In the realm of “B Horror” movies, one of the greats that come to mind is none other than Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy. This series has attracted a very devout following of fans that have devoured each and every installment, which includes three movies, literary companion books, and several video games.
What is it about these films that have drawn many under its wings and into its folds? H. P. Lovecraft once wrote:
The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from everyday life. Relatively few are free enough from the spell of the daily routine to respond to tappings from outside, and tales of ordinary feelings and events, or of common sentimental distortions of such feelings and events, will always take first place in the taste of the majority; rightly, perhaps, since of course these ordinary matters make up the greater part of human experience. But the sensitive are always with us, and sometimes a curious streak of fancy invades an obscure corner of the very hardest head; so that no amount of rationalization, reform, or Freudian analysis can quite annul the thrill of the chimney-corner whisper or the lonely wood. There is here involved a psychological pattern or tradition as real and as deeply grounded in mental experience as any other pattern or tradition of mankind; coeval with the religious feeling and closely related to many aspects of it, and too much a part of our innermost biological heritage to lose keen potency over a very important, though not numerically great, minority of our species.
(Supernatural Horror in Literature, 1927).
This rang true in his day and continues to hold sway in today’s society. There are those among us that enjoy nothing more than the thrill of the unknown and the indescribable horrors that lurk just outside of the dimensions of reality waiting for us to discover them.
It is particularly true for those who revel in the call of cinema horror. These devoted few can look beyond the poor, cheesy special effects and allow the voice of the movie to reach into their being to a darker side that longs for the existence of evil things greater than themselves. Within their imagination, alongside the promise of unimaginable horror, comes an equal potential of human heroism and heightened experience. The Evil Dead series delivers in this regard better than many others.
That and the movies are absolutely hilarious, albeit in a bizarre and twisted sort of way!
Joseph W. Dickerson,
editor-in-chief
Evil Dead
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Bruce Campbell,
Betsy Baker,
Barbara Carey,
Richard DeManincor,
Philip A. Gillis
Release Date: 1981
Rated NC-17
In this, the first installment of the series, we find Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his gang going to an old cabin in the woods. Once there, it doesn’t take too long before they manage to awaken an ancient evil force that changes an average evening of fun into a truly sinister night.
Our hero, Ash, spends most of this movie as an indecisive, pathetic sort of fellow, who simply can’t have things go his way for anything. Early in the movie, Ash is guilty of giving his girlfriend one of the ugliest pendants ever made—the kind of which would guarantee a long and painful breakup. It isn’t until he is forced to make a stand that he finally takes the role of protagonist.
It’s odd that, considering the rest of the series, this is a true horror movie with little tongue-in-check humor. I personally think Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell really wanted to make this as scary as possible, and to their credit, there are some really gruesome parts: the pencil in the ankle, the possessed people, the woman raped by the forest.
For those who love the thrill of a good quality B-Movie, this one is definitely a keeper.
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Bruce Campbell,
Sarah Berry,
Dan Hicks,
Kassie DePaiva,
Ted Raimi
Release Date: 1987
Rated NC-17
In this installment of the series, we find Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his gang going to an old cabin in the woods. Once there, it doesn’t take too long before they manage to awaken an ancient evil force that changes an average evening of fun…wait a minute, doesn’t this sound a bit familiar?
When you break it down in this way, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn has the exact same premise as the first movie, except that it is only Ash and his girlfriend who go to the cabin. This movie comes across more as a remake of the first than an actual sequel. And with the light-hearted approach taken by Raimi and Campbell this time around, this is the way Evil Dead should have been!
This movie has something for everyone: demon possessions, stupid rednecks, chainsaws, shotguns, the clichéd woman that flees into the evil forest despite the undeniable doom, and Muppets. That’s right, I said Muppets, and I don’t mean this as derogatory—the headless puppet that swings the chainsaw and the severed Muppet head that screams “I’ll swallow your soul!”…classic
All-in-all, there is truly only one word that can describe Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn...
Groovy
Army of Darkness
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Bruce Campbell,
Ian Abercrombie,
Deke Anderson,
Andy Bale,
Billy Bryan
Release Date: 1992
Rated R
“Hail to the king, baby!”
Army of Darkness is the third and last of the motion pictures in the Evil Dead series, and few other movies have as large or as devoted a cult following as this feature. Here we see Ash in all his one-liner glory battling the army of the dead that arise, oddly enough, due to the bravado and audacity of the larger than life Ash.
Campbell plays his definitive role in Army of Darkness, and speaks such classic lines as: “Hey, what’s that one your face?” and “Good, bad, I’m the guy with the gun.”
When faced with the loss of the woman he just met, and the chance of never returning home, Ash decides to fight against this overwhelming force. Apparently, he is a master of robotics; can rival most scientists with chemistry; and has mastered the cheesiest, yet most effective, staff routine ever devised. Again, this sounds like a poor mark here, but let me assure you this movie would not be as great without these things.
Ash is just that damn good, and you better get used to it!
It is actually quite sad that both Raimi and Campbell agree that a fourth movie is not in the future, as none of the Evil Deads really made enough money to entice Hollywood, but such is fate.
Ash, however, will live on in the hearts of his fans, and will endure for many generations as the greatest B-Movie hero of all times!