When the weird met the wild in 'Evil Dead II'

Bruce Campbell is in deep in 1987’s “Evil Dead II.” (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group/MovieStillsDB.com)

"Evil Dead II"
Released March 13, 1987
Directed by Sam Raimi
Where to Watch

An isolated filming location. A production constrained by budget but not by imagination. A leading man with a face that perfectly blends handsome and cartoonish exaggeration. And directed by a personality who was interested in seeing what kind of demented lunacy he could capture on film. Folks, it's time to talk about the ultimate cult classic of the 80s, "Evil Dead II."

The original movie in the series, "The Evil Dead," was Raimi's second feature film production and became a lowkey hit in the horror genre. Raimi cast his longtime friend, Bruce Campbell, as Ash, the protagonist who leads a group of friends to a secluded cabin in the woods. The group comes across the Necronomicon (otherwise known as "The Book of the Dead") in the cabin, and by reading from it, unintentionally awaken evil spirits who torment them.

"The Evil Dead" was enough of a success that Raimi and Campbell returned for a sequel that's also a quasi-remake since an extended prologue recounts the events of the original film. The story afterward also shares many of the same beats. So what's unique about "Evil Dead II?"

In short, everything, as Raimi gained the skill and confidence to infuse nearly every frame of the sequel with moments that are gorier and, oddly enough, funnier. Raimi and co-writer Scott Spiegel wrote a screenplay that exaggerated the horror to the point of the ridiculous; less "Night of the Living Dead" and more Three Stooges and Looney Tunes. 

And they had the proper frontman for the job with Campbell: A matinee-idol looker who plays the movie seriously, yet not even Chuck Jones with a pencil could better animate Campbell's facial reactions. 

At nearly every moment, Ash (and in a real sense, Campbell) is consistently assaulted by the doers of evil. He's thrown through the forest, hammered with a fire-hose amount of blood and dark liquids, beaten up by his right hand so badly he has to amputate the bugger, beaten up by his mirror self, beaten up by the people who've come to investigate the cabin … in short, he's a punching bag by every person, spirit, and object in this movie.

And Ash keeps getting up for more with goofball lines that only make him more enduring. The pieces are all in place to make "Evil Dead 2" as funny as it is horrifying.

"I think I can speak for all of us," Campbell told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. "We'd rather be doing slapstick comedy. But because we were so concerned, at the time, with getting our work into theaters, we thought: 'Eh, horror films. That's a good way in.'"

For the longest time, I could not see horror movies' appeal, as I found it challenging to find one that scared me. "Evil Dead II" was my gateway into the genre, primarily because of its humor, but I was also enamored by the craft and creativity behind the special effects. In recent years, I've come around to the genre by appreciating the heart and passion of filmmaking. "Evil Dead II" may not be scary to me, but it's enjoyable nonetheless, and that impression has expanded to many other horror pictures.

It took me too long to realize horror films are not always about the scares but a place for passionate filmmakers to make some weird shit. And weird shit is one of cinema's best attributes.

"It looks superficially like a routine horror movie, a vomitorium designed to separate callow teenagers from their lunch," wrote Roger Ebert in his review of "Evil Dead II." "But look a little closer and you'll realize that the movie is a fairly sophisticated satire. Level One viewers will say it's in bad taste. Level Two viewers like myself will perceive that it is about bad taste."

"Evil Dead II" was released in a few hundred theaters in the spring of 1987 but never cracked the top ten of box office grosses during its original run, making a total of $5.9 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Still, its low budget helped the movie make enough profit that producer Dino De Laurentiis supported financing another sequel, 1993's "Army of Darkness," that Raimi and Campbell returned for. The trilogy was completed, and a combination of the video rental market and growing awareness of independent films helped make Raimi's movies a minor legend. 

Raimi would go on to have a successful Hollywood career. In the early 2000s, Raimi directed the first trilogy of Spider-Man films, all of which were gigantic hits and helped usher in the big business of superhero movies. There were moments in those movies (featuring Tobey Maguire as the webhead) that paid homage to the spirit of the Evil Dead films, and Campbell always popped up in a cameo. 

Raimi and Campbell returned to their original franchise as producers for the sequel, 2013's "Evil Dead," which featured a cameo from Campbell's Ash. The character returned for the television series "Ash vs. the Evil Dead," which ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2018. The legacy and spirit of these weird 80s movies continue to live on.

To that, I say … groovy.

Next Week: "Pretty Woman"