Evil Dead Rise has revealed an unthinkable fact about Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s involvement in the famed horror franchise. From the first moment that Evil Dead fans learned that there would at long last be an official fourth film in the series, the excitement was palpable. The release of 1992’s Army of Darkness was the last time that film audiences saw wise-cracking hero Ash Williams take on the Deadites, with an ending that hinted at more to come. What’s more, it’s been a decade since Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi revealed that there would indeed be another Evil Dead film and that he was working on writing it.
Throughout those 10 years leading up to the completion of Evil Dead Rise, there was much speculation about what a fifth film would bring. This speculation further intensified when Raimi and Campbell collaborated on the Starz TV series Ash vs Evil Dead, which ran for three seasons, from 2015 to 2018. The franchise was still alive and well and possibilities for another film seemed limitless. However, when it was revealed that neither Raimi nor Campbell would be involved in Evil Dead Rise in their traditional roles of writer/director and star (with the notable exception of the 2013 reboot) respectively, some fans felt genuinely concerned. It was hard to fathom that a new installment could reach the same heights as its predecessors without Raimi and Campbell.
Evil Dead Rise Has The Best Reviews Of The Franchise Despite Raimi & Campbell’s Lessened Involvement
Fortunately, Raimi and Campbell didn’t completely cut ties with Evil Dead. The two long-time collaborators came on as executive producers, with Campbell appearing in a small cameo role. Yet with directing and scripting duties passed on to The Hole in the Ground director Lee Cronin, no one knew quite what to expect. It seemed hard to believe for much of the time leading up to Evil Dead Rise’s completion that a new creative force could handle everything that Raimi and Campbell had established over the course of the franchise’s 40-plus years. What’s more, an Evil Dead film without Ash seemed odd, to say the least – especially given the franchise’s previous reversion to the hero post-2013.
These concerns have largely been assuaged from the moment that the first early Evil Dead Rise reviews arrived. The Evil Dead series has always managed to remain one of the few horror films that’s succeeded in collecting a certain amount of positive critical opinion. The arrival of Evil Dead Rise takes this to an all-new level, proving that Raimi and Campbell’s lessened involvement hasn’t hurt the series at all. The film has enjoyed the strongest reviews of the entire franchise, a fact that bodes very well for the film’s overall success. This is the best-case scenario for an Evil Dead film in a new era.
Evil Dead Rise’s Success Kills Fears About The Franchise’s Future
It seems it’s never too late to bring a beloved film series back from hiatus and retool it for both familiar and unfamiliar audiences. The Scream franchise has already proven this to be true, despite the passing of its legendary creator, Wes Craven in 2015. This isn’t always easy to do, but when it does work there’s ample room for new approaches to the original material. As of this writing, it remains uncertain exactly how Evil Dead Rise’s box office tally will fare, but if the strong reviews are any indication, the film has all the ingredients to be a hit.
Perhaps even more encouraging for fans is that success for Evil Dead Rise will logically fuel the demand for more films. Fans aren’t ready to relinquish the idea of a world besieged by Deadites and this has been proven time and time again since The Evil Dead arrived in 1981. Whatever fears that previously existed about an Ash-less Evil Dead franchise will likely be vanquished by the success of Evil Dead Rise and that’s a promising prospect that brings with it new environments, situations, and arguably most exciting of all, new heroes.
