I remember when the first trailer for the long-promised follow-up to Sam Raimi’s perfect "Evil Dead" trilogy surfaced on the Internet. I thought, “Why bother advertising this show? Anyone who would want to watch it is going to no matter how shitty this commercial is,” and then promptly watched it three times. On that page, I feel it completely unnecessary to recap the background of "Evil Dead" and its long journey to the small screen, because anyone who would care to read this review already knows it by heart. With that said, to give my own history with the series, I will say that I consider "Evil Dead" to be the high point of low-budget filmmaking (if you’re an aspiring indie filmmaker, or just a fan, "If Chins Could Kill" is essential reading), and the trilogy to be possibly the most consistent horror (and comedy) series of all time. Each one is as good as the one preceding it.
The series opens on Ash, now middle-aged and still working retail. The scenes on Ash are characterized by the slapstick comedy of "Army of Darkness" (although, due to copyright issues, that film is not mentioned, nor does he work at S-Mart). Some of which hit their mark, though others fall pretty flat on their ass. In many ways, the pilot feels more like a spiritual successor to "My Name is Bruce" than a continuation of Sam Raimi’s "Evil Dead" trilogy. The Raimi imprint is actually lacking from quite a bit of the episode. It’s definitely not the triumphant return to form I was hoping for as a fan. There are moments when his trademark style shines through (seeing the POV demon race through a parking lot, a scene featuring a character locked inside of a house with Deadites), but if I didn’t already know he was behind the camera himself, I would’ve thought it was any TV director imitating his style.
One confusing and disappointing addition to the series is the use of CGI, especially after the emphasis the remake had on practical effects and optical illusions. The series as a whole looked very cheap, especially when compared to the production of other series today. Granted, "Evil Dead" will always trace back to low-budget filmmaking, but Raimi and company always knew how to work within its confines. There are definitely some embarrassing effects that took me out of the scenes they were featured in.
The introduction of the sidekicks is…not all that interesting. Neither of them are particularly interesting or charming, from what we’ve seen so far. The male sidekick is always referring to some hero figure in mythology that he believes to be Ash. It feels out of place, but could eventually tie into Ash’s time-travelling adventure in a fun way.
It’s not all bad. There are some action scenes that stand out, and some laughs that work, but Ash’s return isn’t the triumphant reprisal fans have waited so long for. Overall, I did enjoy the episode well enough, but if it was an original product, I wonder how much interest in the series I would have from this episode alone. Overall, I’d say it’s got some stand-out moments, and the charm of seeing Bruce Campbell return as Ash makes the episode worth watching for fans, but it’s far from the series at its best.
7.5/10
