As well as gleefully blending horror with humor, almost every Sam Raimi movie from The Evil Dead to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness features one classic car, the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, as an Easter egg. The car was bought by Sam Raimi’s father, Leonard, brand new in 1973 and was driven by Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) in the director’s debut feature, The Evil Dead in 1981. As Raimi’s following grew, and his filmmaking got larger in scale, the Delta became a totem for the director, who has included it in the majority of his movies in some form or other.
Even big studio pictures like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy contained this throwback to Raimi’s days as a self-funded, independent horror movie director. The Oldsmobile has become an emblem of how Raimi got his big break, and demonstrates how the director continues to stay true to his roots. Here’s every Sam Raimi movie in which the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 appears, and where to spot it.
13 The Evil Dead (1981)
The most obvious of all the Oldsmobile appearances is in Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead. It’s the Oldsmobile that Ash Williams drives to rural Tennessee with his four college friends on their fateful trip to the cabin in the woods where they unwittingly unleashed the Deadites. Ash’s beloved car would later become a fixture of the Evil Dead franchise, and even became possessed by evil spirits in Ash vs Evil Dead season 2, episode 3, “Last Call”.
12 Crimewave (1985)
Co-written with the Coen Brothers and directed by Sam Raimi, Crimewave sadly didn’t live up to its full potential due to studio interference. Despite the troubled production, Raimi still managed to include the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 in the movie’s climactic, chaotic car chase. Bruce Campbell, who Raimi had intended to lead the film, served as an assistant director on Crimewave and intended to use the Oldsmobile as a stunt car, but Raimi stepped in at the last minute to restore his beloved vehicle.
11 Evil Dead II (1987)
In essence, Evil Dead 2 was a remake of the original, so once again Ash Williams opens the movie by driving his 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 out to a remote cabin. After surviving Bruce Campbell’s assassination attempt on the set of Crimewave, the Delta’s trademark status was assured by its inclusion in Evil Dead 2, which proved to be a turning point for both Raimi and the franchise. The sequel pushed the envelope further in terms of gross-out horror, black humor, and the comic book sensibility that would define many of Raimi’s best works.
10 Darkman (1990)
Inspired by Walter B. Gibson’s The Shadow stories from the 1930s, Darkman is essentially the first of Sam Raimi’s superhero movies. The Shadow was a costumed vigilante, who was hugely influential on Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s Batman. As he couldn’t secure the rights for the Shadow, Raimi created his own costumed vigilante, Darkman (Liam Neeson), who was a brilliant scientist who sought vengeance on the criminals that had attempted to kill him. In one scene, Darkman dangles out of a helicopter above a passing 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that, if Bruce Campbell is to be believed, is being driven by Joel and Ethan Coen.
9 Army Of Darkness (1992)
When Ash Williams was transported back to the Middle Ages in Army of Darkness, his trusty 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 came with him. The movie opened with Ash being dragged through a portal created by The Evil Dead‘s Necronomicon. In order to defeat the Deadites and return to the present day, Ash converted the Oldsmobile into a Mad Max-style “Deathcoaster”, tooling it up with a spinning blade, plow, and adorned with wooden spikes on each side. It’s unclear if the Oldsmobile or “Deathcoaster” returned to the present with Ash, but he’s still driving one by the time of Ash vs Evil Dead decades later.
8 A Simple Plan (1998)
It’s believed that Sam Raimi managed to smuggle a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 into his 1995 western, The Quick and the Dead, but nobody has been able to identify which covered wagon it’s hidden by. The car does definitively feature in Sam Raimi’s favorite movie, A Simple Plan, albeit briefly. It’s seen parked on the street at the opening of the movie when Bill Paxton’s bookkeeper leaves work for the day before his life is changed forever by the discovery of a crashed plane.
7 The Gift (2000)
Almost immediate prior to commencing work on the Spider-Man trilogy, Sam Raimi directed The Gift, co-written by A Simple Plan star Billy Bob Thornton. In the movie, a fortune-teller, Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) is asked to use her gifts to locate a missing woman. Unsurprisingly for a Sam Raimi movie, Annie’s car is the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, which she drives around town over the course of her investigations.
6 Spider-Man (2002)
Since its first appearance in The Evil Dead, the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 has often signified death for characters in Sam Raimi movies. Nowhere is this better exemplified by the death of Uncle Ben in Tobey Maguire’s first Spider-Man movie. Uncle Ben’s death is a defining moment in Peter Parker’s origins as Spider-Man, so it made sense for the Delta 88 to be the tragic car in which Ben is killed by a panicked and opportunistic thief.
5 Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Uncle Ben’s 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 is parked in the driveway of the Parker family home in Spider-Man 2. It seems odd for the Parkers to keep the doomed vehicle around after Uncle Ben’s death, but then again Ash Williams was fiercely loyal to his car after all they went through together. Having the Delta parked outside Aunt May’s home is also a consistent reminder to Peter Parker that “with great power, comes great responsibility“
4 Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Spider-Man 3 revealed Sandman as Uncle Ben’s killer, and so the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 was once again featured in a newly-shot flashback sequence. The flashback depicted the murder of Uncle Ben in stark black and white, tying into Peter Parker’s lapse into the dark side. Hilariously, Tobey Maguire’s infamous dance scene also owed a debt to Bruce Campbell’s Evil Ash from the Evil Dead movies.
3 Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Sam Raimi made a welcome return to horror with Drag Me to Hell in 2009 and brought along his trusty Oldsmobile. In the movie, Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a loan officer is cursed by a vengeful client called Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver). When Christine visited Mrs. Ganush’s house, a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 can be seen parked in her driveway, proving it’s still the vehicle of choice for those who possess direct lines of contact with demons.
2 Evil Dead (2013)
Sam Raimi didn’t direct the 2013 Evil Dead remake, but that didn’t stop director Fede Álvarez from including a battered Oldsmobile in the forest outside the cabin. The Evil Dead remake contained little of Raimi’s trademark humor, but it made up for it with plenty of gore, and the traditional cameo by the Delta. As a producer with Raimi, Bruce Campbell also made a post-credits appearance as Ash Williams, effectively teasing his return to the beloved character in Ash vs Evil Dead.
1 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022)
When Sam Raimi previously worked for the Walt Disney Corporation on Oz, the Great and Powerful, he was only able to include parts of the Delta in the movie, due to its period setting. Returning to the contemporary world with Doctor Strange 2, Raimi included the Oldsmobile in the nightmarish realm that Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Doctor Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) enter toward the end of the movie. According to Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige, there’s also a monster truck toy version of the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 somewhere in the multiverse too.
It’s unclear what the director’s next directorial project is, but Sam Raimi didn’t direct the upcoming Evil Dead Rise. However, as he’s onboard as producer, it’s likely that the Oldsmobile will make another appearance. It’s clear that, like the Deadites in Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise, the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 will always rise again.
