[Note: This trailer is red-band, so might be NSFW.]

So here it is. Our first look at the Evil Dead remake that many thought was entirely unnecessary and some were even dreading. But now, after a glimpse at this terrifying trailer, we’re eagerly anticipating the time when it can eat our souls. We Deadites crave any return to Sam Raimi’s cabin in the woods, but were hesitant (at best) when it was announced that a remake of the 1981 original was headed into production. Yes, the original’s principals — writer/director Sam Raimi, producer Robert Tapert, and star Bruce Campbell — were involved, and regardless of their consistent reassurances, fans (and I certainly was one of them) feared the film was going to be a quick money grab, and just the latest in a long line of sub-par and forgettable remakes.

The legacy of The Evil Dead is best left for another time. But I do feel it necessary to provide some additional context for you to fully understand why the original film is sacred cinematic ground to us Deadites. Made on an independently financed shoestring budget, the film grew and sustained its popularity because even by today’s standards, the original ED is a relentless cavalcade of horror, gore, mayhem, and carnage (its subsequent and more facetious sequels have also helped to broaden the fan base). The success of the film immediately solidified Raimi’s, Tapert’s, and Campbell’s positions in the pantheon of geek culture.

But this trailer. Oh, this beautiful, blood-soaked trailer. It’s clear that first-time feature film director Fede Alvarez is aware of the balance he needs to strike, because in the preview alone there are certainly enough homages to prove to even the most hard-core Evil Dead fans that this remake is in good hands.

Moments such as …

:09 The Cabin

:14 The basement door

:22 The book of the dead

:26 The Evil’s POV rushing through an empty forest

:28 Raimi’s 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88

1:05 A possessed hand getting lopped off

1:08 The basement demon

1:09 The Evil’s POV chasing someone through the forest

1:10 A madman wielding a chainsaw

1:13  And of course, a prelude to tree rape

It’s also clear that Alvarez has been able to find ways to make this film his own — the tongue being split in half is an inspired moment. Alvarez, who was handpicked by Raimi, has made only a handful of short films up until this point. Maybe Raimi saw a young version of himself in him and had a hunch that something inspired could still come out of a bunch of young and hungry folks running around the forest with a camera nailed down to a 2-by-4, just like him and his cohorts back in the early ’80s. 2013’s version of The Evil Dead is not frakking around. And as a skeptic who’s now a full-on believer, I’d like to say “good on ya” to Raimi, Tapert, Campbell, and Alvarez. I am more than ready to “Come get some.”