SERIES PREMIERE: Well,
this was a long time coming. The original
The Evil Dead movie, an audacious mix of horror and comedy, was made by director Sam Raimi in 1981, starring a young Bruce Campbell as Ash, whose incantation of an ancient curse releases evil in the form of very persistent possessed people – and corpses. The photography and special effects were inventive and playful, and, in the eventual cinematic sequels, including 1997’s
Evil Dead II and 1992’s
Army of Darkness, so was the acting. Campbell, recently co-starring in USA Network’s
Burn Notice, matured into the role of the weary, cranky, wise-cracking, cowardly semi-hero – a sort of low-budget Jim Rockford. And now, on Starz, he has a sequel TV series reprising the role of Ash, and surrounding him with his own veritable Scooby gang of demon fighters. I’ve seen the first two episodes, and they’re good fun – especially on Halloween. And yes, Sam Raimi is still along for the ride: He directed and co-wrote the premiere. For a full review, see
Ed Bark’s Uncle Barky’s Bytes.