Movies
Sam Raimi and Friends’ 1979 Short ‘Attack of the Helping Hand!’ Foreshadowed ‘Evil Dead 2’
Today we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Evil Dead 2.
As most are aware, the Evil Dead franchise actually began in the late ’70s. The Evil Dead was of course released in ’81, but its origins date back to a ’78 short titled Within the Woods. Directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell, the 31-minute short was the direct predecessor to The Evil Dead, serving as a proof-of-concept that allowed for the ’81 film to be made.
But Within the Woods certainly was not the only short film made by Raimi and friends in their early filmmaking days that proved to be hugely influential on the Evil Dead franchise.
Made by the friends in 1979, the Super 8 short film Attack of the Helping Hand! was written and directed by Scott Spiegel, who went on to co-write Evil Dead 2 nearly a decade later. A spoof of the Hamburger Helper commercials that were airing at the time, the 6-minute short centered on a woman being attacked by the product’s mascot: a white glove with a smiley face on it.
Of course, the idea of a disembodied hand would later be to used to great effect in Evil Dead 2; perhaps the film’s most memorable sequence sees Ash cutting off his own hand after it becomes possessed, which then scampers around and torments him. Attack of the Helping Hand! clearly inspired that sequence, right down to the hand humorously flipping the middle finger.
Oh and it starred Sam Raimi as a friendly milkman!
Without Attack of the Helping Hand!, it’s possible that Ash Williams would’ve never cut off his hand in Evil Dead 2. Celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary by watching the ’79 short below.
The next V/H/S installment is on the way, this time from producer Roy Lee (Weapons, IT), and it’s landed on its new theme.
Spooky Pictures and Image Nation are teaming to produce V/H/S: SCP, Variety reports, and it’ll be the first feature-length addition to the online collective fiction project, the SCP (Special Containment Procedures) Foundation.
The SCP Foundation began in 2008 as a collaborative digital project and has since grown into one of the largest fan-driven horror and sci-fi universes online. You can get acquainted with the SCP Foundation via Bloody FM’s SCP Archives podcast.
V/H/S: SCP will be framed as “’recovered field documentation,’ or video evidence gathered, redacted, and archived by the secretive organization. Standalone segments in the anthology will focus on different objects, entities, or events under the containment-breach narrative.”
Spooky Pictures is headed by genre veterans Steven Schneider (Insidious, Paranormal Activity) and Roy Lee (Weapons, IT). They’ll be joined by Josh Goldbloom (V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, V/H/S/Halloween) and Michael Schreiber (V/H/S/94, V/H/S/Beyond) as producers.
“The horror genre continues to be a remarkable launchpad for new talent to share original creations, and the vast SCP universe has provided a vital incubator for this creativity to thrive,” Spooky Pictures co-founder Steven Schneider said. “Along with INS, this next project reinforces our shared commitment to look in new and unexpected spaces for stories. We can’t wait to expand the V/H/S franchise with new, fresh, and terrifying stories that will keep viewers coming back for more.”
V/H/S launched in 2012, followed by 2013’s V/H/S/2, 2014’s V/H/S: Viral, 2021’s V/H/S/94, 2022’s V/H/S/99, 2023’s V/H/S/85, 2024’s V/H/S/Beyond, and 2025’s V/H/S/Halloween.
The upcoming installment marks the ninth film in this franchise.
The SCP Foundation is a worldwide force dedicated to securing, containing, and protecting anomalies from people – At least according to the lore of the website.
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