Modern cinema’s grasp on what constitutes a sequel, remake, spiritual successor, or reboot is tumultuous at best – is Better Luck Tomorrow part of the Fast & Furious franchise, for example? While this may sound like a rather broad stroke, it is one that is easily narrowed when pertaining to the realm of horror. Be it an unofficial Italian sequel (featuring a kick ass zombie vs. shark fight) or a tacked on post-credits scene, horror films have a wide array of slapdash world-building tools at their disposal, which are utilized to create uneven (and often maligned) results.
The one horror franchise that has transcended the constraints of trying to keep a cinematic barge afloat in a sea of studio politics, financial limitations, and creative differences is Sam Raimi’s beloved Evil Dead series. Fans and critics alike have embraced the inconsistencies, contradictions, and retcons between films and championed Evil Dead’s laissez faire attitude when it comes to storytelling. This is so omnipresent within the series that there is still debate/confusion/anxiety over whether or not Fede Álvarez’s 2013 film Evil Dead is a remake, a reboot, or a quasi-sequel (or perhaps all three?).
If a movie with the same name as the film it’s remaking or rebooting or who-the-hell-knows-what-ing can’t even be clear on the subject, I feel it is not out of the question that Sam Raimi’s underappreciated 2009 splatstick masterpiece Drag Me to Hell is part of this mad, mad, demon-filled world.
Before we dive into the deep end, I want to make it clear that there will be spoilers for Drag Me to Hell, all four official Evil Dead movies, and the first two seasons of Starz’s “Ash Vs. Evil Dead” television series in this article. Big, bloody, spoilers. So, if you have not seen the aforementioned works, stop reading this, lock yourself in a room for the next 24 hours, and binge watch away. Trust me, you’ll be better for it.
Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way…
Aside from Sam Raimi directing the original Evil Dead trilogy and Drag Me to Hell, there is a lot of crimson connective tissue between them when it comes to the folks behind the camera. Sam Raimi and his brother Ivan share writing duties on Army of Darkness, the premiere episode of “Ash Vs Evil Dead,” and Drag Me to Hell. Producer Rob Tapert has bankrolled each of these projects. And Drag Me to Hell cinematographer Peter Deming was the director of photography on Evil Dead 2. While these were the names that jumped out at me, the list certainly goes on. Just go ask IMDb.
The other obvious standout when it comes to connecting Drag Me to Hell to the Evil Dead universe is the self-inflicted pastiche by Raimi and Co. Both properties center around an ancient evil stalking young people. This very familiar premise is translated to the audience through the subtle and wonderful use of predatory camera angles and the less subtle means of balls out demonic possession and physical assault (you know, the fun stuff). And with Evil Dead (2013) being the outlier, all these works feature a heavy dose of (mostly intentional) comedy companied with their buckets of…um, fluids.
But it doesn’t stop there…
The boldest evidence that really makes the strongest case for Drag Me to Hell’s existence in the world of Evil Dead is the iconography. Both works feature ceremonial daggers, dark grimoires filled with demon-summoning text that people love to read aloud for some reason, haunted relics, and, most importantly, demonologists.
When everyone’s favorite bone-headed demon hunter Ashley Williams made his return to the franchise in “Ash Vs. Evil Dead,” arguably the best addition to his world was awkward stock boy turned reluctant brujo Pablo Simon Bolivar, played by the insanely charismatic Ray Santiago. Pablo acts as a conduit between the horror occurring on screen and how it is presented to the viewer. This type of character has been used before in the Evil Dead films, but to a lesser extent. Professor Raymond Knowby can be heard on the recordings found by Ash and his friends in the first two films, regaling them with the horrors unleashed by the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. Ian Abercrombie also plays a similar role in Army of Darkness as the wise man who gives Ash instructions on how to reverse the tide of terror.
While Professor Knowby does play a larger part in the second season of “Ash Vs. Evil Dead” (and can also be heard in Evil Dead 2013), it is Pablo who inhabits that role for the duration of the series. He’s the guy who knows what’s going on, but doesn’t know that he knows it sometimes. It’s a wonderful place for a character to be and he carries out his duties without forcefully propelling the story. Meanwhile, at the Drag Me to Hell camp, half the goddamn cast is that character. Be it the curse-barking Mrs. Ganush or the humble fortune-telling Rham or the maniacal séance-conducting Shaun San Dena, Drag Me to Hell pushed the supernatural savvy archetype to the forefront of its story and lets these characters breathe life into their world.
There is one thing, though…
The one missing link is Bruce Campbell, of course. Ash makes no appearance in Drag Me to Hell – if he had been seen gawking from the train station platform as Christine is in fact dragged to hell by ravenous demons, this article would not exist. In the minds of many fans, Ash popping up would instantly make it Evil Dead canon. Case closed. But even with the absence of Ash, I feel it would be foolish to brush Drag Me to Hell aside, since characters do not have to be a defining factor in continuity.
The Purge Anarchy has none of the original cast or characters from the first film and the series shifted from the home invasion genre to a late ‘70s era Walter Hill-style dystopian thriller. Yet we all agree that these two films are connected because of their iconography and their inciting event which is The Purge itself (and, of course the title of the film).
The same can be said for George Romero’s Living Dead film cycle, in which none of the characters or titles are consistent, but we consider them to exist in the same world because, well…because zombies and George told us so. But this furthers the point that characters do not dictate continuity. The fact that the Evil Dead films exist in Ash’s world is not defined by Ash, himself. Quite the contrary: the world of Evil Dead validates Ash’s existence.
This begs the question: short of using the same cast, characters, and adding numbers or sub-titles to the name of the film, what components of a film make a follow up a true-blue sequel?
It’s up to you…
If nothing else, Drag Me to Hell is an “unofficial” film in the Evil Dead universe. All the hallmarks that make Evil Dead wonderful are present: gore, humor, demons, screaming animal heads, more gore, etc. I watched a nice little double feature of Evil Dead 2 and Drag Me to Hell while working on this article, and let me tell you, those two films go together better than Revenge of the Sith and The Empire Strikes Back. Their tones mirror each other wonderfully and complement one another like a bottle of Merlot and a can of squeeze cheese (I am a classy man).
So, does Drag Me to Hell take place in the Evil Dead universe? Honestly, it’s up to you. If you’re willing to accept the disparity within other film franchises, maybe we all should welcome Drag Me to Hell with open arms and bring it into the fold of one of our great horror universes.
After all, what’s in a name?