''Evil Dead'' is an American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

franchise created by

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the '' Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1990 superhero film ''Darkman' ...

consisting of four feature films and a television series. The series revolves around the ''Necronomicon Ex-Mortis'', an ancient Sumerian text that wreaks havoc upon a group of cabin inhabitants in a wooded area in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. The protagonist, Ashley Joanna "Ash" Williams (

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film '' Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low- ...

), is the only character to appear in every installment of the original trilogy, with the notable exception of his main love interest, Linda, who appears in '' Evil Dead II'' and '' Army of Darkness'' during only the prologues. The original trilogy includes '' The Evil Dead'' (1981), '' Evil Dead II'' (1987), and '' Army of Darkness'' (1992), all written and directed by Raimi, produced by Robert G. Tapert, and starring Campbell. The franchise has since expanded into other formats, including video games, comic books, a

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

, and a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

. The franchise was resurrected in 2013 with '' Evil Dead'', both a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is phys ...

and a loose continuation of the series directed by

Fede Álvarez Federico Álvarez (born February 9, 1978) is a Uruguayan filmmaker. He is known for directing '' Evil Dead'' (2013) and '' Don't Breathe'' (2016), as well as his short film '' Ataque de Pánico!'' (2009). Life and career Álvarez was born in Mo ...

, who cowrote the screenplay with

Rodo Sayagues Rodo Sayagues is an Uruguayan filmmaker, lyricist, and actor best known for his work as writer on the Fede Álvarez-directed films '' Evil Dead'' (2013) and '' Don't Breathe'' (2016), and for directing ''Don't Breathe 2'' (2021). Career Aft ...

. It was produced by Raimi, Campbell, and Tapert, featuring new protagonist Mia Allen ( Jane Levy), alongside her brother David Allen ( Shiloh Fernandez), set sometime after ''Army of Darkness'' and ''Ash vs Evil Dead''. A TV series called '' Ash vs Evil Dead'' premiered on cable network

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consis ...

in 2015, lasted for three seasons, and ended in 2018, with Campbell announcing an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

revival to be in active development in July 2022. It starred Bruce Campbell as Ash and was executive produced by Campbell, Sam Raimi, and Rob Tapert. A new film in the franchise, titled '' Evil Dead Rise'', is set to be theatrically released on April 21, 2023, with Lee Cronin serving as writer and director, Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan starring, and Tapert, Campbell, and Raimi serving as producers.

Films

''The Evil Dead'' (1981)

Filmed in 1979 and released in 1981, this is the first film in the series. It introduces the series'

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

Ash, the Book of the Dead, and the Deadites.

''Evil Dead II'' (1987)

Released in 1987, this film is a sequel to the original, continuing where the last film ended (a recap of the previous film is shown in the beginning). This entry shows the horrors of Ash's continuing battle with the ''Necronomicon Ex-Mortis'' and the Deadites. It also introduces elements of slapstick humor that came to define the series.

''Army of Darkness'' (1992)

Filmed in 1991 and released in spring of 1993 in the United States, this is the third film in the franchise (and the last featuring Ash Williams taking a lead role so far), taking Ash back in time to England in 1300 AD. The movie has horror attributes, but is based mainly on slapstick and action.

''Evil Dead'' (2013)

''Evil Dead'' is the title of a film that serves as a soft reboot and a continuation of the ''Evil Dead'' franchise. Unlike the first three films, this one does not feature the character of Ash Williams in a major role (Ash only appears briefly in a

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or vide ...

) and instead follows a new protagonist named Mia Allen. The film is considered a continuation of the franchise, and plans to feature both Ash and Mia in future installments have been discussed.

''Evil Dead Rise'' (2023)

At the premiere event for ''Evil Dead'' (2013), Álvarez announced that a sequel is in development, though he did not intend to be involved with the project. At the 2013

WonderCon WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and film convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area (1987–2011), then—under the name WonderCon Anaheim—in Anaheim, California (2012–2015, 2017–present), and WonderCon Los Ange ...

, Campbell stated that plans at that time for future films in the franchise concurrently included both a sequel to Álvarez's film and a direct sequel to the original trilogy of films, with a planned crossover film including Ash and Mia to be developed thereafter. In October of the same year, Álvarez later suggested that he was involved with the follow-up to his movie. In March 2017, Raimi announced that he was writing another ''Evil Dead'' film with his brother, titled ''Army of Darkness 2''. In October 2018, Campbell was slated to reprise his role as Ash, while Raimi later signed onto the project to additionally serve as director. In September 2017 at the

Fan Expo Canada Fan Expo Canada is an annual speculative fiction fan convention held in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded as the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in 1995Ash vs. Evil Dead'' on

as an example. By November of the same year, Campbell expressed additional doubts in a sequel to the original trilogy materializing. In July 2019, Sam Raimi discussed the future of the ''Evil Dead'' franchise stating that he was working on "ideas", while expressing hopes that Bruce Campbell would return for a continuation; while acknowledging continued potential for a sequel to the 2013 film, stating that news would follow within the next six months. By October of the same year Raimi announced at the

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a ...

