Terribly funny, or funny to horror: 5 most impressive scenes in the 45-year history of "Evil Dead"
The creator of "Evil Dead," director and screenwriter Sam Raimi, has an odd talent for making you twitch and snort at the same time. In the original trilogy he didn’t just mix scares with laughs — he shoved them together until they stuck. Later filmmakers picked up those impulses: Fede Alvarez riffed on Raimi in Evil Dead: The Black Book, Lee Cronin took the family dynamics in a different, louder direction with Evil Dead Rise, and Sebastian Vanicek is steering a fresh, nastier chapter called Evil Dead: Hell, due in Russian cinemas on July 16. The through-line? A willingness to be gleefully perverse — sometimes grotesque, sometimes slapsticky — and to make the audience feel mildly ashamed of enjoying both.
Below are five scenes you can’t really cut out of the franchise’s DNA. The heroes improvise with whatever’s at hand — e.g., kettles, box cutters, chainsaws, car doors, etc. — and the camera loves the result. At the end I’ll hazard a guess about what the next entry might try to pull off.
"Evil Dead": When trees were big, scary, and slightly unruly
The set-up is textbook: students, a cabin, the Necronomicon — but then the forest eats the script. The most notorious moment is that sequence where the trees become predators: branches grab, clothes are torn, and the heroine is violated in a way that still makes viewers squirm. Even now people argue about whether it went too far. Back in 1981 the film was slammed by critics and trimmed for some markets. The effects look handmade — and that’s part of why the scene lingers. Hoses, ropes, reverse shots and off-camera extras tossing leaves were the low-tech answer to a surprisingly invasive idea. It’s crude, yes, but it works on a skin-level: uncomfortable and not easily forgotten.
"Evil Dead 2": Luxurious handmade work
Ash Williams’s escalation is the film’s middle finger to subtlety. When his hand turns on him he takes the blunt approach — a chainsaw amputation — and then upgrades himself, attaching a chainsaw where a hand once was. Fast cuts and in-camera tricks sell the brutal joke; Bruce Campbell’s battered grin finishes it. The one-word catchphrase — "Groovy" (in the classic translation — "Luxurious") — nails the tone: cocky, absurd, and a touch maniacal. That moment made Ash an icon: half man, half tool, fully unhinged.
"Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness": For those who like it hotter
Ash ducks into an abandoned mill and meets tiny duplicate versions of himself — mischievous, vindictive mini-Ashes that quickly make his life a cartoonish torture. They prod him where it hurts, press him against a hot stove, and one even bounces into his mouth. Ash responds like a man who’s had enough: he rips, he stomps, he improvises with a frying pan and a dustpan and generally looks like he’s auditioning for medieval slapstick. The scene’s energy flips between physical gag and gross-out horror so fast your reactions do somersaults. It’s a good example of how the series learned to treat pain as both spectacle and punchline.
What to expect from the new chapter? Don’t go in hoping for a polished morality play. If the trailers are any guide, the franchise still prefers to invent violent set pieces and then find the joke inside them. Maybe the tone will shift — maybe it won’t. But if you want the old recipe, think: more extreme improvisation, bigger practical stunts, and a refusal to be tasteful about bodily harm. P.S. — bring a towel.