel remained too fast to catch, with final practice pace setter Romain Grosjean getting closest in his Lotus.

But Hamilton was able to mount an attack with a time of one minute, 19.377 seconds to displace Vettel. The Red Bull driver improved his pace but fell short by just 0.038 seconds.

Still, this was far better than his team-mate Mark Webber. After setting the second quickest time in both Friday practice sessions, the Australian suffered a KERS failure in qualifying.

Webber struggled through to Q3 but did not run in the top ten shootout, so will start in tenth position.

Grosjean held on to third place, joined on second row by Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Ferrari was not a contender for the pole, with Fernando Alonso fifth and Felipe Massa seventh.

Kimi Raikkonen was briefly on the provisional front row as he completed an early final run, but in the end, the Lotus driver will start the Hungarian Grand Prix in sixth place.

Raikkonen’s rival for next year’s Red Bull seat is Daniel Ricciardo and the young Australian maintained his strong recent form to put his Toro Rosso eighth, six positions ahead of team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne.

Sergio Perez was the other Q3 contender in ninth, sticking to his set of medium tyres rather than going for pole. His McLaren team-mate Jenson Button understeered to a disappointing P13.

Given his engine problems during the final practice session, Esteban Gutierrez’s Q1 departure was little surprise.

And yet Paul di Resta’s early exit in qualifying was a shock. The Scot and Force India were left baffled by the performance of the tyres.

Team-mate Adrian Sutil missed out on the top ten by just 0.042 seconds and joins Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber on row six.

Caterham proved comfortably quicker than Marussia in the fight at the back, while brief late-Q2 top-ten appearances from both Williams drivers proved deceptive as they were shuffled back to P16 and P17.

So a fantastic qualifying effort by Lewis Hamilton but will the tyres play a part in the overall race pace of the Mercedes come the Grand Prix? Overtaking is difficult around the Hungaroring as it’s tight and twisty but if Hamilton can keep his rivals at bay, we could see him score that dream win for Silver Arrows.

Qualifying times from the Hungaroring:

1.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m19.388s
2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m19.426s
3.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m19.595s
4.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m19.720s
5.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m19.791s
6.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m19.851s
7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m19.929s
8.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m20.641s
9.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m22.398s
10.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault     no time set
11.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m20.569s
12.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m20.580s
13.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m20.777s
14.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m21.029s
15.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m21.133s
16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m21.219s
17.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m21.724s
18.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m22.043s
19.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m23.007s
20.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m23.333s
21.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m23.787s
22.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m23.997s

107 per cent time: 1m25.974s

The World’s End review

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The World's End

It’s the end of the world but not as we know it. The conclusion to the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy from Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is a highly entertaining and amusing take on the science fiction genre involving huge amount of alcohol.

Following the success of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the third instalment from the Spaced team focuses on a group of friends reattempting an epic pub crawl in their hometown, before unearthing an alien/robot invasion.

Simon Pegg stars as never-grown-up man-child Gary King, who’s become obsessed with his epic pub crawl (the Golden Mile of twelve pubs) that he failed to complete with his best friends Andy, Ollie, Pete and Steve (Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan and Paddy Considine respectively) in their hometown of Newton Haven, twenty years ago.

After reuniting his four friends – all of whom, unlike Gary, have grown up and now have families and responsible jobs – Gary persuades them all to join him in recreating their epic twelve pubs, twelve pints pub crawl in Newton Haven.

However, after a few drinks, they discover that the locals are all behaving rather differently and soon their evening takes a bizarre turn and ‘The Five Musketeers’ end up fighting for their lives.

Co-written by Wright and Pegg, The World’s End feels darker with a sinister tone compared to the previous films in the so-called Blood and Ice Cream trilogy. The pop-culture references are not as frequently mentioned in the television series Spaced but it’s still manages to be hilarious thanks to some witty dialogue and visual gags.

The fast-cut video style from Wright brings a sense of excitement and energy into The World’s End and the bar-room brawls in particular are beautifully directed, done in a similar way to the fighting sequences in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Pegg is just excellent in The World’s End. Pushing the limits from his usually likeable screen persona by playing Gary as a significantly more obnoxious character than we’re used to seeing.

Equally good is Frost as his best mate Andy. The on-screen chemistry with Pegg is a given thanks to their friendship off-camera.

The supporting cast is just fantastic with Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan and Paddy Considine playing Pegg’s old school mates. You can really sense the bonding between the old mates from these talented actors, reminiscing the fun and free lives before moving on and having responsibilities.