, that a new film is officially green-lit and in development, stating that Bruce Campbell will serve as a producer instead of starring in the movie. In June 2020, Lee Cronin was chosen as a director with a script he wrote. Raimi chose the filmmaker from a list of potential directors, to continue the franchise. Officially titled ''Evil Dead Rise'', the project was announced to be developed by

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...

and released on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netwo ...

. Principal photography commenced on June 6, 2021, in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. In May 2021, Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan had been cast in the film, followed by Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, and Nell Fisher in June and Mia Challis in July. Cronin stated the production was half-way completed by July 2021, while filming concluded on October 27, 2021. The filmmaker stated that the project used over 6,500 liters of fake blood during production. ''Evil Dead Rise'' is scheduled to be released on April 21, 2023.

Short film

''Within the Woods'' (1978)

A prototype short film, produced by Raimi on a micro-budget was developed to market his concept and acquire funding from producers and studios for a feature-length film. Titled, ''Within the Woods'', the short was a meager success. Despite this, the release proceeded to spawn an entire franchise.

Development

In January 1978,

was a college dropout who had just quit his job as a taxicab driver. Sam Raimi was studying literature at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

with Robert Tapert, who was finishing his economics degree. While putting the finishing touches on '' It's Murder!'', Tapert suggested doing a feature-length film to Raimi. Raimi felt it impossible, stating that they could never acquire the funding. Campbell declared: "I could always move back home." Tapert feared a career in fisheries/

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted f ...

while Raimi was afraid that he would have to go back to work at his dad's home furnishing store. These were the practical reasons that convinced the three to put forth a feature-length film. The three were big fans of the comedy genre, but they decided not to produce a comedy as they felt "a feature-length yuck fest just didn't compute". A well-noted scene from ''It's Murder'' moved Raimi to write the short film ''

Clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight. A clockwork mec ...

''. The three felt the result was very effective and represented a new direction that their films could take, that of a semi-successful horror film. This would later lead to research of low-budget horror films at the local

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollersk ...

theater. The many films that they watched were the "two films for two dollars," allowing them the chance to document the behavior of what would become their target audience. Campbell said, "The message was very clear: Keep the pace fast and furious, and once the horror starts, never let up. 'The gorier the merrier' became our prime directive." Films they watched included ''

Massacre at Central High ''Massacre at Central High'' (released as ''Blackboard Massacre'' in the UK) is a 1976 American horror thriller film directed by Rene Daalder and starring Derrel Maury, Kimberly Beck, Robert Carradine, and Andrew Stevens. The plot follows a se ...

'' and ''Revenge of the Cheerleaders''. The idea to do a "prototype" was commissioned, to prove not only to themselves, but also to potential investors, that they were capable of doing a full-length horror film. The same year, at Michigan State, Raimi had been studying H. P. Lovecraft and was most impressed with '' Necronomicon'', or simply ''The Book of the Dead''. From these rough concepts, he concocted a short story where a group of four friends unwittingly dig up an Indian burial ground and unleash horrific spirits and demons. In the spring of 1978, filming of '' Within the Woods'' started over a three-day weekend, on a budget of $1,600. ''Within the Woods'', as well as serving as a prototype, had impressed the filmmakers. For a marketing strategy, a screening was arranged at their former high school, with a positive response.

Financing

Filming was first commissioned for the summer of 1979 in Michigan. In order to organize the budget,

, Robert Tapert and

bought a few "how to make an independent film" guide publications. The budget was originally centered on $150,000 while shooting with a

Super 8 Super 8 or Super Eight may refer to: Film * Super 8 film, a motion picture film format released in 1965 * Super 8 film camera, a motion picture camera used to film Super 8mm motion picture format * ''Super 8'' (2011 film), a science-fiction fi ...

