director Sam Raimi and marks a seminal entry into the horror genre, with Campbell starring as Ash, one of five friends who become tormented by flesh-possessing demons while at a cabin in the woods. Campbell would reprise the role for Evil Dead II in 1987 and Army of Darkness in 1992, both of which mixed horror and comedy.

During a recent interview with Variety, Campbell reflected on his time in the Evil Dead franchise, breaking down why he and Raimi decided to pivot away from the pure horror of the first film. According to the actor, the response to the original unrated Evil Dead was so strong that they decided to lighten things up for the sequels to avoid being known as "horror guys" for the rest of their careers. Check out Campbell's explanation or watch the video (relevant section begins at 45 seconds) below:

“We coined the phrase “Splatstick” from Evil Dead 2. It’s horror and comedy, but it’s a tricky dance. We only got into comedy, adding it to horror films, because we were tired of seeing people faint at the first Evil Dead. I mean, there’s some nasty stuff in that. It’s an unrated movie.

And so we thought, ‘Is that us? We’re horror guys for the rest of our lives?’ But we were huge fans of The Three Stooges. So we thought, let’s start putting some of that in there. Stuff gets too serious. Writers get too serious. They get too serious about their own words. “Don’t change my perfect words.” Some of the best lines of dialogue were never written in a screenplay.”

What Evil Dead's Comedy Meant For The Franchise

And Where Evil Dead Is Going Next

Though the original Evil Dead remains beloved, the comedic aspects of the later installments have certainly contributed to the franchise's longevity. The horror/comedy tone of Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, after all, is truly unique, and something that Raimi and Campbell have both been associated with ever since. As seen in the chart below, Evil Dead II is also the highest-rated movie in the franchise on Rotten Tomatoes.

2013's Evil Dead reboot largely did away with the comedy, and, even though it offers up plenty of gore and a standout ending, it's notable that this film is the worst-received franchise entry thus far. Evil Dead Rise (2023) brought back a hint of camp and comedy, though to a much lesser degree than the Raimi films, and it was a success both critically and commercially.

Two new Evil Dead films are confirmed to be in the works from directors Sébastien Vaniček and Francis Galluppi. While few details are known about the latter director's film, Vaniček has teased that his Evil Dead spinoff movie will be "something realistic that hurts you, a mean movie that moves you," suggesting it will be closer to the pure horror tone of the 2013 movie than the horror-comedy of the Raimi films.

Our Take On Evil Dead's Mix Of Horror & Comedy

Why The Franchise Might Not Return To Its Horror-Comedy Roots

The Ash vs. Evil Dead TV show, which ran for three seasons on Starz, is the closest the franchise has come to truly recapturing the tone of the original Raimi movies. While there's plenty to like about both 2013's Evil Dead and Evil Dead Rise, both of those films are quite serious overall, at least relatively speaking.

Pushing the franchise forward and allowing new filmmakers to put their own spin on things is a strong way to continue the IP, but hopefully, future installments won't be afraid to embrace the sillier and more comedic aspects of the franchise once more. This could be a big ask, however, as horror-comedy is generally harder to market and sell to audiences. It remains to be seen how the future of the Evil Dead franchise will pan out, but the original three films remain compelling watches to this day.

Source: Variety