Editorials
[Editorial] Can the ‘Evil Dead’ Franchise Continue Without Bruce Campbell?
The biggest horror news of last week sadly paved way for the biggest horror news of this week, with this past Friday’s cancellation of “Ash vs. Evil Dead” leading to star Bruce Campbell officially hanging up the chainsaw-hand this week. According to Campbell, he’s done playing Ash Williams, setting his sights instead on other fish he wants to fry.
So where does that leave the Evil Dead franchise, to which Campbell is inextricably linked? Could it continue beyond Campbell, or does it die along with his retirement?
The good news for Evil Dead is that there’s certainly no shortage of other characters to take up the mantle, and Fede Alvarez’s exceptionally grueling remake already proved that Evil Dead doesn’t *need* Ash. Lest you think such a statement is sacrilege, check out what Campbell wrote this week, in his official announcement about his Ash retirement:
“Is Ash dead? Never. Ash is as much a concept as a person. Where there is evil in this world, there must be one to counter – man or woman, it matters not.”
In other words, in Bruce Campbell’s own words, “Ash” is merely the hero who stands up against evil in the world of Evil Dead, and Jane Levy’s Mia already proved that back in 2013. Ash himself may be the “chosen one,” tasked with vanquishing Deadites and saving the world, but Mia proved that Ash isn’t the only one who’s cut out for that particularly unpleasant line of work. And though nothing is in the works at this time – we reached out to Fede Alvarez over the weekend, who told us that he hasn’t heard a peep – we’d *love* to see Mia return in a sequel to Evil Dead. Granted, what we all wanted was an Ash/Mia team-up film, but a Levy-lead remake franchise sounds just as good to me.
Let’s not forget that Mia, like Ash in Evil Dead 2, lost a hand in her first battle with the Deadites, so she could even be affixed with a chainsaw hand to truly become a new Ash!
But Mia isn’t the only Evil Dead character who suggests a promising future for the franchise, as “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” though it may have only lasted three seasons, gave us three main characters who we’d love to see back in action either individually or together, perhaps even with Mia by their sides. I’m of course talking about Kelly Maxwell and Pablo Simon Bolivar, Ash’s two sidekicks throughout the entire run of the Starz series, as well as Brandy Barr, Ash’s teenage daughter who we first met (as did Ash) in Season 3.
Kelly, played by Dana DeLorenzo, is a badass, take no shit fighter who would herself be a worthy replacement for Ash going forward, as she’s become the most fan-favorite character introduced in the Starz series. As for Pablo, played by Ray Santiago, he rose to his destiny as “Brujo Especial” in Season 3 of “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” essentially making him the first superhero in the Evil Dead universe (sorry, Ash). Imbued with both good and evil powers, Pablo is perhaps even more equipped to protect the world from the evils of the Book of the Dead than Ash himself, so there’s endless potential there.
And then there’s Brandy, played by Australian actress Arielle Carver-O’Neill. Brandy unfortunately didn’t get all that much to do in Season 3 of “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” and one of the biggest bummers of the series being cancelled is that Brandy was just coming into her own as a great character in literally the final two episodes. Brandy has finally embraced who she is – the daughter of the “Chosen One,” meaning she’s going to have to carry on her dad’s work – and we really would’ve loved to see Brandy and Ash fighting side-by-side in Season 4. With Campbell retired as Ash, that’s looking very unlikely in any iteration of the Evil Dead franchise’s future, but it’d be fun to see Ash’s daughter continue on in her old man’s stead. She’s the only other Williams there is, after all.
But perhaps the most exciting potential for the future of Evil Dead is that the stage has been perfectly set for the blood-soaked insanity to continue, in some form, with three ass-kicking females at the helm. The thought of Mia, Kelly and Brandy joining forces to continue Ash’s work is nothing if not a hugely exciting one, as it’d allow for the remake and original franchises to be blended together in a really fun way. Such a mash-up could go down in a variety of ways, either with a sequel to the Evil Dead remake or perhaps even a sort-of continuation of “Ash vs. Evil Dead” on a platform like Netflix or Amazon. You can’t have “Ash vs. Evil Dead” without Ash, this much is true, but a simple name change could allow for the spirit of the series to carry on in a different form. “Kelly vs. Evil Dead” has a nice ring to it, and DeLorenzo is certainly deserving of top billing.
No matter what the future holds, one thing is for certain: Bruce Campbell will always be greatly missed in any project bearing the Evil Dead title that he’s not a part of. But with a strong roster of other characters at their disposal, the franchise’s creative forces certainly have a lot to work with if they choose to continue on without the guy with the gun.
Here’s hoping the last of Ash doesn’t mean the last of Evil Dead.
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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