For as cheaply as they were made and as hokey as they look, the Evil Dead movies are still absolute classics since they’re funny, they’re obviously cheesy, and yet people love them since Ash is quite honestly one of the best characters ever created. His lines are about as dumb as they can get sometimes, but the way Bruce Campbell created the character is nothing but awesome since the love for these movies, especially Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, have endured for quite a few years now. Some of the most iconic lines have come from these movies, but the truth is that the original Evil Dead was scary as hell for some folks, but it was still a lot of campy horror that might have made a lot of people laugh. The second movie capitalized on this in a big way by digging even deeper into the comedy well and pulling out a good number of scenes that were absolutely hysterical. The battle with his own hand that Ash had cut off since the evil had seeped into it was great, and the fact that he would have been drowsy and possibly almost near death due to blood loss wasn’t even a factor since it was possible to just enjoy the movie and get into the madness when he started cracking up.
Army of Darkness took it even further since it shoved Ash into the distant past and had him clash with a king and his people and delivered one of the best lines in any horror movie. I had to add this clip since it was just too funny, but if you don’t laugh at this:
then you might need to check your sense of humor since Campbell delivered these lines so perfectly that laughing is the absolute best option. By the third movie, his delivery was on point and the role of Ash was well-rehearsed that he probably didn’t need much coaching to get into it. “This is my BOOMSTICK!” is one of the best lines that’s ever been written up and despite the fact that the Evil Dead movies have kind of been allowed to fade off a bit, it’s still hilarious since watching this one scene is worth it. The Evil Dead movies were likely thought to be Sam Raimi’s goofy attempt to just get something out there and have it stick, as a lot of people might not have thought that anything would really come from it. Compared to his other hits, namely the Spider-Man movies and several others, these movies did kind of settle into the background for the more adventurous to find, but once people found them it was kind of hard to look away.
The storylines weren’t really put together that well since between each movie a lot of changes considering that the second movie picked up where the first left off but in a different manner, as did the third when it came to connecting with the second. Instead of having people bow to him as the second movie showed at the end, they were taking him prisoner and trying to kill his car. But somehow it just worked since no one really cared about the consistency, or lack thereof, in these movies since it details that we didn’t really need to worry about. Besides, the most important factor, Ashe, was still there and it’s likely that since he was telling the story to Ted Raimi, the brother of the director, who was put into the third movie as a fellow store employee, that the entire thing might have been a bit screwed up since Ash was telling his story and could have mixed a few things up. It does work as an explanation since otherwise, someone might decide to state that the Evil Dead movies are a waste of time since they can’t even follow their own storyline. Really though, who cares?
These movies were essentially made to make people laugh and possibly scare them at the same time since both horror and comedy elements are there, and the fact that Bruce Campbell turned out to be so perfect for the part feels like a stroke of luck, but one that Raimi definitely capitalized on. The remake was kind of blah since it went straight for horror and didn’t even attempt a hint at comedy since it was obviously attempting something that the original movies kind of missed in a big but great way. But bringing back Campbell for Ash vs. The Evil Dead was kind of an interesting move since it wasn’t a bad idea, but it definitely had to play up the fact that Campbell was older and, well, not quite in the same shape he had been. But despite anything else, these movies are still very much enjoyed for what they are.
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