One of the most iconic movie review blurbs of all time came from Stephen King, whose rave review for Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead back in 1982 was so influential that it played a huge role in the movie’s success. King called Sam Raimi‘s debut “The most ferociously original horror film of 1982,” and at the time the film didn’t actually have a distributor in place.

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. Of course, 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.

Raimi recalled back in 2015, “Without that, the movie may have been lost, but with Stephen King’s endorsement, we were able to make our first sales.”

Why do we bring this up? Because here we are FOURTY ONE YEARS later and Stephen King has just tweeted a bit of praise for the latest installment in the Evil Dead franchise!

King tweets, “While I’m busy promoting, how about EVIL DEAD RISE? It’s gruesome, it’s bloody, it’s even got an elevator vomiting blood. Not to mention chainsaw-fu.”

It would seem the franchise has now officially come full circle. Evil Dead Rise will be unleashed in theaters nationwide tomorrow night. Listen to Stephen King. Don’t miss it.

While I’m busy promoting, how about EVIL DEAD RISE? It’s gruesome, it’s bloody, it’s even got an elevator vomiting blood. Not to mention chainsaw-fu.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 19, 2023