The existence of the firstEvil Deadmovie is a miracle, essentially being willed into existence by directorSam Raimiand lead actorBruce Campbell. Filmed for less than $500,000 in the hills of East Tennessee,The Evil Deadwas a success. Witha bit of help from Stephen King,Evil Deadhas become one of the most popular and successful horror franchises ever.
Of course, you don’t become one of the most notorious splatter films of all time for your plot.Evil Deadmade its mark on the horror landscape with gallons of Karo corn syrup, box cutters, and shotguns. For its time, it was brutal, and it has only gotten better with age: these are some of the best kills the films of the franchise has to offer. For more mayhem,don’t forget to catchEvil Dead Rise, now playing in theaters.
10Seeing Red — ‘Army of Darkness’ (1992)
The third film in Raimi’s trilogy was going to be titled “Medieval Dead,” as documented by film historianBill Warrenin his bookThe Evil Dead Companion, but was later renamed toArmy of Darkness. There is much less blood becauseof the more comedic tone, but there are still some great kills.
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Ash has been transported by the Necronomicon to the Middle Ages. He and some others are in chains, being led to their deaths. When they arrive, one captured knight is thrown into the execution pit, and blood sprays upward. We see our first Deadite here, and the comedic tone of the scene lets us know that this will not be “the ultimate in grueling terror” like the original film was marketed.
At the end ofEvil Dead II, Ash and Annie (Sarah Uriarte Berry), the daughter of the man responsible for the Necronomicon tapes, are the last people alive. Annie, reciting from the Necronomicon to sate the forest demons, is stabbed in the back, literally, by Ash’s severed hand.
Ash’s sentient, possessed hand has become another well-known piece of theEvil Deadlore; he cuts it off with the chainsaw earlier in the film. The hand then wreaks havoc, gives people the finger, and almost ruins Ash and Annie’s last-ditch effort to banish the demons. It’s silly, but kind of tragic kill to end the horror-comedy movie.
After being stabbed with the Kandarian dagger, Linda (Deinse Bixler), Ash’s girlfriend, becomes violently ill and dies. Linda appears dead, but we know better. Ash takes her outside to bury her. When she inevitably rises from the dead, Ash decapitates her with a shovel.
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This two-stage death slightly foreshadows the tonal shift in the sequels and the television show. It is not explicitly played as comedy, but you may sense it below the surface. Ash beats Deadite Linda into submission with a comically large wooden beam before the shovel sequence. After, Linda’s body collapses onto Ash.
But this beingThe Evil Dead, Shelley will come back, right? Not this time. Whether intentional or otherwise, Scotty followed the Necronomicon’s formula: complete and total dismemberment. Scenes like this are likely why the film is still banned in certain countries today.
The 2013 remake,Evil Dead, was billed as “the most terrifying film you will ever experience.” The mileage of that claim will vary depending on your tolerance for split tongues, nail guns, and hypodermic needles, but the opening scene ensures you know that this will not beArmy of Darkness.
A teenager is tied to a beam in an eerily familiar cellar, begging for her life as her father douses her in gasoline. But the facade is quickly dropped, and the Deadite within the girl rears its ugly, foul-mouthed head. After lighting her up, her dad decides to be sure with a shotgun blast to the head. All of this before that title card even flashes.Evil Deadis a well-done reimaginingof the original classic.
Henrietta (Ted Raimi/Lou Hancock) is married to the man that translated and discovered the Necronomicon. But after he read from the book, Henrietta had to be killed and buried in the cellar. She has long been possessed, eventually becoming a grotesque, Lovecraftian monster.
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Ash chops Henrietta to bits, hacking and slashing with his iconic chainsaw hand, and then uses the boomstick to finish her off. Any kill with the chainsaw is a quality kill. A kill using the chainsaw and the shotgun? Even better. Chainsaw, shotgun, and one of the franchise’s most famous lines? It’s horror movie perfection: “Swallow this.”
4Ash Kills Evil Ash — ‘Army of Darkness’ (1992)
Through a haunted mirror, an evil twin of Ash is born: Evil Ash is the leader of the titular army of darkness. After leading an assault on the castle to get the Necronomicon, he is flung into the night sky with a catapult and explodes.
The entire scene (and the events preceding it) is the pinnacle and logical conclusion to the horror-fantasy-comedy epicArmy of Darkness. Ash is now fighting an evil, medieval version of himself, doing it all with a shotgun, a chainsaw hand, and a cape in the year 1300. It’s an awesome final fight to an awesome series.
Natalie has been bitten on the hand by Deadite Mia. As the infection spreads, Natalie grabs an electric knife and cuts into her arm to save herself. It’s too late, and Natalie becomes possessed, firing nail guns and swinging crowbars until a shotgun blast brings her down.
This and the box cutter scene (also in the 2013 film) are two of the more stomach-churning sequences in the franchise. Blood sprays across Natalie and the kitchen, and bones snap as Mia menacingly howls from the cellar: intense is an understatement.
Evil Dead IIbegins with a brief remake/rehash of the previous film. This time, Linda is killed with the trusty chainsaw. Her body is cut straight down the middle, and her head, held in place with a vice, is destroyed, but not before taking a chunk out of Ash’s hand.
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The kill was purposely shot off-screen, and the blood in the later scenes was replaced with a greenish slime to avoid censorship. But censors still hated the violence, andEvil Dead IIhad a similar reception toThe Evil Dead.
Mia, our hero and Final Girl from the 2013 film, is now face to face with the Abomination; the demon summoned after five souls were taken in the cabin. Having slashed the monster’s heels, Mia stands over the Abomination and jams what is likely an S-Mart brand chainsaw down its throat.
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The finale of the 2013Evil Deadreboot is as gruesome as the series had been to that point and is everything you want in anEvil Deadmovie. The cabin is ablaze, and blood falls from a lacerated sky, and our one-handed heroine triumphs.
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