Bruce Campbell Breaks Down What's Wrong With Modern Evil Dead Movies
- Kris Avalon
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Movie legend Bruce Campbell rose to fame with his role as Ash Williams in the Evil Dead movies. Modern films in the franchise have been telling different stories with new protagonists, and according to Campbell, they are each missing the same key elements that made the original trilogy and TV series he starred in so special.
via: Bloody Disgusting
There have been three Evil Dead movies in the past 13 years, beginning with Fede Alvarez’s remake in 2013. The franchise then expanded with both Evil Dead Rise and Evil Dead Burn in more recent years. But those latest three movies in the franchise have been noticeably different from Sam Raimi’s original trilogy, which leaned heavily into wacky horror-comedy hijinks – particularly the case with both Raimi’s Evil Dead II and the medieval 1990s sequel Army of Darkness.
Many fans of the franchise have taken issue with the new approach, and franchise icon/producer Bruce Campbell echoes those sentiments in a new chat with Men’s Journal this week.
Like many fans, Campbell wants to see humor make a return to the world of Evil Dead.
Bruce Campbell explains in his chat with Men’s Journal, “I’d like more humor back in. The three features have been mostly humorless, and I personally have a problem with that. There’s no point for these to get too grim. You can be scary without being grim.”
‘Evil Dead Burn’
Campbell, who has stepped back and taken a less active role in the development of the Evil Dead movies beginning with Evil Dead Burn, also wants the franchise to find its visual pop again.
He explains, “Modern filmmakers love to color their movies like a David Fincher movie, like a hospital room, you know? Gray-green, like a garage. Garage lighting. And so, okay, it’s a choice. It’s not mine. I think even a horror movie can look pretty. Why not throw them off? Make it all look pretty and wonderful, and then let them have it.”
All this being said, Bruce Campbell does have high hopes for next franchise installment Evil Dead Wrath. Currently set for theatrical release on April 7, 2028, the 1970s-set prequel is directed by Francis Galluppi (The Last Stop in Yuma County), and Campbell is a fan of his work.
“Wrath will be good, because I saw that filmmaker’s first movie, and it was really cool, and really smart, and really well thought out,” Campbell notes. “That’s half the battle.”
You can watch Bruce Campbell’s full video interview with Men’s Journal below.
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