However, Evil Dead (1981) was still just a prototype of sorts, with writer/director Sam Raimi still finding his signature style and skill sets as a director. However, after Evil Dead became a big success, Raimi truly showed off his talent as a director when it came time to do the follow-up to his groundbreaking horror flick.
On March 13, 1987, Sam Raimi released Evil Dead II in theaters. The $90,000 budget ballooned to $3.5 million, giving Raimi, his star/collaborator Bruce Campbell,and their crew far more resources to work with.
Evil Dead II is essentially a bridge piece between the original film and the second sequel, Army of Darkness. It replays a lot of beats from the first film, with series protagonist Ash (Campbell) going for a romantic getaway at a remote woodland cabin with his girlfriend, Linda (Denise Bixler). The second film firmly establishes the lore of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, or the “Book of the Dead,” and the “deadites” that are created when people are corrupted and possessed by the demonic book.
While the logistics of the sequel story are tweaked (Ash and Linda try to survive, while a B-storyline sees a dead archaeologist’s daughter and her partner trying to investigate what happened to him after finding the Necronomicon. Evil Dead II is also the film where Raimi arguably found his signature style and aesthetic, as the sequel has far more horror-comedy bits to it, with dismembered limbs causing gross-outs and laughs, while Campbell became a horror icon, dropping classic one-liners and committing to a zany physical performance. Oddly enough, the bigger budget and bigger lore didn’t equal a bigger box office: Evil Dead II only earned $5.9 million at the box office during its theatrical run. However, the sequel proved to be an even bigger cult hit when released on home video. It became a rite of passage for horror fans of the 1990s and early 2000s to experience Raimi’s gross, demented nightmare as the proper introduction to the horror-comedy subgenre. It may be debatable, but for many fans, Evil Dead II still holds the crown as the best entry in the franchise, nearly 40 years later.
While Raimi still didn’t have the pull to make the actual film he’d been envisioning, Evil Dead II ended on a cliffhanger that set the stage for the next film to achieve that goal. Army of Darkness would be released in 1993 and go on to earn $21.5 million at the worldwide box office. The third film would also secure Evil Dead‘s legacy as one of the biggest cult-classic trilogies ever made, and pave the way for the franchise’s expansion (a 2013 remake, 2023 reboot, and TV spinoff, Ash vs. The Evil Dead), which will continue with Evil Dead Burn in July.
You can watch Evil Dead II on Amazon Prime Video, Roku, and Pluto TV. Discuss the series with us over on the ComicBook Forum!
