Abstract
In the early 1980s, Sam Raimi's feature The Evil Dead inaugurated a horror-film franchise that would become a trademark of pop culture. The movie originated four other feature films, a TV series and videogames. The franchise set its importance in film culture by actively including humor through the use of different visual, sound, and narrative resources. Such narrative and stylistic construction would later be essential for the development of the TV series and would be later subverted in the more recent film projects linked to The Evil Dead. This chapter aims to examine how film genre codes work within The Evil Dead's cinematic language and script, focusing primarily on the original trilogy directed by Sam Raimi—The Evil Dead (1979), Evil Dead 2 (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992)—therefore clarifying how the hybridization of film genres is developed in The Evil Dead franchise, contributing to its cult status.
TopIntroduction
At the dawn of the 1980s, Sam Raimi's first feature The Evil Dead inaugurates a film franchise that would go on to become a trademark of pop culture. Starting as a low-budget, independent endeavor of a group of young friends with aesthetic ambitions and sensible commercial insights, this project would later become a cult classic. The original Evil Dead would be followed by three other feature films – a fifth is set to theatrical release in April 2023 – and a TV series.
This long-lasting existence is not atypical for horror projects, as shown by the numerous sequels and spin-offs of Nightmare on Elm Street, Child's Play, or Friday the 13th. The serial model seems to be the rule for horror films, capitalizing on the success of the first picture and enjoying direct-to-video, DVD, or more recently, streaming distribution, if a theatrical release proves to be too costly.
Inheriting from the new horror trend inaugurated by George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1967) and followed by gory, slasher titles such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974) or Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978), The Evil Dead's originality lies in the radical shift of tone in the original trilogy, both within the films and among themselves, openly mixing horror, comedy, and adventure. Furthermore, The Evil Dead is an exception among horror film franchises, since the most recognizable and recurrent character is not the monster, but the hero Ash, played by Bruce Campbell in each installment.
The Evil Dead franchise set its importance in film culture by actively and intentionally - or not, as we'll see - including humor through the use of different visual, sound, and narrative resources. This chapter examines how comedy codes work within The Evil Dead's cinematic language and script, focusing primarily on the original trilogy directed by Sam Raimi - The Evil Dead (1979), Evil Dead 2 (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992). The shift from horror into hybrid film genres is largely carried by the developments around Ash, the (anti)hero protagonist and the defining face of the franchise. Such narrative and stylistic construction would later be essential for the development of the TV series and subverted in the more recent film projects linked to The Evil Dead. I aim to clarify how the hybridization of film genres developed in The Evil Dead franchise, playing out to become the key to its success. I'll focus primarily on two elements: the narrative arcs involving Ash and the use of some generic conventions to convey the tone of each installment. While genre mixing or hybridity is not new and is rarely recognized by critics, it is fully embraced by the industry, which aims to reach an audience as wide as possible. Therefore, we will keep in mind the film industry’s broader developments when approaching genre hybridity in The Evil Dead.
Key Terms in this Chapter
MPAA Rating System: American age indication system, that rates a film as adequate for certain age groups or not. Production companies that are members of the Motion Picture Association of America are expected to submit their films for rating.
Limited Release: Film distribution strategy that voluntarily chooses to release a film in a reduced number of theaters. In the case of unrated films, most theaters in the USA would refuse to book a film that did not receive an MPAA rating.
Reboot: Different from a remake, a reboot takes elements of the story of a film in a film series and takes it in a new direction, with different characters and situations.
B-Movies: Low-budget commercial films, usually identified with genres such as horror, fantasy, thrillers, or exploitation.
Final Girl: A trope in horror films, it is typically a woman who is the last survivor and confronts the monster. She usually lives to tell the story. In this chapter, we subvert the term to call Ash the final guy, since his character serves the same purpose.