Rosamund Pike plays the love interest for both Pegg and Considine. Her part is just minor in the film and yet in that cliché sci-fi style, Pike comes to the rescue before the end of the world.

There’s also cameos from the likes of Pierce Bronson (who reunites his former Die Another Day co-star Rosamund Pike), Nicholas Burns and the old cast from the Spaced television series (Mark Heap, Michael Smiley, Reece Shearsmith and Julia Deakin).

The use of music is inspired and the flashback sequences to the men as teenagers recapture that free spirit of doing what ever their feel like perfectly.

Wright and Pegg’s witty script is packed full of quotable lines and is frequently laugh-out-loud funny, but it’s also dead-on and surprisingly emotional in its depiction of male friendships.

It even manages to say some interesting points about both the gradual homogenisation of British society, in particular the gag involving chain pubs, as well as commenting on both the appeal and the inherent dangers of nostalgia.

So in summary, The World’s End is a fitting finale to the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy with a bangin’ soundtrack, fantastic cast and entertaining script. I raise my glass in approval to Wright, Pegg and Frost in providing so much fun and laughter over the years.

Classic cars, tracks and drivers to feature in Codemasters’ latest F1 racer

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F1 2013 Williams

Codemasters has revealed a new feature in the upcoming F1 2013 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC platform with a classic mode.

The racing game will see retro cars from the likes of Williams, Lotus and Ferrari set in a time period of the 1980s and 1990s. This includes the famous drivers and tracks that formed part of the Formula 1 World Championship.

Legendary television commentator Murray Walker will make an appearance alongside the cars that made Nigel Mansell, Mario Andretti, Gerhard Berger, David Coulthard and Eddie Irvine winners on the racing stage.

The player will also get to drive the famous circuits such as Brands Hatch, Imola and Jerez. This makes a change over the modern-spec tracks featuring large run-offs and chicanes.

Check out the teaser trailer. It all sounds so good to see these amazing cars in a racing game.

As for the main game featuring the 2013 drivers, cars and circuits, it seems a graphical update has been applied. The set-up, menu system and overall feel looks identical to the previous title but let’s hope Codemasters has issued out the bugs with this latest F1-branded game.

Press release on the classic mode in F1 2013:

F1 Classics: 1980s Content includes:

Five iconic cars from Ferrari, Williams & Lotus

Ten legendary drivers including Nigel Mansell, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Gerhard Berger and others

Circuito De Jerez – Former host of the Spanish GRAND PRIX™

Brands Hatch – Legendary former home of the British GRAND PRIX

F1 Classics: 1990s Pack Content includes:

Six Iconic cars from Ferrari & Williams

A host of famous drivers including David Coulthard, Eddie Irvine, Alain Prost, Jacques Villeneuve and others

Classic Tracks Pack includes:

Imola – Former host of the San Marino GRAND PRIX

Estoril – Past home of the Portuguese GRAND PRIX

All The Official 2013 Content

Reflecting what is shaping up to be one most exciting seasons yet, F1 2013 will feature all the cars, circuits and stars from the 2013 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™.

Two version of F1 2013 will become available later this year (see above), with the ‘Classic Edition’ featuring the 1980s and ’90s drivers, cars and tracks. I know which pack will get my Formula 1 fix!

Trance (2013)

invisiblekid 2 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here we go with Danny Boyle‘s… let’s call it “his film”. Filmed during a break for his preparation of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, it’s clear he wanted to let loose. Not as free and loose as say Trainspotting, but definitely a film with little input from Hollywood executives saying what he can and cannot do.

I won’t spoil it by saying too much since towards the end of the film you have no idea what the hell is going on, but the last scene changes everything and you don’t get it until the final take. Even then, you will still be questioning what you have just watched.

In the beginning, we see an auction house (think Sotheby’s) selling a very rare painting. We are introduced to Simon (James McAvoy) who works there and subsequently is involved with the stealing of said painting. However, he suffers a blow to the head and forgets where he has hidden the painting.

The crew he worked for, lead by Frank (Vincent Cassel), hires Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) a hypnotist to see if she can unlock his memory and to see if he can remember what happened and where Simon has hidden the painting.

It’s not a spoiler to say she gets to know what he is looking for, but from now on, that’s all I’m going to say. However, what follows is a film you need to concentrate 100% for. It bounces back and forth the the extent that actually, paying too much attention almost makes it harder to follow.

It’s strange but if you watch it, you’ll get what I mean. You manage to keep up until near then end when wham! You have no idea what is going on.

