There’s little to anchor any of it to earth, but Elizabeth Olsen does a fine job as the emotional core of the film, with a tragic backstory that actually resonates with her villainous motivations.

the tale translates poorly to the big screen, even with the filmmaker working overtime to inject his raucous appetite for horror into what still needs to be a PG-13 crowd-pleaser.

If Marvel directors are often merely first among hired hands... Raimi is allowed a creative signature, delivering a family-friendly take on the chills that first made his name with 1981 cult favourite The Evil Dead.

I did have fun and there was plenty of entertainment to be had. But the characters don’t make sense. The female characters are walking tropes. The camp was dialed up way too high... there are far too many things I wish it had done better.