60 Fun Facts About Evil Dead

Who wrote and directed the original trilogy of Evil Dead films?

The Evil Dead was his feature debut; he turned 20 just before shooting began and called it his 'rite of passage'.

What is Ash Williams's full first name, as his sister calls him in the original film?

Bruce Campbell has said the name is short for Ashley, and Raimi toyed with the full name Ashley J. Williams for Army of Darkness.

What was the title of the 1979 short film Raimi and Campbell made as a prototype to attract investors?

It was shot over a three-day weekend for $1,600 and screened at their old high school to prove a feature could work.

In which state was The Evil Dead (1981) filmed, in a remote cabin with no plumbing?

The crew had wanted to shoot near Raimi's hometown of Royal Oak, Michigan, but this was the only state that showed any enthusiasm for the project.

Which horror novelist's rave review of The Evil Dead at Cannes in 1982 helped it find a distributor?

His quote calling it 'the most ferociously original film of the year' went straight onto the posters.

What was the first film's working title before distributor Irvin Shapiro said it sounded boring?

Raimi brainstormed alternatives and settled on The Evil Dead as the 'least worst' option.

Where did Ash and his friends go to college, according to the original film's plot?

Raimi and Tapert were themselves Michigan State students when they started planning a feature film.

Which two of Ash's companions in the first film are his girlfriend and his sister, respectively?

Cheryl is the first to be possessed after the trees attack her in the woods, and Ellen Sandweiss returned to voice her in the 2013 film.

Besides corn syrup and food colouring, what did Tom Sullivan add to The Evil Dead's fake blood?

Gallons of the Karo-syrup mix were made, and it took Campbell hours to scrub the sticky stuff off himself.

What nickname, inspired by Raimi's Three Stooges fandom, was given to stand-ins replacing unavailable actors?

His brother Ted Raimi was a Fake Shemp many times before graduating to playing possessed Henrietta in the sequel.

Which future Oscar-winning filmmaker was an assistant editor on The Evil Dead, cutting the shed scene?

He borrowed the prototype-short trick to raise money for Blood Simple, and stayed friends with Raimi.

In the UK, The Evil Dead was famously branded and banned as what kind of release in the 1980s?

Its video version was banned when the Video Recordings Act passed in 1984, and the fully uncut version was not passed until 2000.

What did Raimi call the camera-on-a-plank rig, carried by sprinting operators, that stood in for a Steadicam?

Raimi ran through the swamp with it himself for the shots of the unseen force stalking the cabin.

Which studio gave The Evil Dead its wide US release in April 1983?

New Line released it into cinemas and onto VHS at the same time, an unusual move for the era.

The 1987 sequel was subtitled what in its publicity materials?

Its opening recap quietly deletes Ash's friends from the first film; only he and Linda go to the cabin this time.

Which Italian producer funded the 1987 sequel after the author who championed the first film phoned him?

He agreed within twenty minutes once he heard how well the first film had done in Italy, but insisted the sequel stay in the cabin rather than the Middle Ages.

In Evil Dead II, what does Ash attach to the stump of his right arm after cutting off his possessed hand?

The prop was a real saw with its petrol engine swapped for a 12-volt motor, teeth filed down, and tobacco smoke pumped up Campbell's trouser leg.

Which Ernest Hemingway novel sits on top of the pile of books Ash uses to trap his severed hand?

The whole hand fight grew out of Attack of the Helping Hand, a teenage short by co-writer Scott Spiegel inspired by Hamburger Helper adverts.

Which horror villain's clawed glove hangs in the cabin's tool shed in Evil Dead II?

It answered a scene in A Nightmare on Elm Street where Nancy dozes off watching The Evil Dead on television.

Who played the possessed Henrietta in Evil Dead II, sweating litres inside a full-body latex suit?

The sweat is visible on screen dripping out of the costume's ear as Henrietta spins over Annie's head.

To dodge an X rating, Evil Dead II was released unrated in the US through a shell company with what name?

Raimi designed and shot its logo himself: a rose blooming in time-lapse against a painted sky.

Where did Evil Dead II shoot its exteriors, using a Color Purple farmhouse as its office?

De Laurentiis wanted them in his Wilmington studio, but the crew preferred to be three hours away from the producer.

At the end of Evil Dead II, Ash and his car are sucked through a vortex to which period?

That medieval premise was Raimi's original pitch for the sequel; De Laurentiis wanted a cabin film, so it waited for the third movie.

What model of car does Ash drive through all three original films?

In Army of Darkness he uses the textbooks in the boot to build a steam-powered death machine out of it.

In Army of Darkness, what three-word phrase must Ash say to safely retrieve the Necronomicon?

The phrase is lifted from the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still; Ash mumbles and coughs his way through it and dooms the kingdom.

In Army of Darkness, Ash works at which department store?

By Ash vs Evil Dead thirty years later he has drifted through a series of dead-end jobs at branches of Value Stop instead.

Which line does Ash deliver after killing the Deadite in the store at the end of Army of Darkness?

The upbeat ending was reshot in a Malibu lumber store after Universal rejected Raimi's post-apocalyptic finale.

In Raimi's original, rejected ending for Army of Darkness, Ash oversleeps and wakes up where?

He was supposed to swallow six drops of potion and took seven; Universal found it too depressing, and Raimi liked that both endings exist.

What was Army of Darkness's working title?

The final title was Irvin Shapiro's idea from back during Evil Dead II; the film is dedicated to him.

Who played Sheila, Ash's love interest in 1300 AD, in Army of Darkness?

