The Evil Dead Trilogy 10 Things That Still Hold Up Today

The Evil Dead Trilogy: 10 Things That Still Hold Up Today

All these years later, Sam Raimi’s groundbreaking debut The Evil Dead and its even zanier sequels still hold up as a trio of groovy horror classics.

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Sam Raimi changed the horror genre when he cobbled together a small budget and a cast of unknowns to shoot his debut feature The Evil Dead. The movie’s story of a group of friends traveling to a haunted cabin in the woods has since become a subgenre of its own and Raimi’s lo-fi special effects have inspired a generation of horror filmmakers.

The two sequels that followed took a radical turn: Evil Dead II is essentially a comedic remake of the original, while Army of Darkness is a time-traveling adventure set in the Middle Ages. The Evil Dead trilogy is certainly unconventional, but all three movies still hold up today.

10 The Old-Fashioned Low-Budget Gore Effects Are More Effective Than CGI Blood

Since Raimi didn’t have a ton of money to make The Evil Dead, he had to get creative in coming up with the fake blood and the gory special effects. The old-fashioned techniques that Raimi used to create terror on a low budget created timeless visuals.

Whereas the CGI blood found in a lot of modern horror films has little impact on audiences, the makeup effects in The Evil Dead movies are still effective today.

9 The Original Movie Is Relentlessly Terrifying From Start To Finish

The opening narrative setup in The Evil Dead is masterfully simplistic. Some friends drive out to a cabin in the woods, stumble across the Necronomicon, and unwittingly unleash the cabin’s hidden demons. One by one, the group is possessed by demonic forces.

Raimi wastes no time getting to the scares. As soon as the demons have been released, The Evil Dead becomes an exercise in nonstop terror. For a full unbroken hour, Raimi doesn’t let up as he puts his characters – and the audience – through the wringer.

8 The Movies Are Filled With Sam Raimi’s Signature Dark Humor

From Drag Me to Hell to the Spider-Man trilogy, Raimi’s signature pitch-black humor is prevalent in all his movies. It’s particularly prominent in The Evil Dead series, which practically crossed over into all-out comedy after the terrifying original.

The dark comic sensibility with which Raimi portrays a series of demonic possessions elevates The Evil Dead above standard horror fare and gives it some satirical bite.

7 Bruce Campbell Makes A Lovable Hero Out Of Ash Williams

According to IGN, Raimi’s friendship with Bruce Campbell goes back to their high school days. Raimi would shoot Super 8 movies and Campbell would star in them. When Raimi eventually made a “real” movie with a shoestring budget of $375,000, he cast Campbell in the lead role of Ash Williams.

Thanks to Campbell’s easy charms and his “groovy” catchphrase, Ash has since become one of the most lovable and iconic heroes in the history of horror cinema.

6 The Violence Is Still Shocking By Today’s Standards

Horror cinema keeps getting more and more violent. Every time a groundbreaking movie like The Exorcist sets a new benchmark, the audience becomes slightly more desensitized and horror filmmakers have to step up their game. But the violence in The Evil Dead franchise is still shocking, even by today’s standards.

The grisly set pieces in The Evil Dead trilogy, from an attack by a tree in the first movie to the chainsaw slashing of a severed head in the second one, still pack a punch.

5 The Slapstick Humor Of Evil Dead II Is Delightfully Subversive

Horror sequels, like any sequels, can often disappoint audiences if they’re a re-tread of the original that doesn’t explore any new narrative territory. With Evil Dead II, Raimi managed the impossible. The sequel is a re-tread of its predecessor in the most literal sense, but it’s also a completely different movie.

Much like Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo sequel Sanjuro, Evil Dead II is essentially a comedic remake of the first one. This was a massively subversive change of pace, and the slapstick tone went on to define what makes the franchise unique.

4 Raimi’s Camera Movements Give The Trilogy A Kinetic Energy

One of the most notable things about The Evil Dead trilogy is the way Raimi moves the camera to create chills. There are a lot of swooping handheld shots from the point-of-view of the demonic spirits flying around the cabin.

Raimi’s peppy, animated camerawork gave the trilogy a sense of kinetic energy that made it stand out in the horror film crowd.

3 Ash’s Boomstick And Chainsaw Arm Are Iconic

Signature weapons are an essential part of any iconic horror character. Michael Myers has his kitchen knife, Leatherface has his chainsaw (and sledgehammer), and Freddy Krueger has his knife-fingered glove.

In The Evil Dead trilogy, Ash has not one, but two iconic weapons of choice. He wields a shotgun that he calls his “boomstick” and in Evil Dead II, he replaces his severed arm with a chainsaw.

2 The Deadite Makeup Is Still Just As Creepy

The supernatural forces that terrorize the protagonists of The Evil Dead franchise, pitched somewhere between soul-sucking demons and flesh-eating zombies, are known as “Deadites.”

Thanks to the masterfully crafted makeup, prosthetics, and stop-motion animation created by artist Tom Sullivan, the aesthetic of the Deadites still gives audiences the creeps.

1 Army Of Darkness’ Middle Ages Setting Is A Refreshing Change Of Pace

After shaking up the Evil Dead formula with the comedic tone of the second movie, Raimi took an even more radical turn with the third movie. Evil Dead II’s final time-travel twist set up Army of Darkness to tell an Evil Dead story in medieval times.

Going back to the Middle Ages ensured the threequel was drastically different than its predecessors, like Back to the Future Part III being a western.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/evil-dead-trilogy-aged-well/

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