BWW Recap: Drugs and the Necronomicon Don't Mix in ASH VS. EVIL DEAD

If there's room for a sequel, it will likely be made. I'm not sure who greenlights the heap of groan-inducing follow-up films that are seemingly mass produced and thrown at us year after year, but I'd like to have a stern word with them. Write a proper script or stop it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first EVIL DEAD film (1979) that introduced us to Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) and his friends who went on that ill-fated trip to a cabin in the woods. It was there that they found and read from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis (the Book of the Dead), which brought hell to their front door in the form of Deadites (the undead). It cost Ash his friends, his lady, and his hand. There were great one-liners, bloody fights scenes, gory deaths, and a CHAINSAW HAND. There were also (SIGH) sequels that needn't have bothered.

There was the homage to the ED series with CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012), and then the reboot EVIL DEAD (2013). I was more skeptical of the latter than CABIN, because I tend not to question Joss Whedon. As someone who already hated the notion of remakes, I was especially hesitant due to rumors of several changes in the reboot. "This time Ash is a girl," I was told. Oooo, how risque! But I went, I saw, and I liked. The changes were well thought out, the action sequences were thrilling, and the special effects were bloody fantastic.

Was there a shift happening? Was someone editing scripts and deciding to make good movies again? Perhaps we'd see a rise in original stories instead of Americans slapped into remakes of British programs.

When I heard about the creation of a television series based on the EVIL DEAD franchise, I'm sure I pursed my lips into nonexistence. Did we really need more? What if it was utter trash?

Sam Raimi was attached, and Bruce Campbell was back. I wasn't sold until I saw production stills, and then trailer. It looked like fun. Bruce Campbell was Bruce. Campbell. And even the commercials made it seems as though no blood was spared. Starz was premiering the first of ten episodes on Halloween. I was ready.

After that lengthy, slightly rant-y intro, I'll tell you right now that the first episode is fantastic.

Ash is immediately introduced in all of his middle-aged glory. It's been 30 years since we last saw him, and he's changed a bit. Granted, it's not like we went from hot, young Bruce Campbell to a gnarled, spotted Mr. Burns. His aging is openly acknowledged a few different times; more funny than sad. He's an older, now one-handed stock boy (stock man?) who lives in a trailer, but his arrogance and swagger have not been lost.

We see our first glimpse of a Deadite in less than five minutes of the premiere, and soon learn that pot and the Necronomicon do not mix. The evil is back, and it's looking for Ash.

Jill Marie Jones plays Michigan State Detective Amanda Fisher. A neighbor's report of screams leads her and her partner Carson (Mike Edward) to a suspiciously quiet residence one night. They are attacked by a Deadite that claims to know who Amanda is (what's the back story there?!), and the end result of the altercation has Amanda searching for answers, and fighting to preserve her reputation.

Ash works - when he actually shows up for his shift - at the Value Stop with Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana Delorenzo). Pablo and his wall of tight, Kramer-esque hair, idolizes Ash and longs for Kelly. Kelly, who hasn't met Ash prior to the premiere, is indifferent to him. Her mom died (or DID SHE?), and she's got a huge chip on her shoulder.

Unwilling to fight the evil forces making sporadic appearances in his peripherals, Ash plans on leaving town, but after being assaulted by a rabid mini ballerina, he starts to realize that running might not be a solution.

After getting a video call from her father featuring her 6 month-long dead mother, Kelly and Pablo head to Ash's wheeled estate to ask for help. Ash still isn't ready to be a hero again. Cue the Deadites, play the fighting music; reveal the iconic chainsaw.

So. Much. Blood. And in the end, Ash says the one word we've been longing to hear since the episode began.

So what did you think of the premiere? Will Ash help Kelly save her father? Will he accept Pablo's help? What's Amanda's secret? Sound off in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Starz Entertainment

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