The Evil Dead: The horror shocker that set off a culture war

The Evil Dead: The horror shocker that set off a culture war Alamy As the latest Evil Dead film is released, promising more demonic possession and extreme gore, nothing will beat the provocative power of the original, writes Adam Scovell. "The ultimate experience in gruelling horror": so suggests the subtitle of Sam Raimi's infamous, brilliant film The Evil Dead. Nowadays, Raimi's film is rightly celebrated for its innovations, as well as a legacy that includes, previous to Evil Dead Rise, two sequels by Raimi himself, a remake by Fede Álvarez in 2013, and a television series, Ash vs. With all of this success, Christopher Brown, host of the Video Nasties Podcast and a great Evil Dead admirer, is unsure whether it sits so comfortably as a cult film today. Unlike previous "cult" movies – such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, whose popularity had blossomed via midnight screenings – The Evil Dead's reputation was tied to its VHS release and the word-of-mouth effect that caused. Alamy New sequel Evil Dead Rise relocates the action from a woodland cabin to a Los Angeles apartment block – but retains the gore and black comedy In spite of its referential nature, Raimi's film still feels deeply original.