‘Evil Dead’ fans invited to watch party with Campbell
Filmed on a shoestring budget in the woods, “The Evil Dead” has become a cult horror classic.
The 1981 film about five college students who take off to a remote cabin for a weekend and uncover an evil force sparked two sequels, a TV series, video games and comic books.
The movie made stars out of director Sam Raimi, who went on to direct films such as the Spider-Man trilogy and the upcoming Dr. Strange sequel. It also made the career of leading man and producer Bruce Campbell, who starred as Ash Williams, an everyday Joe who takes on the forces of evil while being splattered with gallons of blood.
On Saturday, Campbell will lead an online movie watch party where he will tell behind-the-scenes stories and share memories of the iconic film.
But first, he talked to the Southern California News Group about filming the movie, some of its most epic scenes, the viewing party and a hidden piece of history that could still be at the film site.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
QSo what are viewers in for when they watch “The Evil Dead” with the star of the movie?
AIt’s just a great chance to go back. It’s almost like sitting down and watching it with a pal in the living room with the remote. You stop and tell stories and then hit play again. I’ll be in a lovely studio in Portland, Oregon, to beam it around the world, so it’s sort of like Live Aid for horror.
QI’ve seen this movie maybe a dozen times and it’s still fun to watch each time. Why do you think that it’s become such a cult hit?
ASam Raimi is a good filmmaker. We spent days where we got only one shot that day because it was a very complicated shot. When you watch the movie it has a different look than your average horror movie. A lot of horror movies are done in like three weeks, and this was low budget, but we shot in Tennessee for 12 weeks. We shot four times longer than the average movie and as a result your visual style is much more unique.
QSome of the crew had to live in the actual cabin during the filming. How bad was it staying in that old cabin?
AWell, it wasn’t quite that bad. We had people staying overnight. One crew member had to volunteer, sort of rock, paper, scissors style, to do security and sleep overnight at the cabin. The rest of us were crammed into a five-bedroom house about a mile away. So the person who got the short end of the stick guarded the cabin at night. It was freezing, it was cold, you had nothing so it was a very lonely existence.
QAny scary real-life experiences come from that?
AOne morning, the time Sam had to sleep there overnight, I’m coming down first thing in the morning with two bags of groceries and supplies and stuff and I see a guy walking away from the cabin with a ZZ Top beard, the biggest shotgun I’ve ever
seen in my life and shotgun shells on two straps across his chest. I’m like, “OK, he just killed Sam and I’m next.”
Q AQOh man, who was he?
He was just a hunter who was out there. I got back to the cabin and Sam was not dead. The film is really gory, but how gory was the filming? Were there any real injuries during filming?
AOh yeah. A guy named Josh who was a crew member jumped down from the rafters and landed on a two-by-four that had a spike coming out of the top of it. It went right through his foot out the top of his shoe. We had to help pull his leg off of the spike. He disappeared for a couple of days. He grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and disappeared into his room.
QIn one of the scenes when you’re in the basement, there’s a poster from “The Hills Have Eyes.” Some people say that it’s an homage to that movie, others say it’s a bit of a diss of the movie since the poster is cut in half. Which one is it?
AThe truth is it’s absolutely both. It’s the director saying to the other director, “Oh yeah, you think your movie is scary? I’m tearing that in half.” Later, in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movie there’s an “Evil Dead” poster torn in half in that movie. So Wes Craven has answered Sam Raimi. And in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie she (lead character) is watching a movie late at night and it’s “Evil Dead,” so there’s been some fun interaction.
QOne of my favorite “Evil Dead” scenes is when Ash is giving his girlfriend the necklace and
there are those epic eye close-up shots that seem to last forever. How did you prepare your eyes for that?
AI didn’t have to, they were young back then.
QI read that you guys buried a time capsule at the cabin after filming. Has that ever been dug up?
AIt was buried where the trapdoor was, 4 or 5 feet down. So it’s under a bunch of dirt; bring your metal detectors. But no, I don’t recommend it. It’s private property and they’ll shoot you.
QAnd there’s a new “Evil Dead” film on the way, right?
AYep, we got another “Evil Dead” movie going through New Line and we’re hoping to do that whenever we’re allowed to this year. It’s modernday urban, we’re not in the woods.