camera. However, due to technical difficulties, it was decided to move it up to

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

format, as they wanted to film the project in the style of the many low-budget films at the time that had come out in the 1970s. Since they had little experience in the film industry, the three felt they should buy business suits and briefcases as a means to convince investors that they "had all the answers." A man named Andy Grainger, who was a friend of Tapert and owner of a series of movie theaters, was the first primary investor. He stated, "Fellas, no matter what, just keep the blood running." As a tribute to him, there's a scene in the finished film where an old film projector whirs to life and "projects" blood running down the screen.Campbell, pp. 77–9 Most importantly, Grainger provided the name of a distributor in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

whom they could approach for possible distribution. The company was Levitt-Pickman Films, who most recently was famous for '' Groove Tube'', starring a very young

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

. The filmmakers took a train at $40 each, as they knew none of their cars could make an entire round trip road trip. One of Campbell's old girlfriends named Andrea allowed them to stay at her apartment. Andrea's cat fell asleep on Raimi's face without even disturbing him, and Raimi, who is allergic to cats, had his eyes swollen shut.

Television

''Ash vs Evil Dead'' (2015-2018)

The series stars

reprising his role as an older Ash Williams with a supporting cast that includes Dana DeLorenzo,

Ray Santiago Raymond "Ray" Santiago (born June 15, 1984 in South Bronx, New York) is an American actor of Puerto Rican descent. Early life Santiago graduated in 2002 from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for the Arts in New York City. Career Raymond Sa ...

, Lucy Lawless, and

Jill Marie Jones Jill Marie Jones (born January 4, 1975) is an American actress and former professional dancer and cheerleader. Jones is best known for her role as Antoinette "Toni" Childs-Garrett on the UPN comedy series, '' Girlfriends'' (2000–2006). Jo ...

. The series is executive produced by Campbell,

, and Rob Tapert. It premiered on

on October 31, 2015. ''Ash vs Evil Dead'' proved to be a critically well-received television show, earning a 98% from Rotten Tomatoes. Four days before its premiere, the show was picked up for a second 10-episode season. The series lasted for three seasons (30 episodes) before it was canceled by Starz in April 2018. Following the series' cancellation, Bruce Campbell announced he was officially retired from portraying the character of Ash, although he would continue to voice the character in animation. Subsequently, on July 25, 2022, Campbell announced that an

revival of ''Ash vs Evil Dead'' was in active development, with Campbell returning as the voice of Ash.

Main cast and characters

* This table only shows characters that have appeared in three or more films in the series. * A dark gray cell indicates that the character was not in the film or that the character's presence in the film has yet to be announced. * An indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills. * A indicates a cameo role. * An indicates the actor was part of the main cast for the season. * An indicates a role shared with another actor. * A indicates an uncredited role. * A indicates a voice-only role.

Additional crew and production details

Reception

Box office performance

Critical and public response

Other media

Video games

There have been multiple ''Evil Dead''

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

s: * '' The Evil Dead'' (1984) for Commodore 64 and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

* '' Evil Dead: Hail to the King'' (2000) for

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

, and PC * '' Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick'' (2003) for PlayStation 2 and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...

* ''Evil Dead Pinball'' (2003) for mobile * '' Evil Dead: Regeneration'' (2005) for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC * '' Army of Darkness: Defense'' (2011) for iOS and

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

* ''Evil Dead: The Game'' (2011) for iOS * ''Evil Dead: Endless Nightmare'' (2016) for iOS and Android * ''Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare'' (2018) for Oculus Go * '' Evil Dead: The Game'' (2022) for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and 5,

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020 ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

, and PC Ash Williams also appears as a playable character, along with Kelly and Pablo from the ''Ash vs. Evil Dead'' TV series, in ''Deploy and Destroy'', a competitive multiplayer FPS available for iOS and Android, and also as a non-playable character in

Telltale Games Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...

' game '' Poker Night 2''. He also appears as a playable character in the asymmetrical horror game '' Dead by Daylight''.

Comic books

Dark Horse Comics

In 1992,

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

produced a mini-series adaptation of ''Army of Darkness'' adapted and illustrated by John Bolton. A

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

of this series was released by

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of ''The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptations ...

on September 25, 2006. In 2008, Dark Horse revisited the franchise with a four issue adaptation of ''The Evil Dead'' written by

Mark Verheiden Mark Verheiden (born March 26, 1956) is an American television, movie, and comic-book writer. He was a co-executive producer for the television series '' Falling Skies'' for DreamWorks Television and the TNT network. Career Comics and comic-r ...

and once again illustrated by John Bolton.

Dynamite Entertainment

In 2004,

acquired the license to publish titles based on ''Army of Darkness'' and, in conjunction with

Devil's Due Publishing Devil's Due Publishing (often abbreviated as DDP) is an independent comic book publisher in the United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois, DDP is best known for its wide selection of genres, including licensed and original creator-owned proper ...

