‘Ashes to Ashes’: ‘Evil Dead’ Series Reignites After Flaming Out

 Ash Has Spent The Last 30 Years Avoiding Deadites… And Responsibility

THE REVIEW:

Tony Tilse directs Ashes to Ashes with courageous confidence and persistent prowess. Ashes, the eight episode of Starz’s freshman season of Ash Vs. Evil Dead, is arguably the strongest episode in terms of direction, and with it, comes a slew of great directorial choices from Tiles.

Last time I was here I was hopin’ to get laid. Didn’t quite work out that way. I did cut my own hand off with a chainsaw, though. Fun weekend.-Ash

In a great episode of television- one which makes up for last week’s ultimately unpleasing entry, Michael Hursts’ Fire in the Hole, Ashes to Ashes features, but certainly isn’t limited to: an opening shot beginning on Ash’s feet and slowly moving up to his face while Campbell delivers a badass line(before the title card), a shot of a hole in the baseboard of the cabin and slowly pulling back to reveal Ash’s long-ago removed hand running amok, nice composition featuring a celling light( camera tilted down to see Amanda and immediately followed by a nice shot of the clock with Amanda’s reflection in full view) and an amazing low-angle shot featuring Amanda as she pulls her gun from its nicely-placed holster home. These are just a few examples of what Director Tilse is bringing to the cabin in the latest Ash Vs. Evil Dead outing.

Speaking of the cabin, Ashes to Ashes’ script, penned by Michael J. Bassett,  is the episode we’ve been waiting for Deadites. If you’ve been a diehard fan of Sam Raimi’s iconic series for sometime, much like I, it’s this episode that feels the most like what has come before in the iconic film series. It feels like a special entry. It feels like an event. Ashes to Ashes feels like Evil Dead.

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Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn to be exact. In an episode feeling like a direct sequel to the immortal follow-up to The Evil Dead, Ashes to Ashes features so much iconography from the greatest horror-comedy ever made, you’re going to think it’s all a fever dream and you actually passed out before the Starz episode began to play. If your fancy was tickled by the inclusion of Ruby Knowby and the Deadite-killing dagger, not to mention the once-alive hand of Ash, then Ashes to Ashes will have you screaming Uncle Sam.

What we get here, without ruining too much, are so many references to the first two Evil Dead films, it’s hard to put them all down here. Linda’s head( it may or may not come back to life yet again), the shed, and the cabin(of course, but the production designing did an amazing job recreating the look and feel of it from Evil Dead II) are all back. Not to mention, a lot of the dialog crackles in the flames of the fire created in the iconic sequel and flashes of scenes from the first two Evil Dead films are sure to make even the manliest of fans giggle like a school girl.

If I have one thing to say, which is a slight complaint, it’s that Ruby is nowhere to be seen in Ashes to Ashes. This hurts the overall plotting of the season and , if I’m being honest, is a missed opportunity seeing as her scenes(while very brief) were some of the most effective in last week’s Fire in the Hole. That said, the episode is so good otherwise that it almost stands as its own little film, and for that, I thank you Starz.

As for the acting, Bruce Campbell once again sizzles on the small screen, lending his talents effortlessly like Quint trying to reel in that next big catch. While I get tired of telling you Soldiers of Springwood that the same three principles are great-sounding like Regurgitator The Mighty in the process(I’m sure you get tired of reading it as well)- Campbell is especially good in Ashes to Ashes

The reason for this is many and I really don’t want to ruin too much for you Fright Fans-you may be able to get it from the title but it went straight over my head. In the episode, Campbell is still his old smooth-talking self, but he’s so much more. We get to see a real maturity to the dufus we’ve loved for years, as well as another completely different side of Ash than we’ve seen on the show. We may have seen it in one of the three classic films. Ok, the hints are over Horror Heads.

The other performers are also great in Ashes to Ashes, but this baby belongs to Bruce Campbell.

THE VERDICT:

Tony Tilse’s Ashes to Ashes is the episode of Ash Vs. Evil Dead we’ve been waiting for since the show was first announced. It’s so much fun, it’s hard to not to call in to work- you know, that place you have to go so you can pay for Starz– and watch the episode over and over again. While the episode has one little hiccup, it’s a problem that will no doubt be fixed in next week’s outing, Bound in Flesh. So, stop reading this and go watch it Deadites. Your pal at 1428 wouldn’t steer you wrong. Merry Christmas, my favorite Creeps.

THE GRADE: A+

Join 1428 next week as I review Ash Vs. Evil Dead’s penultimate episode, Tony Tilse’ Bound in Flesh, only on Starz. Check out the preview for episode nine below, courtesy of Starz.