Evil Deadfranchise star Bruce Campbell explains why the franchise started to embrace more comedy after the first film. Released in 1981,Evil Deadhails fromdirector Sam Raimiand marks a seminal entry into the horror genre, with Campbell starring as Ash, one of five friends who become tormented by flesh-possessing demons while at a cabin in the woods. Campbell would reprise the role forEvil Dead IIin 1987 andArmy of Darknessin 1992, both of which mixed horror and comedy.
During a recent interview withVariety, Campbell reflected on his time in theEvil Deadfranchise, breaking down why he and Raimi decided to pivot away from the pure horror of the first film. According to the actor, the response to the original unratedEvil Deadwas so strong that they decided to lighten things up for the sequels to avoid being known as “horror guys” for the rest of their careers. Check out Campbell’s explanation or watch the video (relevant section begins at 45 seconds) below:
“We coined the phrase “Splatstick” from Evil Dead 2. It’s horror and comedy, but it’s a tricky dance. We only got into comedy, adding it to horror films, because we were tired of seeing people faint at the first Evil Dead. I mean, there’s some nasty stuff in that. It’s an unrated movie.
And so we thought, ‘Is that us? We’re horror guys for the rest of our lives?’ But we were huge fans of The Three Stooges. So we thought, let’s start putting some of that in there. Stuff gets too serious. Writers get too serious. They get too serious about their own words. “Don’t change my perfect words.” Some of the best lines of dialogue were never written in a screenplay.”
Though the originalEvil Deadremains beloved, the comedic aspects of the later installments have certainly contributed to the franchise’s longevity. The horror/comedy tone ofEvil Dead IIandArmy of Darkness, after all, is truly unique, and something that Raimi and Campbell have both been associated with ever since. As seen in the chart below,Evil Dead IIis also the highest-rated movie in the franchise on Rotten Tomatoes.
86%
88%
69%
63%
Evil Dead Rise
84%
2013’sEvil Deadreboot largely did away with the comedy, and, even though it offers up plenty of gore and a standout ending, it’s notable that this film is the worst-received franchise entry thus far.Evil Dead Rise(2023)brought back a hint of camp and comedy, though to a much lesser degree than the Raimi films, and it was a success both critically and commercially.
Bruce Campbell’s “Cameo” In Evil Dead Rise Explained (Is He Playing Ash?)
Although Ash Williams isn’t killing Deadites in Evil Dead Rise, franchise staple Bruce Campbell returns for a minor cameo in the fifth movie.
Two newEvil Deadfilms are confirmed to be in the worksfrom directors Sébastien Vaniček and Francis Galluppi. While few details are known about the latter director’s film,Vaniček has teasedthat hisEvil Deadspinoff moviewill be “something realistic that hurts you, a mean movie that moves you,” suggesting it will be closer to the pure horror tone of the 2013 movie than the horror-comedy of the Raimi films.
Why The Franchise Might Not Return To Its Horror-Comedy Roots
TheAsh vs. Evil DeadTV show, which ran for three seasons on Starz, is the closest the franchise has come to truly recapturing the tone of the original Raimi movies. While there’s plenty to like about both 2013’sEvil DeadandEvil Dead Rise, both of those films are quite serious overall, at least relatively speaking.
Pushing the franchise forward and allowing new filmmakers to put their own spin on things is a strong way to continue the IP, but hopefully, future installments won’t be afraid to embrace the sillier and more comedic aspects of the franchise once more. This could be a big ask, however, ashorror-comedy is generally harder to market and sell to audiences. It remains to be seen how the future of theEvil Deadfranchise will pan out, but the original three films remain compelling watches to this day.
Source:Variety
Evil Dead
Created by Sam Raimi, Evil Dead is a horror-comedy franchise that began with the release of the original film, The Evil Dead, in 1981. The series follows protagonist Ashley “Ash” Williams as he and his friends venture into a cabin for a vacation only to discover it harbors a demonic book that can summon terrifying creatures known as Deadites, hell-bent on torturing and slaying them all. As the series progresses, Ash becomes more of a masculine B-movie action hero until the soft reboot helmed by Eli Roth occurs, which shifts the franchise deeper into its horror roots.
