While Evil Dead isn’t exactly zombie related, it is certainly one of the most notable horror film franchises.
The first Dead was a great training ground for Sam Raimi to learn how to become a filmmaker, and he pulled off a great rollercoaster ride on a shoestring. Raimi has since gone on to great heights with the Spider-Man films, and the upcoming Wizard of Oz prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful, starring James Franco.
I guess it was inevitable that Evil Dead would be remade one day, and it’s now ready for an April 12, 2013 release date. It will be the launching point for newcomer director Fede Alvarez, and both Raimi and Bruce Campbell have been fully behind him. As we’ve reported on TG, Campbell knows it’s going to be hard to convince the hardcore fans to give the new Dead a chance, but he and Raimi have been more than up for the challenge.
For a long time, the fans have wanted a fourth Evil Dead movie with Bruce and Sam back for one more go round, but at Comic Con in New York, Campbell told the audience, “Let’s give these people a new experience. You will be the judge on this movie, but you will not be screwed on this one.” Alvarez has loved the original Evil Dead since he was 12, and when Raimi was ready to pass the torch, he couldn’t jump fast enough.
As previously reported, Ash will be a woman this time around, but with the name Mia instead. As reported in the horror history Reel Terror, the irony of Ash in the original film is he’s a strong, square jawed he-man who gets turned into a hysterical wuss in the face of terror. Now instead of a man screaming like a woman, there’s going to be a woman screaming like a man.
Collider also reports that Campbell talked a bit about Diablo Cody’s involvement in polishing the script.
“As middle-aged men, we don’t really know how young people talk,” Campbell explained. “Oh, and she also won a f*cking Academy Award.”
Again, with a lot of fans skeptical about remaking a classic of the genre, Campbell and Raimi are practically defying the public not to like the new model Dead. “We will accept your apologies the Monday after the movie opens,” Campbell pronounced.
And thankfully, as Campbell told Movieline, the original Evil Dead will always be the same low budget classic Raimi and the gang made way back when, without any changes or updates.
“In 1979, we got the movie in the can for $85,000. You’re going to get what you get. We’re not George Lucas going back to fix our effects. You can’t obsess like that. That’s cheating.”
