Why Evil Dead Is Horror’s Greatest Franchise
I saw Evil Dead Burn two weeks ago, but I wanted to collect my thoughts before writing this. First off, it was excellent. But, as you might have guessed from the title, that’s just what I expect from this franchise.
The Evil Dead was released in 1981, launching the careers of Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Rob Tapert and its wonderfully offbeat star, Bruce Campbell. Its following only grew when it became one of the more famous Video Nasties (a series of films deemed criminally offensive in 1980s UK). It was shocking, high energy and relentless in its dread. Its central premise of a group of characters spending a weekend in a cabin in the woods would go on to inspire countless imitators (including the brilliant comedy-horror satire The Cabin in the Woods). All of that, plus it was a prime example of DIY filmmaking. The budget was low, the creativity was at an all time high (I’m still of the opinion that Raimi works his best when you remove his budget).
When I first watched The Evil Dead years ago, I was too young to appreciate its raw, low budget appeal. It was only as I grew older and my love of horror blossomed into the socially awkward thing it is today that I revisited it and saw its real strengths. That said, then and still now I believe Evil Dead II surpassed the original.
Evil Dead II was released in 1987 (a banner year for 80s horror) and, like many of the horror films coming out at that time, it was just a little bit hilarious. Raimi knew that his original film has many moments that are funny in that nervous laughter sort of way, things so demented they have to be laughed at. Why not make a sequel more fully embracing that aspect of the first film? Evil Dead II is less a sequel and more a remake, retelling the story of the first film in the first half hour and leaving Ash (a returning Bruce Campbell) alone to face the horror of the Deadites (oh, Evil Dead’s zombie-adjacent demon beasties are called Deadites, in case you did not know). He’s eventually joined by a second group of monster fodder, and the craziness is once again ratcheted up to 11. High energy, vicious? Yes. With a little bit of Three Stooges-style slapstick humor? Of course. Evil Dead II is the pinnacle of Raimi’s original trilogy.
How to follow it up, then? 1992’s Army of Darkness, in which scares are almost entirely thrown out in exchange for over-the-top action and slapstick humor. A bigger budget comparatively, this one goes medieval via time travel and follows Ash once again battling Deadites (an army of them no less) alongside a bunch of old timey squares. Ash has fully become a cartoon character by this point, spouting cocky one-liners and blasting Deadites with his Boomstick when he’s not chopping them up with his chainsaw hand. Does this all sound ridiculous? You’re absolutely right, this shit is BONKERS. It’s also incredibly fun, the only Evil Dead entry that is not trying to scare you at all. Raimi was getting closer and closer to the more family friendly stuff he’d go on to do (the Spider-Man trilogy, Oz the Great & Powerful, Doctor Strange In the Mouth of Madness), and closed out his trilogy was something a little more broadly entertaining. Nothing at all wrong with that, Sam, and A Simple Plan is still your best work.
Just over 20 years later, the unthinkable happened. An Evil Dead remake was announced. Everyone immediately sighed heavily in disappointment (okay, like 17 people sighed heavily in disappointment). But what we got wasn’t really a remake. Much in the same way Evil Dead II is kind of just The Evil Dead over again, Evil Dead (2013) is just a new take on what makes the Evil Dead movies what they are: Deadites, relentless horror, splattery gore, and a little humor. Of course, Fede Alvarez would drop the humor entirely for his 2013 entry while ramping up the gore and the nonstop horror. Keeping Raimi on as producer, Alvarez gave us the franchise’s most gnarly entry, going back to the cabin in the woods premise but gender swapping the lead role in Mia, played by Jane Levy, as one of horror’s best final girls. It was different, but the soul of Evil Dead was alive (or dead) and well in this one.
Naturally, this would lead to another sequel, though they did wait all the way until 2023, when a new filmmaker took over in Lee Cronin. This time, the action was moved to a rundown apartment complex and the characters for the first time were a family. What follows is my personal favorite in the franchise: Evil Dead Rise. Alyssa Sutherland is the greatest Deadite performance of all, and the mayhem is paired once again with a sick sense of humor that was missing from 2013’s film.
Finally, we come to 2026’s Evil Dead Burn. You’ve stuck with me this far, so I’ll make this quick. It works. I mean it works. We once again have a new director in Sebastien Vanicek (whose film Infested is a must see for horror lovers, a must-avoid for arachnophobic folks) and instead of a cabin in the woods, we get a country home that is falling apart. Once again, the cast of characters is a family being torn apart by the Deadites. There’s some weak bits, including a mysterious dagger that can destroy Deadites but is never really explored and only used once, but the spirit of Evil Dead is resurrected once again. The horror is nonstop, the gore is ridiculous and there’s a mean streak of humor throughout. We also get a pair of amazing performances by the female leads: Souheila Yacoub as Alice, the film’s kickass final girl, and Luciane Buchanan as Thya, who turns Deadite early and completely dominates the film’s second act.
So what makes Evil Dead the best horror franchise. What does it have over Scream, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Hellraiser, Paranormal Activity, Hell House LLC, Final Destination and Leprechaun (lol)? Well, for starters, they’re all fucking good. Not just good, but very good. No other horror franchises has SIX movies that do not miss. And I truly believe the reason they don’t miss is because they just don’t care about continuity.
The first sequel is a retread of the first movie. The next one veers into time travel and medieval battles. Ash’s character shifts massively between the three. Then, Sam Raimi knew his time was up and handed it off to Alvarez in 2013. Wise money might have said the next sequel should follow Mia. Perhaps the Deadites seek revenge, or they fall in love and go on a soul-searching road trip? While that would have made my day, they instead made the right decision: as long as you keep in line with Evil Dead’s core tenets (Deadites, reading from the Book of the Dead, high energy terror, splattery gore and a humorous streak), all are welcome to make a fresh Evil Dead movie. New casts of characters, new settings, new directors come with each film. There’s no eye-winking callbacks (tiny Easter eggs and post credits scenes aside) in which characters from previous films show up for nostalgia (hello, Scream 7, I see you sitting there in your cuck chair). Instead, this franchise could go on forever as long as there are new and exciting filmmakers working in the horror genre, which is increasingly true as mainstream films struggle and horror continues to be the most creative corner of the movie market year after year.
What’s more: there’s a musical! Yes, that’s right: Evil Dead the Musical is a real thing that exists, and I have tickets for next Friday’s show. I might share my thoughts on here after I get cleaned off (my tickets are for the splash zone, so I’ll be getting bloody).
So thank you, Evil Dead. You give me hope. If a franchise spanning 45 hears, 6 movies, a TV series and a stage musical can do it all at a high quality, it should be seen as an example for literally everyone in the movie industry. If these crazy gorehounds can do it, then so can we all.
