All 6 'Evil Dead' Projects to Rewatch After 'Evil Dead Burn', Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes
From the classic trilogy to modern reboots.
The first Evil Dead movie was released over 40 years ago, and since then, the franchise has become a true horror phenomenon and cult classic.
While the iconic Bruce Campbell is getting older and the creator of the original trilogy, Sam Raimi, is no longer making horror movies, Evil Dead has managed to evolve while maintaining the spirit of the first films and finding new fans.
6. 'Evil Dead', 2013
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 64%
David, his girlfriend Natalie, their friend Eric, and nurse Olivia head to an old cabin in the wilderness. With them is David's sister, Mia, a drug addict whom the friends are working together to save.
They chose the remote location deliberately – they plan to support Mia while she recovers from her drug addiction. However, it soon becomes clear that evil lurks in the woods.
The 2013's Evil Dead is a remake of the original 1981 movie of the same name. Sam Raimi, who directed the first three films in the franchise, personally selected Fede Álvarez to direct the new version.
5. 'Army of Darkness', 1992
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
Ash Williams falls into a time vortex in Evil Dead II and finds himself in the year 1300. The 20th-century man becomes a slave and meets medieval knights led by King Arthur.
His rifle and chainsaw are taken from him because the knights believe him to be a subject of Henry the Red, whom Arthur is fighting. However, a more terrible threat exists in the Middle Ages: demons and the possessed. Ash is sentenced to death and pushed into a deep pit filled with Deadites.
The king's sage helps the slave by placing a saw and a rifle in his lap. After defeating the possessed, Ash embarks on a perilous journey in search of the Book of the Dead.
4. 'Evil Dead Rise', 2023
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
Modern-day Los Angeles, an apartment building. After finding out that she's pregnant, Beth visits her older sister, Ellie – she is raising three children alone, so she's quite experienced.
Suddenly, an earthquake strikes, causing the stairs to the lower floors to collapse and the elevator to malfunction. Ellie's son, Danny, finds the Necronomicon and unwittingly releases evil demons into our world.
The movie was directed by Irish horror filmmaker Lee Cronin. While it has no connection to the original trilogy, curses and Deadites are back in play. Cronin has created a horror about a family whose resilience is about to be tested by demons.
3. 'The Evil Dead', 1981
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
Five young people – Ash, Linda, Shelly, Scott, and Cheryl – rent a country house in Tennessee at a suspiciously low price. They arrive to find an old shack in danger of falling apart at any moment.
There's no one around, only forest and mountains. To reach the house, they must cross a dilapidated bridge over a river. That night, they find a strange book in the basement – its cover depicts a face twisted in horror.
Audio recordings made by the house's former owner reveal that the book is the Necronomicon. Using an ancient spell in an incomprehensible language, the young people accidentally summon demons, which gradually possess them.
2. 'Evil Dead II', 1987
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
The movie begins with a brief recap of the original Evil Dead. Sam Raimi had to reshoot scenes from the original because he lost the copyright.
Ash survives a terrifying night in the cabin, but before dawn, a Kandarian demon possesses him and transforms him into a Deadite. With the sunrise, however, Ash regains his normal form but loses consciousness after a brutal nighttime battle.
The young man is unable to escape the cursed place. That evening, Annie, the daughter of Professor Knowby who discovered the Necronomicon, arrives at the cabin with her friends Ed, Jake, and Bobby Joe.
1. 'Ash vs Evil Dead', 2015-2018
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
More than 30 years have passed since the fateful events in the cabin and the Middle Ages. Ash now leads a surprisingly dull life – he works at a local hardware store and lives in a trailer.
He keeps the Necronomicon close by, as if trying not to forget the adventures of his youth. One day, while high in his trailer with a beautiful woman he just met, Ash reads spells from the Book of the Dead and awakens an ancient evil.
Evil Dead fans were thrilled to revisit Ash and his fight against evil. The TV series significantly expanded the franchise's universe by exploring the Necronomicon and the powers of the Deadites.
