The best Evil Dead movie isn’t Army of Darkness
By Jennifer Asencio | Published: 2025-11-02 20:14:00 | Source: GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT
Written by Jennifer Asensio | Published
The Evil Dead franchise has evolved a lot since its humble beginnings: from the independent project of three college students from suburban Michigan, it has expanded into five films, a three-season television series, video games, comic books, and even a musical. It spanned five decades and introduced new heroes, different versions of your villain, and countless creative ways to become a Deadite. In all of these media, only one film stands at the top, embodying the style of the rest.
Evil Dead 2: Dead at Dawn It’s the nexus of all things Evil Dead. Thematically, it is a bridge between the first film and the rest of the adventures of its hero, Ash Williams, which consist of Army of Darkness and Ash vs. Evil Dead.
The second film carries the horror atmosphere of the first film, but the Three Stooges’ characters burst with humor Army of Darkness It starts seeping through He died at dawn. The first time Ash utters the famous “Groovy” song, the series moves from pure horror to horror-comedy with a twist. While Fede Alvarez Evil dead (2013) and Rising Evil Dead I tried to stick to the original movie, He died at dawn He gave permission for even the scariest sequences to incorporate humor and break the tension.
It’s sad that Bruce Campbell is too old to put himself through physical hardship to play Ash, because the entire Evil Dead saga revolves around him as the Chosen One who fell from the sky. Evil dead and Rising Evil Dead They’re almost like filler episodes for a series, side adventures that aren’t part of the main plot, because they lack Ash or anyone associated with him.
The vast majority of Evil Dead media revolves around Ash. He’s the star of video games, music, and comics. Campbell could play Ash forever in these formats, and there’s talk of a potential animated series.
As much as the first Evil Dead movie is part of the saga, Ash’s story really begins He died at dawn And discover his fate and his relationship with the Necronomicon. He died at dawn It even covers events evil dead By devoting nearly half the movie to Ash’s struggles with Linda before the story even begins. evil dead It’s more like a prologue than an episode, and the removal of three of its characters, including Ash’s sister, doesn’t affect the story for over thirty years before Cheryl returns again. Ash vs. Evil Dead Season two.
evil dead is an original film showcasing the talent and ingenuity of Sam Raimi and the Renaissance Pictures crew. It caught the attention of Stephen King when it screened at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, prompting the horror king to describe it as “the most ferocious and original horror film of the year.”
Despite its cheap effects, muddy climax, and obvious extras (called The Fake Shemps in honor of the Three Stooges), it’s a genuinely scary film that established Sam Raimi as a master of horror in his own right. It doesn’t have the humor of the rest of the series, but it goes straight for the horror and it works. The more recent films in the franchise owe their roots to the original evil dead.
Unfortunately, the same things are made evil dead Endearing are also the things that rank it below its immediate successor. He died at dawn It was quality and budget so evil dead Lacks, which is a retelling of the first film twice. It repeats and expands on the events of Ash’s first night at the cabin by condensing them to include only Linda, and then begins the entire story again once Annie and her entourage arrive at the cabin. The play includes all the characters from the first film, but is basically anything but He died at dawnunites the two films in a way that makes sense while being sadistically funny through catchy musical numbers.
Army of Darkness He continues the story and borrows a few seconds of footage from it He died at dawn. It was the most popular film in the series for a while, largely because it was the first film to be distributed by a major production company. Universal Pictures handled all the marketing that had previously been the responsibility of Raimi’s limited resources, and got the film into more theaters than its predecessors had enjoyed.
This requires some concessions: all of Ash’s companions except Linda are once again gone, and this time they also deleted the phrase “evil dead” from the title in an attempt to separate them from them. Army of Darkness than other films (although this may have been a blessing, as Raimi wanted the film to be called The dead in the Middle Ages). Despite all its popularity, Army of Darkness It’s not the best Evil Dead movie because it still relies on its backstory He died at dawn.
All of the Evil Dead movies are worth watching, and enjoying one means you’ll likely enjoy the entire series. There’s no wrong order to watch the movies, but it’s worth watching the first three before watching Ash vs the Evil Dead to get a sense of the characters and setting. The films used and helped establish some of today’s best horror movie tropes, and fans can find something to enjoy in each film.
Evil Dead 2: Dead at Dawn He’s the glue that holds them all together, making him objectively the best.
(Tags for translation)Best of
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