Evil Dead

Films

Original trilogy

Filmed in 1979 and released in 1981, The Evil Dead is the first installment in the series. It introduces the protagonist Ash Williams, the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis (also known as the Book of the Dead), and the Deadites.

Released in 1987, Evil Dead II is the second installment in the series and serves as a direct sequel to The Evil Dead, continuing from the events of its predecessor following a brief recap. The film follows Ash Williams as he continues his battle against the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and the Deadites, while introducing the slapstick comedy that became a defining characteristic of the series.

Filmed in 1991 and released in the United States in 1993, Army of Darkness is the third installment in the series. The film follows Ash Williams after he is transported to England in 1300 AD. Compared to the first two films, it shifts its focus toward action and slapstick comedy while keeping some horror elements.

Standalone films

Evil Dead is the title of a film that serves as a standalone sequel to previous three films. Unlike them, this one does not feature the character of Ash Williams in a major role (Ash only appears briefly in a post-credits scene) and instead follows a new protagonist named Mia Allen. The film is considered a continuation of the franchise, and plans to feature both Ash and Mia in future installments have been discussed.

In October 2019, Raimi announced at the New York Comic Con that a new film was officially green-lit and in development. Robert G. Tapert was set to produce, while Raimi and Campbell served as executive producers only, all under their Ghost House Pictures banner. In June 2020, Lee Cronin was chosen as a director with a script he wrote. Raimi chose the filmmaker from a list of potential directors to continue the franchise. Officially titled Evil Dead Rise, the project was announced to be developed by New Line Cinema and released on HBO Max. Principal photography commenced on June 6, 2021, in New Zealand. In May 2021, Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan had been cast in the film, followed by Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, and Nell Fisher in June, and Mia Challis in July. Cronin stated the production was halfway completed by July 2021, and filming concluded on October 27, 2021. The filmmaker stated that the project used over 6,500 liters of fake blood during production. Evil Dead Rise was theatrically released on April 21, 2023.

A new film was announced to be in development in February 2024. Sébastien Vaniček directed with a script he co-wrote with Florent Bernard. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert served as producers, with Ghost House Pictures producing the project. In December 2024, Vaniček revealed the title to be Evil Dead Burn.

Evil Dead Burn was theatrically released on July 10, 2026, starring Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, and George Pullar.

In April 2024, it was announced that another mainline film is currently in development. Francis Galluppi will serve as writer and director. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert will serve as producers, with Ghost House Pictures producing the project. Principal photography began on February 21, 2026, in Auckland, New Zealand.

Evil Dead Wrath will release theatrically on April 7, 2028. Charlotte Hope, Jessica McNamee, Zach Gilford, Josh Helman, Ella Newton, Ella Oliphant, and Elizabeth Cullen are set to star.

Future

In March 2023, Sam Raimi expressed interest in developing multiple sequels with Bruce Campbell reprising his role as Ash Williams in a starring role, while also expressing hope for future developments also featuring Mia Allen from Evil Dead (2013). Later that month, Campbell stated that after positive experiences as a producer on Evil Dead Rise, he would consider reprising his lead role in a future film if Raimi were to return as director, reversing his previous "retirement" from the role following the cancellation of Ash vs Evil Dead.

By April of the same year, writer/director Lee Cronin stated that he has ideas for a series of future Evil Dead installments serving as direct sequels to Evil Dead Rise, that he hopes to see realized. That same month, Campbell announced that Sam and Ivan Raimi were co-writing a bible to outline the future of the franchise; stating that films that follow will adhere to the overall outline, with current plans including releasing a new film in the franchise "every couple" of years, as opposed to the most recent activity of once every decade.

Television

Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018)

The series stars Bruce Campbell reprising his role as an older Ash Williams with a supporting cast that includes Dana DeLorenzo, Ray Santiago, Lucy Lawless and Jill Marie Jones. The series is executive produced by Campbell, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. It premiered on Starz on October 31, 2015.

Ash vs Evil Dead proved to be a critically well-received show, earning a 98% from Rotten Tomatoes. Four days before its premiere, the show was picked up for a second ten-episode season. The series lasted for three seasons (30 episodes) before it was canceled by Starz in April 2018.

Following the cancellation of Ash vs Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell announced he was officially retired from portraying the character of Ash, although he would continue to voice the character in animation. Subsequently, on July 25, 2022, Campbell announced that an animated revival of Ash vs Evil Dead was in active development, with Campbell returning as the voice of Ash. In a July 26, 2024 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Campbell confirmed the series was still in development. Saying: “I'll do Ash's voice all day long, because my voice hasn't aged as much as I have." On October 29, 2024, Campbell provided another update, stating that the series would not be a continuation of Ash vs Evil Dead. In an August 15, 2026 interview with Screen Rant, Campbell confirmed that the animated series will no longer be happening as he is officially retired from portraying the character of Ash in animation as well.

