Ash vs. Evil Dead, "El Jefe"

The reason the Evil Dead series remains so popular, I think, is because it really gets why people love horror movies, and gives it to them. It’s got the gore (and then some), it’s got the humor, and at least in its earlier entries, it’s got the scares. Instead of the traditional slow-building tension of your average horror movie, the series employs a hyper, off-the-wall pacing that’s as full of energy as terror. The 1981 original, for my money, is the best Halloween party movie, ever.

The comedy gradually overtook the horror as the series went on, and Bruce Campbell’s protagonist Ash evolved from a typical dimwitted horror lead in The Evil Dead, to a parody of a dimwitted horror lead in Evil Dead II, to a comically uber-macho (and still slightly dimwitted) action hero by the third entry Army of Darkness. All have been have entertaining, but nothing that came after ever matched the raw, frenetic, hungry effect of the low-budget original. Still, having a cult following, and this being the age of resurrecting any and all objects of nostalgia, the series has come back to life like one of the evil Deadites. First came the more straight-played, seemingly unrelated remake two years ago (also good), and now comes Ash vs. Evil Dead, a direct sequel to the original storyline that ended in Army of Darkness.

The premiere finds ol’ Ash living a quiet life in a trailer park in Michigan, using his manly charms to woo the ladies. Unfortunately, during one of his marijuana-fueled hookups, he reads from the famed Necronomicon, releasing the Deadites upon the world once more. Despite the dark and supernatural forces descending on his town, Ash spends most of the episode spitting out every reluctant retired action hero cliché. But honestly, does anyone really believe he won’t eventually pick up his shotgun and chainsaw?

The show is pure fan service, offering a lot of things longtime viewers will instantly recognize: the fast-paced POV shots, the frantic and fearsome Deadite possessions, and plenty of gore (though of a more standard variety than the impressive stuff in the films). Also, Campbell has honed masterful comedic chops by this point, so Ash’s exchanges with his coworkers-turned-allies Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana Delorenzo) are amusing. For nonfan viewers, a subplot with Jill Marie Jones as a cop who comes face-to-face with the Deadites adds a bit of the terror that’s been lacking in the series since at least Evil Dead II. It doesn’t really hold any surprises for the initiated, though. Really, there’s nothing much here that hasn’t been done before, except for the novelty of seeing the greying Ash tangle with his undead foes Jason Bourne-style, and in the kinetic slow-mo that’s become commonplace in today’s action pictures.

One hopes the one thing about horror movies Ash vs. Evil Dead doesn’t come to embody is the diminishing returns that come with multiple entries. That tends to happen when horror franchises release sequels year after year, but this being a weekly series, it could reach that point much more quickly. We’ll see (it might be inevitable), but for now, the show is an adequate Halloween treat for fans, familiar but fun.