I dont really like the first one either. I much prefer the 2nd one as the "real" first movie since its basically a remake of the first one but playin more to their strengths like AoD\Hercules\Xena
Nnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooo D:
I don't understand how this "basically a remake" idea even exists.
Evil Dead II was always intended to be a direct sequel. Originally they wanted to use footage from the first film for the recap but securing all the various overseas rights was too much a hassle at the time so they planned to reshoot a lot of the events. But due to time and budgetary constraints, they stopped pursuing this idea (there exists FX footage of possessed Scotty, who was going to be played by Sam Raimi, I believe) and went for a more streamlined recap with just Ash and his girlfriend going to the cabin.
From the point about five minutes into the movie when The Evil directly attacks Ash like at the end of the first movie, it's completely sequel territory (minus, you know, Ash going back to the broken bridge). There are scenes that are basically recreated in the sequel, true, but some of these are recreated in
Army of Darkness as well. (The "You will never retrieve the Necronomicon!" She-Bitch scene particularly.)
So
II really isn't a remake nor was it ever intended to be. I actually watched all three movies back-to-back recently as one movie, cutting out the mismatched recaps and endings, and it all worked out really well barring a few missing setups to jokes ("Shop smart").
I love all three movies about equally, but I probably prefer them first to last. The first is one of the best pure horror movies ever made, in my opinion.