Summary

  • Evil Dead Rise demonstrated that the franchise has moved beyond Ash Williams, with its darker and more serious tone lacking the comedic relief provided by Bruce Campbell's performance.
  • The success of Evil Dead Rise indicates that the franchise is better off sticking with its dark direction, as horror movies are currently thriving at the box office.
  • A new Evil Dead TV show featuring Ash could help keep the franchise alive, allowing for a comedic exploration of the series while the movies continue with their darker and more sinister tone.

While Evil Dead Rise was a brilliant return for the horror franchise, this doesn’t mean that the next Evil Dead movie should necessarily star Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams. In a weird way, Ash Williams and the Evil Dead series have always been on parallel paths. Director Sam Raimi’s original 1980 movie had a streak of cartoony invention to its gore, and Bruce Campbell’s performance as Ash provided The Evil Dead with plenty of comedic relief. However, while Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness were showcases for Raimi and Campbell’s humor both behind and in front of the camera, The Evil Dead was a genuinely terrifying movie.

As evidenced by referencing The Evil Dead’s camera work in its opening scene, Raimi’s original movie was a gory tour de force that was more interested in making viewers scream than making them laugh. This is often forgotten, but The Evil Dead wasn’t a horror-comedy. Since that original movie ended with Ash’s implied offscreen death, the Evil Dead franchise has been split between lighter, sillier entries and gorier, more serious movies. While Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, and TV’s Ash Vs Evil Dead were all fun horror-comedies, 2013’s Evil Dead and Evil Dead Rise were far darker and more sinister in tone.

The Evil Dead Movies Have Moved Beyond Ash Williams

Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams in Ash vs Evil Dead and Alyssa Sutherland as Deadite Ellie in Evil Dead Rise.

The outsized critical and commercial success of Evil Dead Rise proves that the franchise still has plenty of life left in it, but the movies of the series haven’t fit Campbell’s Ash for some time now. One of Evil Dead Rise’s many unanswered questions was where Ash was during the movie's action, but the fact that he was absent came as no surprise. The dark installment was too grim and unrelenting to accommodate a cameo from the franchise’s former star. Evil Dead Rises proved the viability and popularity of the franchise, but the tone was far removed from the comedy-horror of Bruce Campbell’s performances.

The big-screen Evil Dead franchise is better off sticking with this dark direction since straightforward horror movies are having a moment at the box office right now. Even outside of financial concerns, this darker horror aesthetic also allows the franchise to let new directors stage daring, wince-inducing horror extravaganzas more than any other series. Evil Dead Rises’ new Necronomicon implied there could be many more spinoffs set all over the world, which could provide other helmers the same opportunity that Evil Dead director Fede Alvarez and Evil Dead Rises director Lee Cronin have capitalized on so far. Leaning into comedy would lessen the impact of the franchise’s horror elements.

Ash Williams Should Return In An Evil Dead TV Show

Bruce Campbell as Ash in Ash vs. Evil Dead and Lily Sullivan as Beth in Evil Dead Rise.

However, the tone of the Evil Dead movies should not stop Campbell’s Ash from returning to the franchise. If anything, the success of Evil Dead Rises should encourage producers to venture back into TV, a format that has already proved perfect for Ash’s adventures. The monster-of-the-week formula of Ash Vs Evil Dead gave the show a more episodic, lighter tone than the unremittingly dark Evil Dead and Evil Dead Rises, and another TV spinoff starring Ash could keep the franchise alive. The Evil Dead franchise is well suited to television, where Ash can do battle with goofier Deadites while his movie counterparts are put through darker ordeals.

How A New Evil Dead TV Show Can Help The Franchise

Ash in Army of Darkness and Ash vs. Evil Dead.

Ash Vs Evil Dead was a cult hit that kept viewers invested in the story of the franchise in the decade that ed between theatrical entries. While the success of Evil Dead Rise makes a sequel look likely, Evil Dead was a hit in 2013, and it still took ten years to get this follow-up finished. As such, a new Evil Dead TV show could keep viewers interested in the series while also exploring the funnier side of the franchise. The Evil Dead franchise needs both comedy and horror to succeed, but Evil Dead Rises would have been ruined by unnecessary injections of cartoonish comedy.

Similarly, although the show had its moments of creepy horror, Ash Vs Evil Dead excelled because the series didn’t focus solely on horror. Ash Vs Evil Dead’s gory horror-comedy proved that the franchise can play with a diverse range of tones, as did the darker story of Evil Dead Rises. For the series to continue at its best, the franchise needs a show to showcase its comedic side. Campbell’s Ash became a horror cinema icon thanks to his comic timing and Ash Vs Evil Dead was a perfect showcase for this. As such, the success of Evil Dead Rises should lead to a new Evil Dead TV show.