If this were a film from any other director, you’d have no faith in it. But knowing who is behind it, which in my opinion is second only to Chris Nolan’s Inception or Memento for mindf**ks, you have faith. That faith I think is restored and rewarded. BUT, I’m not quite sure.

Make no mistake, this is a very good film, which is filmed impeccably with great angles that remind you without doubt, this is made by the same bloke who made Slumdog Millionaire which if nothing else, looked blooming gorgeous.

But an hour after watching, I’m not sure if it is brilliantly written, or in the films world, brilliantly convenient. The trouble is, one makes for a great film, the other makes for a not great film. Again, you need to watch this to get what I mean. Then you’ll know exactly where I’m coming from.

All the acting is great though. Sure the characters sometimes act strangely, but this is purely down to the role they are playing. We are treated to some torture scenes which have you holding onto your fingers with savage pressure and a very painful (for the boys) gunshot wound.

There is also some full frontal female nudity, which at the time grates and seems way out of place, but again, this becomes apparent at the end and you see why Danny was showing you it.

Whatever your you think of my ramblings, you HAVE to see this film. You may love it, but while I doubt you’ll hate it. You may certainly think it’s jumped the shark a bit. But you have to sit down, relax and think about it after it’s over to see if you like it or not. If there ever was a film to watch with a friend or loved one and partake in the act of discussing it over a slice of pie after, this is one of them.

Like I said, you may think in the end it’s stupid, but step back and even if you didn’t like it, you cannot deny right up to the end, you were hooked.

Reviewed by Invisiblekid

Vettel wins thrilling German Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel German Grand Prix 2013 winner

Sebastian Vettel scored his 30th career victory in Formula 1 with a brilliant drive in the German Grand Prix.

The triple world champion resisted the pressure from the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean to finally win in the month of July and at the Nürburgring.

As the Lotus drivers took turns to hound Vettel for most of the race, it looked unlikely that the championship leader would be able to cling on for victory, but Vettel ultimately managed to after a determined drive.

Polesitter Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was swamped by the faster-starting Red Bulls off the line, as Vettel and Mark Webber moved into an immediate one-two.

Webber stayed right with his team-mate until the first pit-stops, when he was sent out before his right-rear tyre was fully attached.

The tyre shot off and hit a television cameraman further down the pitlane. The cameraman was taken to hospital for observation.

Hamilton lost ground with tyre graining as the race progressed, but Lotus moved in the opposite direction with lightning pace.

Grosjean ran 13 laps on softs in his first stint – far better than anyone else managed – and that jumped him from fifth to second.

Romain then chased Sebastian down, though he could not get closer than two seconds behind.

A safety car just mid-distance closed the field up and brought Raikkonen from 12 seconds down into contention.

The caution period was required after Jules Bianchi’s Marussia retired in a cloud of smoke and flames, and then began rolling backwards across the circuit after its driver had got out.

The leaders made their second pit-stops behind the safety car but could not make it from there to the end.

Grosjean was first to pit, with Vettel pitting on the next lap and staying ahead.

Raikkonen ran ten laps further then pitted for softs, allowing him to charge back past Grosjean, who obeyed a team order to not delay The Iceman, and then catch Vettel.

But the triple world champion had just enough in hand to hang on and win by a second.

Grosjean resisted a similar late surge from Fernando Alonso to keep third.

After not setting a lap time in Q3, this was a superb performance by Alonso. A complete contrast to his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa, who spun out at the first corner just four laps in while running sixth.

Hamilton ended up fifth, passing two-stopper Jenson Button’s McLaren on the final lap.

Webber was brought back to the Red Bull garage and given a new wheel, then recovered from a distant last to seventh, just ahead of McLaren’s Sergio Perez.

Nico Rosberg could make little progress from P11 on the grid and finished ninth ahead of fellow countryman Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber.

Daniel Ricciardo faded from sixth in qualifying to P12, between the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil.

Williams appeared to have a shot at points for a while, before pit-stop delays hampered both its drivers.

So a fantastic race by Sebastian Vettel. Resisted the heavy pressure despite a KERS issue in the Red Bull. Makes up for that disappointing result in Silverstone a week ago.