, released the '' Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes'' mini-series. A second mini-series, '' Army of Darkness: Shop till You Drop Dead'' followed in 2005. Later that year, Dynamite separated itself from Devil's Due and began focusing entirely on self-published titles featuring the ''Army of Darkness'' franchise. This included an ongoing series that began in 2005 and saw Ash battling other horror icon such as

Herbert West Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herber ...

and

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

. The series lasted thirteen issues before being rebooted with a second volume in 2007. The second series lasted twenty-seven issues before coming to an end. Over the years, there have also been several one-shot specials as well as crossovers with a wide variety of characters such as, Marvel Zombies,

Darkman ''Darkman'' is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. Based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s, the film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who is ...

Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spiri ...

Jason Voorhees Jason Voorhees () is a character from the ''Friday the 13th'' series. He first appeared in ''Friday the 13th'' (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-killer Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Mill ...

Xena Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' franchise. Co-created by Tapert and John Schulian, she first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', before going on to ...

, Danger Girl and even

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

. The series was then rebooted in 2013 and started over from the last scene in titular film because Ash misspoke the words S-Mart was sent back in time to the Medieval times where the wiseman has been possessed, Ash fights through many battles with the same characters from the film. At the end of this series Ash proposes to Sheila, in the next series "Ash gets hitched" they get married but Ash gets sent forward in time when he accidentally speaks a phrase that opens up a vortex. He wants to get back to Sheila but runs into many situations causing delays, he is currently in space fighting the evil.

Space Goat Productions

In 2015, Space Goat Productions acquired the license to publish titles based on ''Evil Dead 2''. The company has released, or was planning on releasing, the following titles: * ''Evil Dead 2: Beyond Dead By Dawn'', a three-issue mini-series which debuted in June 2015 * ''Evil Dead 2: Tales of the Ex-Mortis'', a three-issue anthology which debuted in August 2015. * ''Evil Dead 2: Cradle of the Damned'', a three-issue mini-series which debuted in January 2016 * A series of ''Evil Dead 2: Revenge of ...'' one-shots, which began with Hitler in March 2016 and will be followed by Dracula, the Martians, Jack the Ripper and Krampus * ''Evil Dead 2: Dark Ones Rising'', a three-issue mini-series which will debut in August 2016 *''Evil Dead 2: The official board game'', a board game made about the film. The official board game was funded through Kickstarter in 2018, but Space Goat Productions never produced the game, nor refunded money to the investors. They ceased all communications with customers and investors that year and refused to discuss the game with media.

''Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash''

In the documentary "The Untold Saga of The Evil Dead" Rob Tapert states that

and Warner Bros. Pictures wanted to do ''Ash vs. Freddy vs. Jason'': "We thought about it for one second but we knew we would have totally trashed the franchise in doing that, in that there would be no reason to reunite Bruce and Sam for ''Evil Dead 4'' whatever that would be nor would there be any reason to go back and reinvent the original ''Evil Dead'' with a hot new filmmaker". Two comic book series were produced based on this concept, titled ''

Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash ''Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash'' is a six-issue comic book limited series that was released in November 2007 and ran until March 2008. It was published by Wildstorm (DC Comics) and Dynamite Entertainment. Based on the original ''Freddy vs. Jason 2'' ...

'', and '' Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors''.

Musical

The production team of George Reinblatt, Christopher Bond and Frank Cipolla created an Off Broadway show titled ''Evil Dead: The Musical'', based on the film series. Its New York run was directed by Bond and Hinton Battle, who also choreographed the show. Ryan Ward played the part of Ash. Tying in with the midnight movie plot of a group of friends visiting a wooded cabin and unleashing untold evil, performances did not start until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Previews began October 1 and the show opened November 1 at the

New World Stages New World Stages is a five-theater, Off-Broadway performing arts complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is between 49th and 50th Streets beneath the plaza of the Worldwide Plaza complex at Eighth Avenue. ...

. It was announced on January 31, 2007, that ''Evil Dead: The Musicals New York production at New World Stages would close on February 17, 2007. Toronto producers announced a new Toronto production of the show, also starring Ryan Ward, at the Diesel Playhouse. The new production started its running May 1, 2007, and has been announced to end on September 8, 2007, which won the

Dora Audience Choice Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, Dance in Canada, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, ...

and praised by the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

''. In 2017, the English comedian Rob Kemp created and performed the stage show '' The Elvis Dead'', a retelling of Evil Dead II in the style of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Legacy

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, ''The Evil Dead'' was released under the title ''La Casa'' (''"The House"'') and ''Evil Dead II'' became ''La Casa II''. These were followed by three unrelated movies:

Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unr ...

