Comment on Sam Raimi Recalls Initial Reaction to ‘Evil Dead’ Title: ‘I Just Thought It Was So Stupid’

Few horror franchises have the cultural staying power that the “Evil Dead” series has enjoyed, and even fewer are able to keep their original creators in the fold for this long. While Sam Raimi handed directing duties on the upcoming “Evil Dead Rise” over to Lee Cronin and Bruce Campbell is not starring as Ash, both men are continuing to oversee the franchise as executive producers. The franchise has been able to survive four decades while spawning five feature films and three seasons of a TV show due in large part to the unique blend of horror and comedy that Raimi and Campbell introduced in 1981’s “The Evil Dead.” The campiness extends to the film’s nonsensically reductive title, which you’d be forgiven for thinking was a stroke of marketing genius on their part.