German Grand Prix race results, after 60 laps:

1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault 1:41:14.711
2.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault +1.008
3.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault +5.830
4.  Alonso         Ferrari +7.721
5.  Hamilton       Mercedes +26.927
6.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes +27.996
7.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault +37.562
8.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes +38.306
9.  Rosberg        Mercedes +46.821
10.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari +49.892
11.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes +53.771
12.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari +56.975
13.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes +57.738
14.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari +1:00.160
15.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault +1:01.929
16.  Bottas         Williams-Renault +1 lap
17.  Pic            Caterham-Renault +1 lap
18.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault +1 lap
19.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap

Not classified/retirements:

Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari 22 laps
Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth 21 laps
Massa          Ferrari 3 laps

World Championship standings, round 9:                

Drivers:             
1.  Vettel        157
2.  Alonso        123
3.  Raikkonen     118
4.  Hamilton       97
5.  Webber         93
6.  Rosberg        84
7.  Massa          57
8.  Grosjean       41
9.  Di Resta       36
10.  Button         33
11.  Sutil          23
12.  Perez          16
13.  Vergne         13
14.  Ricciardo      11
15.  Hulkenberg      7

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          250
2.  Mercedes                  181
3.  Ferrari                   180
4.  Lotus-Renault             159
5.  Force India-Mercedes       59
6.  McLaren-Mercedes           49
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         24
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              7

Next race: Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring. July 26-28.

The Evil Dead (2013)

invisiblekid 2 Comments

EvilDead2013Poster

Let me start by saying horror films are hard to make nowadays. Kids are not scared by the same things as they were years ago. But yet, so many modern horror films do the same things as found back in the 1970s and 80s.

The choice of going alone in the forest, going downstairs to investigate a noise. All done back then and for the last few years, joked about by today’s modern teenager.

So in recent years, that meaning and scare tactics has waned. So now we have just a competition as to how graphic we can be before the censors jump in and things that make you jump as the tactics to scare you.

This is not horror. Making you jump is not horror. Making you jump is not the same as making you scared to look out of your window or walk down a path in the dark.

Nah, now it’s all about how much blood can we produce and how we can make CGI look real and how much torture we can get away with.

That’s why I’ve not watched or cared about a horror film for years. On hearing the news the The Evil Dead was going to be remade had me crying into my hands and a continued hatred for modern horror.

But also hearing about the involvement of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell (the original creators of The Evil Dead) certainly made me think again. Seeing the trailer also brought me forward into thinking, this could be rather good. I was excited about a horror films for this first time in years. The words of the pair saying have faith rang in my head. They made me have faith.

Oh and by the way. This IS a remake. Most on the set have said this isn’t so. This is a new version that should be thought of as it’s own and want it to stand on it’s own two legs. Huh, well the very fact that it copies 99% of the original shows that this is so a remake and they are all liars.

I then saw the red band trailer. Oh the pain. Oh the anger, oh the lies…

This appeared to be nothing more than Evil Dead meets Saw. Gone was the true scares only to be replaced by blood and one frame cuts hoping to make you jump. This had me running for the hills. In one fell swoop had me doubting everything I was told, and in no way had me wanting to race to the cinema to see this.

So here we are with the Blu-ray release. Being such a huge fan of the original, almost a bigger fan of the sequel and liking the third instalment, no matter the reviews, I would sit down and watch this alone, in the dark, on the floor – the snoring black Labrador was taking my place on the leather sofa.

I was hoping to be proved wrong and that this was finally a remaking work remaking. To improve on the original and restore my faith in the horror genre. It didn’t.

The premise of how they get to the cabin is rubbish. To be fair, I don’t know how you could get a bunch of teenagers into a cabin in the woods without it being shit, but this was weak.

A girl hooked on cocaine was going to go cold turkey with the help of her friends, and so this cabin seemed the only only place to do it. I guess Betty Ford was too expensive.

So the group roll up and make themselves comfortable in the cabin. But there is a smell coming from the basement. They investigate and find a load of dead animals and a book wrapped in plastic and barbed wire.

Of course this is an open invitation for it to be opened and the famous words of resurrection of the dead are recited. This I am not bothered about as how else would you raise the dead? By reading a Mr Men book?!

We soon get to the smack addict being left alone outside in the pouring rain who is “taken” by the woods. In the original, the first victim is also attacked by the woods and is bound, tied by it’s branches.

What follows I’m sure you can guess if you don’t know already the infamous scene. A scene that lead to it being cut for the UK video release (as well as other cuts). Later, the original director said he was not a fan and that he wished he cut it out completely. But in true fashion,  the remake tried to improve it and in true fashion failed… Hugely.

I was surprised it was not more graphic, in fact I’d say less so than the original despite the censors allowing much more realistic and explicit footage to be shown nowadays. It has ZERO scares and just reminded you of how much better it was done 32 years ago!

