by Billy Russell, Staff Writer

Evil Dead (2013)

In dead last is the 2013 remake/reimagining of the original, Evil Dead, directed by Fede Alvarez. Alvarez has some directorial flare, and made the fun Don’t Breathe, but his entry into The Evil Dead never did do it for me. I know I’m in the minority on this, and that people loved it. They called it a return to form for the series, or whatever. 

For me, though? This movie stinks on ice. It’s about as gross as you could imagine, with all the dumbness you can come to expect, but without any of the fun. How can a movie drenched in so much blood be so goddamn boring? 

The movie follows the same basic plot as the original The Evil Dead, where a group of friends venture to a cabin and a cursed book causes them to become possessed by demons. Much mayhem ensues. Evil Dead set about taking the movies to their roots, to being, according to the original’s tagline, “The Ultimate Experience In Grueling Terror.” The problem is, not once is this movie remotely scary. It’s one gross, perfunctory set-up after another until it all sort of unceremoniously ends.

Ash vs Evil Dead (2015-2018)

Ash vs Evil Dead is sort of a mixed bag. It’s more or less a very faithful sequel to the events of the movies, and like the movies, the chronology of events and endings is all over the place due to issues with rights. Evil Dead 2, for example, out of necessity, had to be a remake in the first 15 minutes and then followed by a proper sequel. Army of Darkness decided not to go completely with Evil Dead 2’s ending and go in a different direction. And Ash vs Evil Dead has to pretend Army of Darkness never really happened–that his stint back in time is more in line with the ending of Evil Dead 2.

Confusing enough for ya?

That’s okay, because none of it matters too much. Ash vs Evil Dead wisely doesn’t get hung up on things like continuity. Its first commitment is to being entertaining, and boy is it. It’s very, very entertaining. It’s dumb, it’s gory, it’s funny, and we care about the characters and what happens to them. Even Ash, who they’ve cranked up to an 11 here. Kelly and Pablo make great sidekicks to Ash, and Ruby (Lucy Lawless) is great fun as the recurring villain.

The only reason it doesn’t rank higher is because the movies, all three of them, are unimpeachable classics. And while the show is fun, it doesn’t quite reach those highs, or at it least doesn’t sustain itself when it does. At ten episodes a season, even if they’re half-hour episodes, the story drags a bit and the filler bogs it down.

While not as great as the original trio of movies, it is very much worth seeing.

The Evil Dead (1981) 

I’m surprising myself by not ranking this higher. The Evil Dead is one of the greatest movie experiences I can remember as a young kid. I learned about it from the PBS show “American Masters”, and on this particular episode, they were highlighting the American independent film boom, highlighting filmmakers like Spike Lee, the Coen Brothers and even had a little blurb on The Evil Dead. It was surprising to me to see an 80s horror flick mentioned alongside these great, classic films, so I saw it as soon as I could.

I rented it from Hollywood Video and when I grabbed it, I noticed it was NC-17. Now, my parents were always cool about letting me rent whatever, but I thought NC-17 might be pushing my luck a little bit, so I just hoped my mom wouldn’t look at the box. She totally did, and made a face. The back of the box had a skeleton holding a woman’s severed head, screaming. My mom just shook her head and rented it for my 13-year-old ass and never said anything.

About 30 minutes into the movie, I knew I’d fucked up. I was expecting… I don’t know what I was expecting. Not that. I was disgusted and terrified. I wanted to hide under a blanket and vomit. I was ecstatic. I loved it. I absolutely adored it. After that, I was hooked. I became obsessed with low-budget filmmaking as a whole and loved hearing stories about how filmmakers were able to use pure imagination to paint over any production flaws they weren’t able to afford.

Army of Darkness (1992) 

Coincidentally, Army of Darkness is the second movie in the series I saw. I skipped Evil Dead 2 for the time being and went straight into AoD. The reason was, The Evil Dead scared the holy hell out of me, and the reputation was that part three in the series wasn’t scary at all and was more like a goofy special effects comedy. I also knew that my uncle adored Army of Darkness and sang its praises whenever he could. So, to hell with it, I decided, and rented that one next.

Army of Darkness is an amazing time at the movie. It’s so pure in its desire to entertain. It’s hilarious and action-packed, with special effects galore you couldn’t believe they were able to pull off with such a small budget. Army of Darkness looks like it cost significantly more than it actually did. At $11-12, it looks like it cost double that. The problem is, even at such a modest budget, it barely made any of it back, and the series would more or less end here, until decades later.

For a time, my buddy and I in high school would rent Army of Darkness every time I went over to his house to spend the night. We’d walk to the local video store, pick up some snacks and some sodas, then head back to his place and watch this. And you know what? It never got old, and still hasn’t for me, even today.

I had a dream that Bruce Campbell came over to my house for dinner and I told him I had something to show him. I showed him that I own Army of Darkness on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray and now 4K Ultra HD (the Shout! Factory deluxe edition) and he got creeped out. He asked me why someone would own so many copies of one movie, and then left.

I hope if I ever do meet Bruce Campbell, that it goes a lot like that.

Evil Dead 2 (1987)

Evil Dead 2 is my personal favorite of the original three movies and I think it’s one of the best horror movies of a decade filled with great horror movies. Evil Dead 2 is what happens when everything comes together. It’s this perfect blend of technical skill, imagination, unhinged lunacy and wild ambition. Movies, in general, just don’t get much better than Evil Dead 2 and I think having such an amazing sequel follow up to the original showed that Sam Raimi was no one-trick pony. He was the real deal. 

Evil Dead 2 takes place the very next night in the same cabin in the woods. Ash has to battle the evil elements of the forest alone and slips into insanity. He has to lop off his own possessed hand with a chainsaw. At the film’s finish, in an inspired moment, he decides to turn the chainsaw into his hand. This is good stuff. What a great movie.

I used to own all three movies on tape back in high school and I used to sync them up so that at the end of The Evil Dead, when the unseen evil force slams into Ash, I’d pop in Evil Dead 2 right at the precise moment that we pick up and see the aftermath of the unseen evil force slamming into him. Then, at the very end of Evil Dead 2, I would pop in Army of Darkness just as Ash is falling into the past. All together, it played out as one long movie.