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Sam Raimi Admits He Didn’t Initially Like the Title ‘The Evil Dead’ for His Horror Classic

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Longtime fans know that Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead originally began its life as a short proof-of-concept film titled Within the Woods, but did you know that the 1981 horror classic was almost never titled The Evil Dead at all? Sam Raimi’s original title for the feature length version of Within the Woods was The Book of the Dead, and it wasn’t his decision to change it.

Raimi explains to Empire Magazine during a chat about new movie Evil Dead Rise, “The original title of the [original] movie was The Book of the Dead. But film-sales agent Irvin Shapiro sat Rob [Tapert], Bruce [Campbell] and I down and said, ‘We’re changing the title, boys. Advertising space in the newspaper is paid for by the inch, kid. We’re not going to have a five-word title. ‘Dead’ can stay. You can have one other word. You can call it 101% Dead, or Evil Dead.”

Raimi recalls, “I thought, ‘But those are the worst two titles I’ve ever heard in my life! Evil Dead sucks! How can something be evil and dead?’ I just thought it was so stupid.”

So I chose the lesser of the two horrible titles,” Raimi continues, noting that he has since come around to the title. “But now I’ve started to like it. It’s pretty good.”

Another fun fact about the original The Evil Dead? Back in 1982, Stephen King caught a screening of the movie at the Cannes Film Festival, which at the time did not have a U.S. distributor. In fact, studios including Paramount passed on the film, feeling that it was just too aggressive in its approach. Too raw. Too scary. Too gruesome. Too… much.

New Line Cinema eventually picked up The Evil Dead, and the rest is history. Who does Sam Raimi credit with legitimizing his debut feature and bringing it to the attention of New Line? That’d be Stephen King, who wrote a glowing review of the film for Twilight Zone Magazine.

You can read Stephen King’s The Evil Dead review right here!

Evil Dead Rise brings the franchise back to theaters on April 21, 2023.

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Movies

Don Mancini in the “Early Stages” of Working On a New “Chucky” Movie!

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Everyone’s favorite killer doll is headed back to the small screen with “Chucky” Season 3: Part 2 on April 10, but are any further movies being planned at this time?

Created by Don Mancini, the “Chucky” television series remarkably plays around with existing elements from all previous films without disregarding ANYTHING from the past. From the original Child’s Play to sequels including Child’s Play 2, Bride of Chucky and even Seed of Chucky, it’s all one cohesive timeline that Mancini remains deeply committed to.

Of course, the most recent film in the Child’s Play franchise was the 2019 remake, to date the only movie in the saga that’s NOT part of Mancini’s vision. Is Mancini’s original incarnation going to spend his final days on TV, while another Chucky will be featured in the movies? It’s a question we’ve been asking ourselves for the last few years, and we may now have an answer.

Speaking with the Scream Dreams Podcast this week, Mancini revealed that he’s in the early stages of development on a potential new installment in the original Chucky film franchise!

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CHUCKY — “Jennifer’s Body” Episode 303 — Pictured in this screengrab: Chucky — (Photo by: SYFY)

“Like anyone in this business, I want to do more things. At this point though if it’s only Chucky I’m totally cool with that,” Mancini explains. “I have other things I want to do. I’m working on a new pilot. I’m also, actually, in the early stages of working on a new Chucky movie.”

Mancini adds, “At this point, my goal is just to keep working.”

Outside of the aforementioned Child’s Play remake, there are to date seven installments in the franchise, with Cult of Chucky (2017) being the original franchise’s most recent film.

For now, Chucky remains a small screen icon. Don’t miss the premiere of Season 3: Part 2 on both USA and SYFY on April 10, with new episodes hitting Peacock the day after they air.

You can watch Don Mancini’s full chat with Scream Dreams below.

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