To cut a long story short, the whole film carried on in this manner. To be fair to the film, it was impossible to remake it and for it not to be compared to the sublime original.

There were takes of the 1981 film that took you back, but within seconds we are back to blood and gore and despite the involvement of Sam and Bruce, simply no idea how to make a horror film. At least a good one in the 21st century.

The 1981 version had some great funny moments that this version was sorely lacking. The original didn’t take itself seriously and yet this version has nothing but. It was “Hey look at me, I’m trying be be a great horror film, please come and watch me” all the way through. It tried to be scary, but it just wasn’t. At all and that’s it’s big problem.

I was so bored I found myself drinking yet more Polish 96% Vodka just to get through the film!

The acting was awful and had me wanting everyone in it to be killed ASAP.

The good stuff just reminded you of why you’re not watching the original where it was done better.

It reminds of the remake of Psycho which literally copied the entire film shot for shot but was somehow turned it to utter crap. The ONLY redeeming thing is the fact that with this Evil Dead, God bless ’em, there is very little CGI and what CGI there is, is done very well.

This was a terrible idea and at no point did anyone involved stopped to think the same thing. I urge you, to never go anywhere near this steaming pile of excrement (tho massively better than Eden Lake) and just go out and buy the original Blu-ray and watch how it’s done.

Not scary, not funny, not funny scary, so what was the point?

Further reading on The Evil Dead:

Mark Kermode’s thoughts
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Hamilton denies Vettel to take Nürburgring pole

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Lewis Hamilton German Grand Prix qualifying 2013

Lewis Hamilton achieved his 29th career pole position in Formula 1 by beating championship leader Sebastian Vettel in an exciting qualifying battle at the Nürburgring.

As for his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who had been the main Silver Arrows driver to start from pole position, the British Grand Prix winner did not even make into Q3 following a strategically error by the team.

In a close contest at the end of the top ten shootout, Hamilton produced a lap time of one minute, 29.398 seconds to beat Vettel’s Red Bull to pole by 0.103 seconds.

Hamilton had held the provisional top spot with a time of one minute, 29.540 seconds after the first qualifying and yet the triple champion was able to lap 0.039 seconds quicker before the 2008 world champion responded with an ever-fastest lap.

It was a shocked to see Nico Rosberg knocked out in Q2 to what appears to be a simple miscalculation by Mercedes. The team believed his early run was sufficient enough for second when it was set.

And yet in the final moments of Q2, his rivals were able to record quicker lap times. Jenson Button, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg were the players that squeezed into the top ten, while Rosberg was pushed out.

The Monaco and British Grands Prix winner will start his ‘home’ race in eleventh position.

Mark Webber qualified his Red Bull in third, ahead of the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

As for Daniel Ricciardo, the Toro Rosso driver continued his impressive qualifying form with sixth. Team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne was only P16.

Ferrari opted out of the pole fight with Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso running the medium set of tyres in Q3 rather than the quicker softs. The Scuderia will line up on row four.

Both Button and Hulkenberg elated the same tactic by not setting a lap time in Q3. The McLaren driver will start in ninth ahead of his Sauber rival.

Neither Force India reached Q2, with Paul di Resta in P12 and Adrian Sutil a very disappointing P15 at his home race.

Sergio Perez looked in danger of getting knocked out in Q1 at one point, so his eventual P13 was not as bad as it might have been. The Mexican will share row seven with compatriot Esteban Gutierrez.

As for Williams, to have both drivers lining up on row nine is not the ideal result to celebrate their 600th Grand Prix. Williams joined Caterham and Marussia in the bottom six qualifiers.

So a great result for Lewis Hamilton but without that mistake from Mercedes, Nico Rosberg should have been on the front row alongside his team-mate. It’s going to be a fascinating race to see if the Silverstone winner can come through the field to win in front of the German fans.

Qualifying times from the Nürbrugring:

1.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes             1m29.398s
2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault     1m29.501s
3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault     1m29.608s
4.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault        1m29.892s
5.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault        1m29.959s
6.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m30.528s
7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari              1m31.126s
8.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari              1m31.209s
9.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes     No time set
10.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari       No time set
11.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m30.326s
12.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m30.697s
13.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m30.933s
14.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m31.010s
15.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m31.010s
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m31.104s
17.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m31.693s
18.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m31.707s
19.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m32.937s
20.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m33.063s
21.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m33.734s
22.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m34.098s

107 per cent time: 1m36.885s