's ''

La Casa 3 ''Ghosthouse'' ( it, La casa 3–Ghosthouse) is a 1988 Italian horror film written and directed by Umberto Lenzi. It co-starred Lara Wendel and Donald O'Brien. The plot focuses on a deserted house where the visions of a ghostly girl and her haunte ...

'' (a.k.a. ''Ghosthouse'') (1988), Fabrizio Laurenti's ''

La Casa 4 ''Witchery'' ( it, La Casa 4 - Witchcraft) is a 1988 Italian horror film directed by Fabrizio Laurenti and starring David Hasselhoff, Catherine Hickland, Hildegard Knef, Linda Blair, and Annie Ross. Plot Sexually repressed virgin student Leslie ...

'' (a.k.a. ''Witchery'') (1988) and Claudio Fragasso's ''

La Casa 5 ''Beyond Darkness'' ( it, La Casa 5) is an Italian horror film written and directed by Claudio Fragasso. Plot A minister and his family move into a new house, without knowing that it was built over the place where twenty witches were burnt a ...

'' (a.k.a. ''Beyond Darkness'') (1990). This is similar to what has happened in George A. Romero's '' Living Dead'' series starting with ''

Zombi 2 ''Zombi 2'' is a 1979 Italian zombie film directed by Lucio Fulci. It was adapted from an original screenplay by Dardano Sacchetti to serve as a sequel to George A. Romero's '' Dawn of the Dead'' (1978), which was released in Italy with t ...

''. '' House II: The Second Story'' (1987) and '' The Horror Show'' (1989) were retitled ''La Casa 6'' and ''La Casa 7'', respectively, in their Italian releases. ''Evil Dead'' influenced numerous directors, such as

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

and

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and ...

, and inspired films such as ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed ( Nick Frost). T ...

'', '' The Cabin in the Woods'', '' Bubba Ho-Tep'', '' Dead Alive'', '' Dead Snow'', '' Ghosthouse'', and '' Tucker & Dale vs. Evil''. ''The Cabin in the Woods'' features many references to the film and even features Deadites and the possessed trees, although this is considered more a reference than a direct sequel. In 2020, Steve Villenevue premiered the documentary '' Hail to the Deadites'', which focuses on the franchise's fandom and legacy. It features interviews from people involved with the film, such as Bruce Campbell, as well as with fans. The ''Evil Dead'' films and the character of Ash influenced 1990s

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

video games such as '' Doom'', ''

Duke Nukem 3D ''Duke Nukem 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms. It is a sequel to the platform games ''Duke Nukem'' and '' Duke Nukem II'', published by 3D Realms. ''Duke Nukem 3D'' features the adventures of the titular Duke N ...

'', and ''

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in th ...

''.

Duke Nukem ''Duke Nukem'' is a video game series named for its main character, Duke Nukem. Created by the company Apogee Software Ltd. (now 3D Realms) as a series of video games for personal computers, the series expanded to games released for various co ...

quotes so many lines from Ash that Bruce Campbell stated that he was angered by not being paid for them. ''Evil Dead'' was cited as an inspiration for the original '' Doom''. Bruce Campbell directed and starred in a film titled ''

My Name Is Bruce ''My Name Is Bruce'' is a 2007 American comedy horror film directed, co-produced by, and starring B-movie cult actor Bruce Campbell. The film was written by Mark Verheiden. It had a theatrical release in October 2008, followed by DVD and Blu-ray r ...

''. It does not continue the story of ''Army of Darkness'' but is a fictionalized portrayal of Bruce living his everyday life in which he is erroneously believed to be as heroic as the Ash character and is hired to fight an ancient spirit. The film was released to a limited number of theaters on October 26, 2008, and was released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

on February 10, 2009.

Lawsuits

Awards Pictures, a company that attempted to begin a new line of movies in the series in 2004, announced plans in May 2012 to film an ''Evil Dead 4'', one that has nothing to do with the original films. Because of this, Sam Raimi sued Awards Pictures in an attempt to stop them from making said film, due to his own plan to someday film one himself. In August 2012, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer entered a default judgment that "permanently enjoined" Awards Pictures from using the names ''Evil Dead, Evil Dead: Genesis of the Necronomicon, Evil Dead: Genesis of the Necronomicon, Part 2'' or ''Evil Dead: Consequences'' "as or as part of the title of a motion picture, television program, video game, play, book or any other form of entertainment provided or to be provided through any media."

References

External links

The Evil Dead films
at Evil Dead Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Evil Dead Horror film franchises Fantasy film franchises Comedy film franchises Demons in film Action film franchises Films adapted into comics Films adapted into television shows Film series introduced in 1978