Bruce Campbell is a legend of the horror genre. The actor is not only among the most charming and compelling of his generation; he was also an integral part of the success of The Evil Dead and Sam Raimi’s career as a whole. Before he was even an on-screen actor, Campbell was simply a good friend of a young Raimi, who pitched in and wound up being the shoestring filmmaker’s closest collaborator and confidant throughout the making of the original Evil Dead film in the late ‘70s. When the film hit theaters in 1981, it became a cultural sensation and cemented Campbell as the face of a new horror franchise as Ash Williams.
In the years that followed, Campbell would reprise the role under Raimi’s direction numerous times, in sequels like Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn and Army of Darkness, and even in the TV series Ash vs Evil Dead decades later. However, in the years since then, the Evil Dead franchise has largely moved beyond Campbell and Raimi.
While the two have remained on as producers, the films themselves have largely been passed over to a new generation of young, hungry horror filmmakers, each of whom has come in and delivered their own distinct take on the material across the previous three entries in the series, from Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead remake to Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise to Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn. However, in a recent interview, Campbell revealed a critique he has of the most recent batch of Evil Dead sequels, saying, “I'd like more humor back in. The three features have been mostly humorless…”
Campbell’s comments echo a sentiment that has been shared numerous times by portions of the fanbase over the years. While Raimi’s original The Evil Dead was a predominantly straight-forward horror film, things quickly evolved into a much more irreverent, lunacy-filled, and slapstick-esque direction in the superb sequel. Both Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness feature a blend of horror and comedy in equal measure, and this was something that was brought to the forefront once again with Ash vs Evil Dead.
In this recent interview with Men’s Journal, Campbell laments that the more recent Evil Dead sequels have leaned back into the straightforward horror lane and wishes they would get back to making things a little bit silly as well. He also cited the “David Fincher” inspired “garage lighting” of the films, which he feels leaves the movies lacking color, as something he would like to change moving forward.
Now, a couple of things bear reiterating here. First off, Campbell himself is a supernatural talent, and his absence (outside of Easter Egg cameos in each of the films) is a huge part of why those films lack the trademark brand of humor. Very few people can pull off the singular kind of tonal tightrope walk that Campbell can onscreen, especially with Raimi behind the lens. So any new Evil Dead film that attempts that without him would run the risk of some poor new performer being measured against Campbell’s own genuinely insane performances, which is why so many have steered away from such a challenge.
But also, Evil Dead Burn is pretty funny, just in a much more sinister way than the classic films. You can’t see something like the whip-pan smash cut of a Deadite getting hit by a car transitioning into a giant ass-shake filling the frame and tell me it isn’t funny. It has a perverse and subversive sense of humor, one that twists horror into humor and back again, but it is a notable reincorporation of the humorous elements in many ways, a much funnier film than its immediate predecessors.
Having said all of that, there’s also the element of Campbell himself to consider. The actor has been open about his recent health struggles, and despite touting that he and Raimi might be prepping to return to Evil Dead in a larger capacity just a few short years ago, he now seems uncertain that such a return would be possible given health conditions. This is a tremendous shame, as I would give my left arm to see Campbell go-for-broke as Ash one last time, and he seemed tremendously eager to do so at one point. I’m sure the weight of that is substantial, so when he’s inevitably asked extensively about Evil Dead, it’s probably a bit difficult for him to talk about it in-depth.
All of that to say, Campbell is a legend, and we here at 1428 Elm wish him nothing but the best in his health journey. The man is a founding father of Evil Dead; he’s more than entitled to have his opinions of the newer films.
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