Original Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell responds to the darker, more violent tone of the recent remakes. Sam Raimi first took horror fans to that cabin in the woods way back in 1981, then later remade his own movie, with a more comedic approach, for 1987’s Evil Dead 2. 1993’s Army of Darkness seemingly wrapped up the franchise, until Fede Álvarez revived it on the big screen with his 2013 Evil Dead remake. 2023 saw the arrival of one more film inspired by Raimi’s original vision: the gory Evil Dead Rise.
Raimi’s original Evil Dead movies became increasingly bizarre and comical as they went on, but the new franchise entries have stuck mostly to pure horror, keeping things dark and violent, and for his part, original Evil Dead star Campbell prefers the Raimi way. Speaking to ComicBook.com, Campbell talked about his preference for fun “splatstick” horror movies that deliver both thrills and laughs. Check out his remarks below:
“I like it a little lighter, I’ll always take the Army of Darkness way to go. My granddaughter, she’s 8, I think could see that movie. It’s talking skeletons, for God’s sake. Evil Dead’s a little grim, I like the filmmaking, Sam’s a really good filmmaker, there’s some great filmmaking sequences in there. A man alone in a cabin, really cool sequences, but I don’t know, I wouldn’t wanna get completely stuck in that world, … With Evil Dead 2, we started to add gags, like slapstick. We wound up calling it ‘splatstick.’ Only because I don’t need people fainting in the theater, I’m an entertainer. I want people to scream [peeking from behind their hands]. Sort of laughing and screaming at the same time.”
The Sam Raimi Approach To Evil Dead Shouldn’t Be Copied
Campbell may prefer the horror-comedy tone achieved by Raimi in the original Evil Dead movies, but he admits that it isn’t realistic to expect remake directors to copy that approach, as he also told ComicBook.com:
“We let the filmmakers decide. Sam puts it on their plate. Fede Álvarez wanted to do a straight version, because the original Evil Dead is sort of melodramatic. [Evil Dead Rise director] Lee Cronin, his background is drama, I don’t think he wanted any winking at the camera. And we don’t ever try to put these guys beyond their comfort zone.”
Evil Dead 2013 and Evil Dead Rise are more brutally violent and dark than the original movies, reflecting the tastes of their directors. Evil Dead Rise does attempt some comedic moments, but the movie is generally more comfortable when it’s gory and twisted, and stumbles whenever it tries to conjure that old slapstick-inspired Raimi energy.
Whether it even makes sense to keep making Evil Dead movies over 40 years after the original is a fair question to ask. But if producers insist on keeping the franchise alive, it makes sense to hand the keys to their directors, and let them interpret the material in their own way. Unless Raimi himself makes another Evil Dead sequel, there will never be another film in the franchise that feels anything like the movies Raimi made. Trying to copy Raimi’s horror-comedy approach would just be a disaster, and it’s better if filmmakers put their own spin on the material. It just happens that Alvarez and Cronin prefer their horror dark and gruesome, unlike Campbell, who wants audiences to have a good laugh while they’re being grossed out.
