While Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead trilogy is still looked back on fondly, there are actually 10 things that the Evil Dead reboots do better. Most viewers still consider Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead trilogy to be the best that the franchise has to offer, with the campy horror classics still being popular to this day. However, whether it be due to budget restrictions or simply overlooking elements, these movies have some flaws. Luckily, though, the two Evil Dead reboots have had time to fix these issues, improving on these 10 elements.
Sam Raimi's 1981 film The Evil Dead was an instant icon, with it introducing and popularizing many of the franchise's most famous elements, such as Ash Williams, the Deadites, and the Necronomicon. Due to the original film's success, it was followed up by two sequels: Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. However, the franchise went on a hiatus after Army of Darkness' box office failure, only returning for a reboot with 2013's Evil Dead. Although the first reboot never got any sequels, the franchise again returned to the big screen in 2023 for a second reboot: Evil Dead Rise. Interestingly, both of these reboots improve on the original movies.
10 Evil Dead 2013 & Evil Dead Rise Have Even More Gore
The Evil Dead and its sequels are famously gory, with the amount of violence earning the original film an NC-17 rating. While this over-the-top gore has become a core part of the franchise, Evil Dead 2013 and Evil Dead Rise really ramped it up, featuring more violence than any of the entries in the original trilogy. Evil Dead 2013's bloody finale features a downpour of red rain as Mia fights an ultra-powerful Deadite, whereas Evil Dead Rise features an elevator full of blood, a horrific cheese grater scene, and a Deadite going through a wood chipper. While the originals are still violent, there's no doubt that the reboots are gorier.
9 The Evil Dead Reboots Have A More Consistent Tone
While the original Evil Dead trilogy's campy tone is part of the fun, it is anything but consistent. Viewers that jump from The Evil Dead to Army of Darkness will feel as if they're watching two completely different films, with the former attempting to be a serious horror film and the latter being a comedy with homages to The Three Stooges. Both Evil Dead reboots, however, are straight-up horror flicks, with them maintaining a mostly serious tone throughout the entirety of the film.
8 The Characters In The Evil Dead Reboots Are Taken More Seriously
On top of that the more serious tone, the characters in the Evil Dead reboots are taken far more seriously. Besides Ash, the characters in the original trilogy are mostly canon fodder, only appearing so that they can be torn apart by Deadites. Both Evil Dead movies, however, actually give characterization to the ing cast, causing their deaths or transformations into Deadites to be even sadder. Both reboots have memorable human characters, whereas the original trilogy really only has Ash.
7 The Evil Dead Reboots Expand The Lore Of The Necronomicon
The lore of the Necronomicon is one of the franchise's most interesting elements, and it is greatly expanded on in the two Evil Dead reboots. While Ash vs. Evil Dead also attempted to delve deeper into the book's lore, it isn't explored much in the original trilogy, leaving a lot of room for expansion. The reboots, however, give a better look at the history of the book and what it is capable of, with Evil Dead 2013 exploring demonology and Evil Dead Rise showing off various records surrounding the books.
6 The Evil Dead Reboots Have Actual Villains
While the Deadites are the main antagonists of every Evil Dead movie, the two Evil Dead reboots attempt to actually have villains that are more than just faceless monsters. Evil Dead 2013 does this with Eric, a human character that brings a lot of conflict to the group. Evil Dead Rise does this improvement in a different way, focusing on only one main Deadite: Ellie. The villains are something that the original trilogy seriously needed to improve on, but the reboots fix them.
5 The Deadites Are Scarier In The Evil Dead Reboots
The Evil Dead reboots also improved on the original trilogy's Deadites by making them much scarier. In the original trilogy, the Deadites are pretty comical, with them hurling insults at the main characters and often fighting in slapstick ways. Evil Dead 2013 took a whole new approach to the Deadites, making them truly terrifying dismembered versions of their human hosts. Evil Dead Rise is a little more faithful to the original trilogy's Deadites, but the modern special effects and toned-down writing makes them scarier as well.
4 The Special Effects Are More Consistent In The Evil Dead Reboots
The Evil Dead's special effects are one of the film's most praised aspects, with it employing all kinds of practical effects on a fairly cheap budget. While some of these look great, some look pretty bad, such as the obvious moon skybox or the visible blood tubes that can be seen throughout the original film. For the most part, both Evil Dead reboots stick to practical effects, but the bigger budgets and greater attention to detail make these effects far more consistent.
3 The Original Evil Dead Movies Are Problematic, & The Reboots Fix This
Some parts of the original Evil Dead movies are hard to watch, with The Evil Dead's tree assault scene being a massive blemish on the franchise. Sam Raimi has even expressed regret in filming the scene. While the tree scene does appear in Evil Dead 2013, director Fede Alvarez claims that he was forced to put the scene in, and even then it was much less exploitative than the original. Even better, Evil Dead Rise didn't feature anything like the tree scene, ridding the franchise of its most problematic element.
2 The Evil Dead Reboots Feel Less Cheap Than The Originals (& They Are)
While the original Evil Dead trilogy's cheapness is part of the fun, it makes it hard to get new fans hooked. However, the modern Evil Dead reboots feel far less cheap, with their bigger budgets and smarter financial allocations allowing the film to actually look pretty impressive. Although the cheap and campy tone can be fun, the Evil Dead reboots are definitely an improvement on this.
1 The Evil Dead Reboots Pull Off The Original Film's Vision Better
One of the biggest benefits of the Evil Dead reboots is that they pull off the original film's vision better. The Evil Dead was meant to be a serious horror movie, but inexperience and budget restrictions led to it being the beloved campy horror movie that it is today. However, Evil Dead Rise and especially Evil Dead 2013 attempted to capture the tone that Sam Raimi originally envisioned, causing the reboots to truly encapsulate what the Evil Dead franchise was first meant to be.
