By Staff Writer Morganne Guhl
As the fifth movie in the horror franchise Evil Dead arrives in a short time to theaters, we look back at the franchise that keeps rising from the dead.
While never finding the colossal success of more mainstay horror franchises, such as Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, or Friday the 13th, the Evil Dead franchise has been able to endure thanks to its unique tone and style within the horror genre. Created by horror master Sam Raimi, with Bruce Campbell as the primary lead through much of the franchise, the Evil Dead series has continued to find fans for well over 40 years now.
The first Evil Dead, referred to simply as Evil Dead, is the most classic horror movie out of the original trilogy. It follows Bruce’s Campbell Ash Williams as he, his sister, and a group of college friends arrive at a cabin in Tennessee for a fun weekend. Eventually, due to the actions of one friend Scotty, the Naturom Demonto or Book of the Dead is found. The book unleashes evil upon the students with horrifying consequences. The movie had a modest budget of under 400,000 dollars and a rating of NC-17 due to several highly intense sequences. Ultimately though, neither of these things hurt the film, and it was able to make back its budget and more. The most outstanding achievement of the film is the stop-motion sequence that comes at the climax of the film, as Ash battles for his life against the Deadites, the name for those possessed by evil.
The second movie, Evil Dead 2, would introduce two significant elements the franchise would become known for, excellent comedy horror and the series’ love affair with flexible continuity. While most franchises follow fairly strict continuity, Evil Dead has embraced its all-cannon approach regardless of whether certain parts of each movie contradict one other. This flexibility allows the viewer not to be waded down by the necessity of seeing any other of the films but instead enjoy each movie as they are. The second Evil Dead received a more average horror movie rating of R but with more fountains of blood scenes and a wicked sense of humor. The 2nd film is the movie most fans recommend watching first of the franchise.
The last movie in the original trilogy Army of Darkness, can be described as minor horror based on the series. An entirely different company funded the movie compared to the original two movies. Army of Darkness leans fully into camp territory, with a medieval setting, heavy slapstick humor, and a man out of time, with Bruce Campbell as Ash. It’s an enjoyable film, though it feels slightly out of place. It’s a horror movie for people that don’t like horror and home of the often quoted Bruce Campbell’s boomstick line.
The fourth movie, once again titled Evil Dead, was released in 2013. It was set up as a semi-reboot and reimagining of the original film with all new characters yet keeping the original trilogy within the world. The goriest of the movies so far also lacks much of the humor the franchise is known for, returning to the more severe horror tones of the first movie. It’s to the
film’s benefit as the horror comedy would only work well with Bruce Campbell in a significant role.
Finally, Bruce Campbell would return to the lead in 2015 in the tv show Ash vs. Evil Dead. The series would bring back the horror comedy elements, showing Ash’s battle against the Deadites. The tv show would continue plot threads from the first two movies. Unfortunately, it could only briefly reference the Army of Darkness for legal reasons. The show ran for a good three seasons are Starz.
While the fifth movie Evil Dead Rises, won’t have Bruce Campbell again as lead, he and Sam Raimi are executive producers. With mostly positive reviews, Evil Dead fans have another bloody good time to look forward to.