Ash vs Evil Dead debuted October 31st for it’s debut 10-episode season on Starz from creator Sam Raimi, showrunner Craig DiGregorio and stars Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo and Jill Marie-Jones. The TV series follows the iconic Ash as he comes out of retirement to battle the deadites once more. Season two hits Fall 2016!
Ash has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead until a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind and Ash becomes mankind’s only hope.
Bruce Campbell has been brushing off rabid fans at comic conventions for what seems like decades whenever the question comes up about an Evil Dead sequel and that question comes up — every damn time Campbell enters an arena jampacked with nerds. I’m just happy that he doesn’t have to come up with a witty response now. Enter Ash Vs. Evil Dead – because this is absolutely that fabled sequel we’ve always wanted and my friends let me tell you. It exceeds all of our gory expectations.
Sam Raimi has returned to not only produce but he directed the first episode of Starz’ Ash Vs. Evil Dead – a television series sequel to the classic B-movies that made Campbell a cult icon all over the world. It’s been 30 years since Ash saved the world from the evil deadites – demonic spirits that possess humans and turn them into white-eyed rabid psycho monsters. Ash still has the Necronomicon (the book of the dead) and during a lapse of better judgement, he gets high and reads from it to impress some chick he’s trying to bone. Just one of the several great ideas Ash has during this series. The deadites are back and they are more cruel and evil than ever.
This time Ash isn’t alone however as his fellow co-workers Pablo and Kelly have joined in the fight to save humanity. The chemistry this trio has on-screen is hilarious and works so well. So much so in fact that you wind up caring what happens to these two whenever they’re in danger and my god are they always in danger of getting either mutilated or taken over by deadites. Lucy Lawless’ mysterious Ruby is a nice addition who helps build upon the lore surrounding the Necronomicon and I loved how we expanded upon the “whys” in this sequel and really dug into mythos of The Evil Dead. That season finale was horrifying…. As funny as Ash Vs. Evil Dead is and it most certainly is a horror comedy, it will shock viewers with how dark and disturbing showrunner Craig DiGregorio is willing to crank it up.
Ash Vs. Evil Dead is camp, it’s horror, it’s everything fans have always wanted and dreamed about – come true. I still have a hard time believing that a sequel this good has finally graced all of us maniacs who grew up watching the original Evil Dead trilogy on VHS and spent countless hours laughing while Ash asks his possessed hand “Whose laughing now?” right before he hacks it off with a chainsaw.
There are several key moments just as good as the classic films. With 10 action-packed episodes, Ash Vs. Evil Dead delivers something insane, hilarious and terrifying in each and every one. Whether Ash is fighting a demonic spawn, punching someone’s mother at the dinner table or he’s hacking up an old lady with his handsaw – this series hits a homerun every week. Not all of the jokes were perfect – it’s hard to keep up with one-liners when there’s so damn many of them, but Campbell does the best work of his career here and I’m just happy that he finally has an outlet to shut up all those fans who wouldn’t leave him alone about that Evil Dead sequel. Hey guys – guess what? You finally got it and it’s even better than you could have ever imagined. Groovy.
Rating: [star rating=”4.5″]