Short film

Within the Woods (1979)

A prototype short film, Within the Woods, was produced by Sam Raimi on a micro-budget to market his concept and acquire funding from producers and studios for a feature-length film. The short was a meager success. Despite this, the release proceeded to spawn the entire franchise.

In January 1978, Bruce Campbell was a college dropout who had just quit his job as a taxicab driver. Raimi was studying literature at Michigan State University with Rob Tapert, who was finishing his economics degree. While putting the finishing touches on It's Murder!, Tapert suggested doing a feature-length film to Raimi. Raimi felt it impossible, stating that they could never acquire the funding. Campbell declared: "I could always move back home." Tapert feared a career in fisheries/wildlife, while Raimi was afraid that he would have to go back to work at his dad's home furnishing store. These were the practical reasons that convinced the three to put forth a feature-length film. The three were big fans of the comedy genre, but they decided not to produce a comedy as they felt "a feature-length yuck fest just didn't compute". A well-noted scene from It's Murder moved Raimi to write the short film Clockwork. The three felt the result was very effective and represented a new direction that their films could take, that of a semi-successful horror film.

This would later lead to research of low-budget horror films at the local drive-in theater. The many films that they watched were the "two films for two dollars," allowing them the chance to document the behavior of what would become their target audience. Campbell said: "The message was very clear: Keep the pace fast and furious, and once the horror starts, never let up. 'The gorier the merrier' became our prime directive." The films they watched included Massacre at Central High and Revenge of the Cheerleaders. The idea to do a "prototype" was commissioned, to prove not only to themselves, but also to potential investors, that they were capable of doing a full-length horror film. The same year, at Michigan State, Raimi had been studying H. P. Lovecraft and was most impressed with Necronomicon, or simply The Book of the Dead. From these rough concepts, he concocted a short story where a group of four friends unwittingly dig up an Indian burial ground and unleash horrific spirits and demons. In the spring of 1978, filming of Within the Woods started over a three-day weekend, on a budget of $1,600.

Within the Woods, as well as serving as a prototype, had impressed the filmmakers. For a marketing strategy, a screening was arranged at their former high school, with a positive response.

Main cast and characters

This table only shows characters that have appeared in three or more films in the series.

A dark gray cell indicates that the character was not in the film or that the character's presence in the film has yet to be announced.

A P indicates the actor portrayed the possessed version of the character.

An A indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills.

A C indicates a cameo role.

An M indicates the actor was part of the main cast for the season.

An R indicates the actor was part of the recurring cast for the season.

A G indicates the actor was part of the guest cast for the season.

An S indicates a role shared with another actor.

A U indicates an uncredited role.

A V indicates a voice-only role.

A Pic indicates the actor appears on picture.

Reception

Other media

Video games

There have been multiple Evil Dead video games:

The Evil Dead (1984) for Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum

Evil Dead: Hail to the King (2000) for PlayStation, Dreamcast and PC

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick (2003) for PlayStation 2 and Xbox

Evil Dead Pinball (2003) for mobile

Evil Dead: Regeneration (2005) for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC

Army of Darkness: Defense (2011) for iOS and Android

Evil Dead: The Game (2011) for iOS

Evil Dead: Endless Nightmare (2016) for iOS and Android

Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare (2018) for Oculus Go

Evil Dead: The Game (2022) for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC

RetroRealms: Ash vs Evil Dead (2024) for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

Ash Williams also appears as a playable character, along with Kelly and Pablo from the Ash vs Evil Dead television series, in Deploy and Destroy, a competitive multiplayer FPS available for iOS and Android, and also as a non-playable character in Telltale Games' game Poker Night 2. He also appears as a playable character in Dead by Daylight, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Call of Duty: Warzone, and as an outfit in Fortnite Battle Royale.

Comic books

In 1992, Dark Horse Comics produced a mini-series adaptation of Army of Darkness adapted and illustrated by John Bolton. A trade paperback of this series was released by Dynamite Entertainment on September 25, 2006.

In 2008, Dark Horse revisited the franchise with a four issue adaptation of The Evil Dead written by Mark Verheiden and once again illustrated by John Bolton.

In 2004, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the license to publish titles based on Army of Darkness and, in conjunction with Devil's Due Publishing, released the Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes mini-series. A second mini-series, Army of Darkness: Shop till You Drop Dead followed in 2005. Later that year, Dynamite separated itself from Devil's Due and began focusing entirely on self-published titles featuring the Army of Darkness franchise. This included an ongoing series that began in 2005 and saw Ash battling other horror icons such as Herbert West and Dracula. The series lasted thirteen issues before being rebooted with a second volume in 2007. The second series lasted twenty-seven issues before coming to an end. Over the years, there have also been several one-shot specials as well as crossovers with a wide variety of characters such as, Marvel Zombies, Darkman, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Xena, Danger Girl and even Barack Obama. The series was then rebooted in 2013 and started over from the last scene in titular film because Ash misspoke the words S-Mart was sent back in time to the Medieval times where the wiseman has been possessed, Ash fights through many battles with the same characters from the film. At the end of this series Ash proposes to Sheila, in the next series "Ash gets hitched" they get married but Ash gets sent forward in time when he accidentally speaks a phrase that opens up a vortex. He wants to get back to Sheila but runs into many situations causing delays, he is currently in space fighting the evil.

