Sunday Scaries: The ‘Evil Dead’ Franchise is Continuing to Prove to Be a Bloody Good Playground for Directors

The Sunday Scaries are upon us once again! Yes, as the weekend concludes, most of us feel an oncoming sense of anticipatory dread about the week ahead. Anxiety about work manifests itself into a feeling that’s known as the Sunday Scaries. However, we at Awards Radar are here to combat that, by taking back the name. Now, we want you think about a horror-centric piece on the site when you hear the term. So, let us continue on with another installment of the Awards Radar Sunday Scaries! Today, we’re again discussing the Evil Dead franchise and how the filmmakers who have helmed the movies really do get to mess around in a bloody playground.

For decades now, the Evil Dead movies have been gleefully bringing the gore to, well…gorehounds. From its very indie beginnings with The Evil Dead, all the way to this weekend’s Evil Dead Burn, directors have seen the series as an avenue to have some carnage-filled fun. Truly, it might be the horror franchise that lets a filmmaker most run wild.

This most recent installment certainly was no exception. In my Evil Dead Burn review, I had this to say, in part:

Filmmaker Sébastien Vanicek brings a mild French new extremity feel to things here. Directing a screenplay he co-wrote with Florent Bernard, Vanicek ups the carnage, really digging in, no pun intended. Bernard and Vanicek aren’t afraid to use trauma to their gory benefit, while they also throw in one or two of the weirder moments in the franchise. Now, there’s also a part involving a dog that I absolutely hated, and Vanicek couldn’t resist a spider cameo (he just directed the spider creature feature Infested), but visually, things are pretty creative. The script does fall a bit short, given it’s occasionally heady European influences, but it’s nothing that some well depicted gore can’t paper over.

Starting with Sam Raimi, the initial trilogy of The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness evolved into more and more of a horror/comedy hybrid. Now, there was always blood and gore, along with interesting camera movements, but Raimi really made sure to show you all the fun he was having. There’s a reason what he started has resonated for so long. He hit on a very satisfying mixture, one that others have copied in all shapes and sizes.

The eventual remake, Evil Dead, saw Fede Alvarez chosen to take over for Raimi. Alvarez really went all-in on the carnage, making for the least humorous installment to date, but with a real flair for the gore. The director has continued to showcase those skills outside of this property, but as a calling card here, he really took the bloody ball and ran with it.

Then with Evil Dead Rise, it was Lee Cronin‘s turn. Cronin homages Raimi here and there, but he’s really doing his own thing, most notably with the emotional stakes he adds on to the blood and guts. As mentioned above, he does a lot with this, while never skimping on the viscera. It’s a good mix of old and new, which is partly why the film is already proving to be so popular.

Now, we have Sébastien Vanicek, who, as mentioned above, gives things a European bent. In fact, one might even see it as an extension of the French new extremity horror movement about twenty years ago. Cronin had a slightly steadier overall contribution with Evil Dead Rise, but in terms of directorial flourishes, Vanicek makes Evil Dead Burn one of the most unique looking efforts yet.

Next, there’s Evil Dead Wrath, which is a prequel to this current timeline. The filmmaker in question is Francis Galluppi, who could easily inspire another installment of this piece. Time will tell there, but the franchise really is showing no signs of slowing down, nor have they moved away from hiring interesting directors. So, things are in Galluppi’s favor.

My point here? This series is really a great place for a director to go to town with the carnage. Creatively, it offers up what few other horror properties can. When you see an Evil Dead flick, you know that the person helming is about to unleash something fun and unique on you. Here’s hoping that we don’t see that change anytime soon…

Stay tuned for another Sunday Scaries installment next week!