Since the commercial success of 2022’s Evil Dead Rise director Sam Raimi and producer Robert Tapert have seen a renewed interest in the Evil Dead films that started all the way back in 1981. With the release of Evil Dead Burn there are now six films with a seventh film, Evil Dead Wrath, already shot is in post-production for a 2028 release and now would seem a good time to see the Evil Dead films rated.
So here’s the Evil Dead films rated starting with the least ….
- Evil Dead Rise (2026)
Now outside of the original trilogy this is third film to have seen a new and early in career director to helm a film. Director Sebastien Vanicek only had one film under his bel, ‘Infested’ (2023) which caught the eye of Raimi and saw the young director land the gig in what is a ferociously and unrelentingly gory film with several terrific set pieces that has seen the director use the camera in stylish fashion. A one shot that sees a character scrabble around the house for safety while all breaks loose in the background is brilliantly choreographed and there are several other shots too that sees the camera turn 360 degrees that deliberately debilitates the audience. It’s the longest film in the franchise to date but perhaps that’s part of its problem because the unrelenting carnage does become wearing. and its far from being a bad film but with what has come before the stakes were high to match let along best.
- Army of Darkness (1992)
Or Evil Dead 3 as it actually is although Raimi wanted the far better title of the Medieval Dead but the studio were not having it. It sees Bruce Campbell’s Ash now transported back in time to the middle ages that ended the second film. Desperate to retrieve the Book of the Dead so as to return back to his own era it saw the chainsaw handed Ash battle an army of the dead. Comic in tone and influenced by that genius of stop motion Ray Harryhausen the film became victim of the studio interference who wanted a PG certificate to the previous two filmed 18 certificate resulting in a number of different versions of the film none of which really satisfied anyone. The most satisfactory version is The Directors Cut which had a slightly downbeat ending. Army of Darkness, whichever version you see, is still a lot of fun and has Raimi’s typically stylistic flourishes. But the gore fest that was the first two films is very much toned down here for a far more playful fantasy tone and it only ends up in fifth position because of the several versions that exist rather than just one definitive version.
4 Evil Dead (2013)
30 years after the original film that started it all and twenty years after the trilogy had seemingly ended Raimi did a remake although it was the idea of producer Robert Tapert. Ash (Bruce Campbell) was rumoured not to be happy but relented when he heard that his character to be jettisoned in favour of five new characters who go to the cabin in the woods. Raimi & Tapert hired Fede Alvarez on the strength of a five minute short film he had made for YouTube. It was a bold move but it paid off with the young director relishing the opportunity and paying subtle homage to the original film. Ignoring CGI for practical effects it’s all the better for it. Well paced with some shocking moments from the make up effects team rising to the challenge it even included the controversial tree rape scene that had caused so much trouble for the original film. Shot in New Zealand as would be the subsequent sequels, it was a terrific reboot of a notorious film that perhaps younger audiences had never seen and who reacted positively with the film earning over $97m from a tiny $17m budget. Yet despite that it would be nine years before any subsequent film. Nonetheless it remains one of the best remakes/reboots of a modern horror film.
- The Evil Dead (1981)
Intermittently shot in the winter of 1979-1980 by wannabe director Sam Raimi it was developed from his short film, ‘Into the Woods’ and this would be the film that would catch the attention of horror fans. It would also become the subject of heavy censorship in the UK. His story saw five friends out for the weekend in a log cabin deep in the woods where the Book of the Dead and an audio recording of a demonic chant that raised the demons that saw the friends under attack from the newly raised demonic supernatural forces possessing them to catastrophic effect. Raimi had already made a series of short films but The Evil Dead saw his experimental style work deliriously to often traumatizing effect. The full on gory effects that took in practical prosthetics to stop motion that saw the cast hideously disfigured as they each became possessed and the blood and gore ran freely….even running down the screen itself by the end of the film. For the cast it was an uncomfortable shoot, covered in heavy make-up, and or blood during a cold winter that saw the shoot extend from 6 to 12 weeks and funding also ran out. That said a lack of budget demanded creativity was best illustrated with the Demonic POV shot that saw the unseen spirit charge through the woods at ground level and was achieved by bolting a camera to a plank of wood with two members of the crew grabbing each end and running through the woods and worked brilliantly. A number of UK censorship issues saw scenes cut, notably the tree rape, and an advert for the film that saw the POV camera zipping through the woods, crashing through the cabin and arriving on a horrified Bruce Campbell traumatized a load of schoolkids who had caught sight of it having been broadcast during the day. The film quickly drew acclaim from horror fans proving that lo-fi film making could make highly influential films and gave Raimi, Tapert and Campbell careers. The Evil Dead remains a high point in horror
1 Evil Dead 2 (1987)
When we were first looking at the Evil Dead films rated it was always going to be a close call for top spot. The regard that the first film was held saw Raimi direct 1985’s ‘Crimewave’ that continued his experimental take on directing treating the camera as much of an actor as the those he had cast. But the film flopped and the kudos of his debut feature saw him return to helm a sequel. It saw Ash (Campbell) return to the cabin in the woods and the demons restart their hellish onslaught. The difference here was that though the horror of the prosthetic effects were as bloody as ever it was levelled with slapstick humour that owed much to The Three Stooges and it worked brilliantly. The black humour (a severed and demonically possessed hand is covered by a bucket and weighted down when a hard back book is placed onto it – the book’s title? Hemingway’s ‘A Farewell to Arms’ ) balanced out the often gross out effects and gave Campbell his iconic line ’Groovy!’ It was a modest hit but it was enough draw the studios attention to this quirky horror film maker who would begin to move away from the genre to make his under rated comic book adaptation ‘Darkman’ starring Liam Neeson followed by a western, a thriller before he landed the Spiderman gig in 2002 that really rebooted the superhero genre.
…..and those are the Evil Dead films rated!
related feature : Scary Movie franchise rated
related feature : ‘Evil Dead Burn’ director & cast introduce the film, reveal story, characters and horror!
