ASH VS EVIL DEAD - SERIES OVERVIEW PART 1

 

The Evil Dead film series was by far and away one of the most popular horror movie franchises (hate that word) of the 80's and early 90's. It's mixture of gory horror, atmosphere, slapstick dark humour and inventively wild monsters engaged the interest of horror fans the world over. 

These factors coupled with the distinctive directorial style of Sam Raimi and the brilliantly charismatic and often hilarious performance of Bruce Campbell as the inept but loveable Deadite slayer Ashley J Williams ensured that audiences where kept enthralled by these movies for three whole decades.

The final movie in the original trilogy - Army Of Darkness - was released in 1992 and originally ended on a cliffhanger which saw our hapless hero Ash accidentally arrive in a post apocalyptic future after defeating the Deadites in Medieval England. However, studio bosses didn't like this more downbeat ending, so at thier behest an alternate ending was filmed which saw Ash arrive back in his own time (albeit still pursued by the demonic forces he'd battled for three whole movies).

And that was it. A fourth installment was rumoured to be in the works but for one reason or another never materialised. It fell to spin off comic books and console games to fill the void and continue Ash's story (whichever ending you favoured).

The franchise lay dormant for a few years, then in 2013, a full twenty one years after Army Of Darkness graced our screens, a remake/reboot of Evil Dead was released in cinemas. It did ok. It was a fairly decent movie - not brilliant but certainly not terrible but it was lacking one vital element...Ashley J Williams. Yes he's in it - for literally a two second cameo after the end credits have played out but it wasn't enough. Fans had been waiting for twenty one years to see his story continued. They wanted - no, they DEMANDED a proper Evil Dead 4 movie. Luckily they didn't have to wait long, for just two years later in 2015 Ash finally returned. Not in a movie but in a ten part TV series courtesy of STARZ (the network also responsible for bringing Twin Peaks back). This wasn't Evil Dead 4. This was even better.

Ash Vs Evil Dead season 1 picks up the story thirty years after the events of the original trilogy. We see Ash (again played by Campbell) who's older but certainly none the wiser. Ash has become a bit of a drifter. He lives in a motor home, travels from town to town, keeping a low profile as he works in various branches of supermarket chain Value Stop. At nights he hits bars, picks up women and generally lives a pretty shallow existence. He's also got the Necronomicon locked away in a trunk, safely out of harms way. Safe that is until one drunken, stoned night when Ash reads from the book whilst trying to impress a woman he's bought back to his trailer. Before you can say "pissed idiot" the forces of evil have been awakened and Ash has to once more fight off the Deadites.

Dragged into Ash's slipstream are his best friend Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Pablo's other friend Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) - who Pablo has a massive unrequited crush on. Chasing Ash is an immortal demon sorceress Ruby (Lucy Lawless) and a cop Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones) who's partner was killed by a Deadite and now believes Ash to be responsible (technically she's not wrong).

The cast are all great. Campbell is as good as he ever was as the older, more washed up version of Ash. He still gets all the best lines (my favourite is in episode 2 when he kills Kelly's mum who's become a Deadite after having a meal cooked by her - "Mom - you're cooking was SHIT !!!"), he's every bit as abrasive, rude, funny, pig headed and weirdly loveable as ever. It's a real treat to see him back and he gets some true "punch the air" moments. 

Santiago makes a good foil for Campbell, Pablo is Ash's right hand man, he looks up to Ash but also calls him out at times when he gets a bit too much. He's basically Robin to Ash's Batman. There's also a subplot involving him coming from a line of mystical shaman. He's basically turned his back on his heritage but as the series progresses Pablo has to slowly but surely embrace his destiny, much like Ash is forced to do. 

Pablo also has a sweet crush on Kelly (DeLorenzo), he's head over heels in love with her but she sees him more as being a "little brother" (it sucks to be in the friend zone). DeLorenzo is great as Kelly. She's initially scornful of Ash (not surprisingly he tries to come onto her, equally not surprisingly seeing that he's old enough to be her dad, she turns him down). However she soon grows a grudging respect for him when she sees him in action and eventually joins him on his quest to defeat the Deadites, driven by vengeance after her parents are both killed. Kelly is sarcastic, funny and kicks arse. She's great.

The three leads all have believable chemistry together and build a solid foundation for the rest of the show to grow from.

Lucy Lawless is also very good as Ruby. We're never quite sure who's side she's on. Whether she's good or evil. Eventually it turns out that she's one of the Dark Ones but she's gone rogue and seeks to possess the Necronomicon for her own ends, but even then it's not fully clear if she intends to wreak havoc with it. She claims to merely want to restore balance to the eternal conflict between good and evil but still employs some pretty dodgy methods all the same.

Rounding out the regular cast for the first season is Jill Marie Jones as Fisher. Initially she wants to bring Ash to justice (and even briefly teams up with Ruby) but eventually sees Ash for the good guy he really is. She joins Ash's team and even becomes his love interest before being horribly killed, possessed and turned into a wisecracking Deadite who likes to shove her fists into her victim's s skulls and turn them into ventriloquist style puppets. Needless to say Ash eventually carves her up.

It goes without saying that the Deadites and gore are all top notch, showing the same inventiveness and twisted OTT sense of humour that was there in the movies. Apart from the Fisher Deadite my favourites are the old lady Deadite from episode one and the demon Eligos who briefly possesses Kelly and causes Ash a whole world of trouble.

Eligos is a truly memorable creation, he's like a weird cross between the Gollum and the Chatterer Cenobite from Hellraiser. I love the way his teeth seem to hover and twitch independently from the rest of his body, like he's slightly out of phase with reality.

He can also induce a brain hemorrhage in his victims just by touching them. Eligos is awesome.

Full of great moments. The first season of Ash Vs Evil Dead is well worth a watch. It ends brilliantly as our heroes finally return to the cabin in the woods where it first began in the original movie all those years ago. It feels like a real celebration of the past whilst laying the groundwork for the future.

The first season was a huge success. Fans had finally got the REAL Evil Dead back. Sure enough two more seasons where to follow which took Ash and friends in new and increasingly interesting directions, but more on them next time...