Bridget Fonda appears too, in the reshot opening as Linda; Traci Lords auditioned but didn't get the part.

Which composer wrote Army of Darkness's 'March of the Dead' before LoDuca scored the rest?

Elfman had just scored Raimi's Darkman; LoDuca scored all three original films and recorded this one with the Seattle Symphony.

Who directed the 2013 Evil Dead, in his feature debut?

He went on to make Don't Breathe and Alien: Romulus; Diablo Cody polished the script's dialogue since English wasn't the writers' first language.

Who plays Mia, the recovering addict at the centre of the 2013 film?

Lily Collins was originally cast and dropped out in January 2012, a month before Levy replaced her.

In which country was the 2013 Evil Dead shot, over about 70 nights?

Álvarez insisted on practical effects, saying the film used no CGI beyond touch-ups.

Which single word does an older Ash say in the post-credits scene of the 2013 film?

It's his signature catchphrase, and it's also the last word of the Ash vs Evil Dead series finale.

On which US cable network did Ash vs Evil Dead premiere on Halloween 2015?

It was renewed for a second season three days before the pilot even aired, and cancelled after its third in April 2018.

In Ash vs Evil Dead, what does Ash's sidekick Pablo call him as a mark of respect?

Pablo's shaman uncle raised him on stories of an evil that only 'El Jefe' could defeat.

Which Xena star plays the mysterious Ruby in Ash vs Evil Dead?

Rob Tapert, the franchise's producer, is her husband, and Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell had both appeared on Xena.

What insulting nickname did the people of Ash's hometown, Elk Grove, give him after his friends died?

Nobody believed his Deadite stories, so the town decided he had murdered his friends and his sister.

Which Six Million Dollar Man star plays Ash's father Brock in Ash vs Evil Dead?

Brock runs a hardware store with the slogan 'Brock Williams – has wood – call me' and is killed by his son's possessed Oldsmobile.

Evil Dead Rise (2023) moves the horror out of the woods and into what kind of setting?

An earthquake opens a hidden chamber under the car park, where teenager Danny finds the book and three phonograph records from 1923.

Who wrote and directed Evil Dead Rise?

Raimi hand-picked him after they worked together on the streaming series 50 States of Fright; the film was briefly titled Evil Dead Now.

How much fake blood did the director say was used making Evil Dead Rise?

A good deal of it ends up in the elevator scene, where the lift fills with blood as the Marauder attacks.

Evil Dead Rise was originally going to premiere on which streaming service?

The theatrical gamble paid off: it grossed $147 million and became the highest-grossing film in the series.

In Evil Dead Rise, what do the possessed Ellie, Bridget and Danny merge into?

Beth and Kassie finish the multi-limbed creature off by feeding it into a wood chipper.

Who wrote and directed the 2026 film Evil Dead Burn?

The French director of Infested co-wrote it with Florent Bernard, and it was shot in New Zealand like the two films before it.

Evil Dead: The Game (2022) is what kind of multiplayer game?

Four survivors race to collect the Necronomicon pages and Kandarian Dagger while a fifth player controls the demon.

In which city was Evil Dead: The Musical first staged, in 2003?

During the Northeast Blackout of 2003 the cast performed it on the front lawn of the Tranzac club by flashlight and car headlights.

According to the trilogy, the Necronomicon is described as an ancient text of which civilisation?

The first film calls the book the Naturom Demonto, a Sumerian version of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

Who voices the archaeologist Professor Knowby on the tape recording in the original film?

Raimi himself voiced the evil force and played a local fisherman, uncredited, with Tapert as a second fisherman.

How much did Raimi say the completed first film cost?

Their proof-of-concept short had raised $90,000 to start, and the film went on to gross about $2.4 million domestically.

Evil Dead II opened in March 1987 in about how many US theaters?

It grossed just under $6 million in total, but its Italian and international take was enough to convince De Laurentiis to fund a third.

The 1979 short Within the Woods secured roughly how much seed money to start The Evil Dead?

Raimi, Tapert and Campbell bought business suits and briefcases to convince investors they 'had all the answers'; a theatre-owner friend, Andy Grainger, was the first big backer.

The Evil Dead's first private screening in October 1981 was held at which Detroit cinema?

Campbell had visited it as a child; Raimi staged a William Castle-style premiere with ambulances outside, and a thousand people turned up.

Why did the crew end up shooting in Tennessee rather than Raimi's hometown of Royal Oak, Michigan?

Thirteen crew members had to sleep in the remote cabin during pre-production, and arguments broke out under the notoriously rough conditions.

What happened to the Morristown cabin used in The Evil Dead in 1982?

The owners were fed up with trespassers; only the chimney survives, and visitors still carry off its stones.

How much did The Evil Dead gross worldwide, according to its Wikipedia tally?

Only $2.4 million came from the US; the film was a much bigger hit overseas and became the UK's best-selling video of the year, outgrossing The Shining.

Which 1990s video game hero quotes so many Ash lines that Bruce Campbell was angry at not being paid?

The films influenced Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and Blood, and Evil Dead was cited as an inspiration for the original Doom.

What is the 2008 comedy Campbell directed and starred in, playing a version of himself hired to fight a spirit?

It is not a continuation of Army of Darkness but a comedy about townsfolk mistaking Bruce for the hero he plays.

Which two studios pitched Ash vs. Freddy vs. Jason, an idea Rob Tapert says was considered 'for one second'?

Two comic-book series eventually used the concept instead, including Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors.