Evil Dead Burn

Remember when the Evil Dead movies were fun? This was in the long, long ago, when Sam Raimi directed the original trilogy with a unique blend of Three Stooges slapstick and geysers of blood instead of pies in the face. Raimi’s movies benefited from their hammy star, Bruce Campbell, whose prominent chin and soap opera good looks were balanced by his goofball swagger and knack for physical humor. The three iterations since Raimi moved on have each been deadly serious, overly focused on nasty gore and a severe tone. None of the later filmmakers seem to understand that a blend of humor and horror is what made Raimi’s movies so memorable. These later reboots and sequels have produced some abrasive experiences, to be sure, but they’re more concerned with viscera than genuine scares or comic farce. Few filmmakers have intuitively understood and successfully replicated Raimi’s tone. One was Peter Jackson, when he made similarly wacky gorefests with Bad Taste (1987) and Dead Alive (1992). Joseph and Vanessa Winter also captured Raimi’s spirit with their hilarious and rewatchable Deadstream (2022). Everyone else has missed the mark.

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