In 2015, Space Goat Productions acquired the license to publish titles based on Evil Dead 2. The company has released, or was planning on releasing, the following titles:

Evil Dead 2: Beyond Dead By Dawn, a three-issue mini-series which debuted in June 2015

Evil Dead 2: Tales of the Ex-Mortis, a three-issue anthology which debuted in August 2015.

Musical

The production team of George Reinblatt, Christopher Bond and Frank Cipolla created an Off Broadway show titled Evil Dead: The Musical, based on the film series. Its New York run was directed by Bond and Hinton Battle, who also choreographed the show. Ryan Ward played the part of Ash. Tying in with the midnight movie plot of a group of friends visiting a wooded cabin and unleashing untold evil, performances did not start until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Previews began October 1 and the show opened November 1 at the New World Stages. It was announced on January 31, 2007, that Evil Dead: The Musical's New York production at New World Stages would close on February 17, 2007. Toronto producers announced a new production of the show, also starring Ryan Ward, at the Diesel Playhouse. The new production started its running May 1, 2007, and has been announced to end on September 8, 2007, which won the Dora Audience Choice Award and praised by the Toronto Star.

In 2017, the English comedian Rob Kemp created and performed the stage show The Elvis Dead, a retelling of Evil Dead II in the style of Elvis Presley.

Legacy

In Italy, The Evil Dead was released under the title La Casa (a.k.a. The House) and Evil Dead II became La Casa II. These were followed by three unrelated movies: Umberto Lenzi's La Casa 3 (a.k.a. Ghosthouse) (1988), Fabrizio Laurenti's La Casa 4 (a.k.a. Witchery) (1988) and Claudio Fragasso's La Casa 5 (a.k.a. Beyond Darkness) (1990). This is similar to what has happened in George A. Romero's Living Dead series starting with Zombi 2. House II: The Second Story (1987) and The Horror Show (1989) were retitled La Casa 6 and La Casa 7, respectively, in their Italian releases.

Evil Dead influenced numerous directors, such as Peter Jackson and Edgar Wright, and inspired films such as Shaun of the Dead, The Cabin in the Woods, Bubba Ho-Tep, Dead Alive, Dead Snow, and Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. The Cabin in the Woods features many references to the film and even features Deadites and the possessed trees, although this is considered more a reference than a direct sequel. The 2012 Swedish language film Wither serves as an unofficial remake of The Evil Dead, starring Patrik Almkvist as Albin Wiliams (Ash Williams) In 2020, Steve Villenevue premiered the documentary Hail to the Deadites, which focuses on the franchise's fandom and legacy. It features interviews from people involved with the film, such as Bruce Campbell, as well as with fans. Moreover, Death Whisperer and Death Whisperer 2, two Thai supernatural horror films in 2023 and 2024, the director Taweewat Wantha admitted that he used the haunting style of the ghosts in Evil Dead as inspiration.

The Evil Dead films and the character of Ash influenced 1990s first-person shooter video games such as Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and Blood. Duke Nukem quotes so many lines from Ash that Bruce Campbell stated that he was angered by not being paid for them. Evil Dead was cited as an inspiration for the original Doom.

Bruce Campbell directed and starred in a film titled My Name Is Bruce. It does not continue the story of Army of Darkness but is a fictionalized portrayal of Bruce living his everyday life, in which he is erroneously believed to be as heroic as the Ash character and is hired to fight an ancient spirit. The film was released to a limited number of theaters on October 26, 2008, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 10, 2009. A 2021 episode of Creepshow, "Public Television of the Dead", serves as a crossover with the franchise, featuring Ted Raimi (portraying himself, who previously portrayed the Deadite Henrietta Knowby and Chet Kaminski in Evil Dead II and Ash vs Evil Dead respectively) as he accidentally uses the Necronomicon to summon Deadites at a television station.

Lawsuits

Awards Pictures, a company that attempted to begin a new line of movies in the series in 2004, announced plans in May 2012 to film an Evil Dead 4, one that has nothing to do with the original films. Sam Raimi sued Awards Pictures in an attempt to stop them from making the film, because he planned to someday film one himself. In August 2012, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer entered a default judgment that "permanently enjoined" Awards Pictures from using the names Evil Dead, Evil Dead: Genesis of the Necronomicon, Evil Dead: Genesis of the Necronomicon: Part 2 or Evil Dead: Consequences "as or as part of the title of a motion picture, television program, video game, play, book or any other form of entertainment provided or to be provided through any media."