How Stephen King Helped Save The ‘Evil Dead’ Franchise — Twice

The big picture

• Stephen King's review
  Evil Dead
  at the Cannes Film Festival helped secure the film's distribution and launch the franchise to mainstream success.
• King's intervention was essential to the confection
  Evil Dead 2
  as he convinced producer Dino De Laurentiis to finance the sequel.
• The popularity and success of the Evil Dead franchise can be attributed in part to the support of Stephen King, demonstrating his influence on the horror genre.

There have been five Evil Dead movies and a three-season series over the past four decades, with the Ash Williams fandom (Bruce Campbell) and the Deadites that extend from one generation to the next. Campbell starred in the first three films, along with Starz Ash vs Evil Dead TV series, before handing over the reins to a new cast for 2013 Evil Dead restart and this year's Evil Dead Rise.

The Evil Dead The franchise is one of the most popular in horror, with the heroic Ash right up there with other icons like the villainous Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. None of this may have happened, however, if not for the help of another horror icon, a real-life one in the name of Stephen King. When director Sam Raimi and the company needed a miracle not once but twice, King was there to save the day. If he hadn't been so willing to help, the franchise might not even exist.

The 'Evil Dead' franchise's place in horror history

In the 1980s, horror took over cinemas thanks to the slasher film boom. John Carpenter's Halloween in 1978 it unleashed a craze of huge masked men chasing teenagers through the woods and everywhere. Michael Myers and Friday the 13thJason Voorhees was the king. Later, in 1984, Freddy Krueger would join them A Nightmare on Elm Street. While horror had all these popular villains, it lacked a hero to become a pop culture craze. Sure, someone like Jamie Lee Curtis she was a great final girl as Laurie Strode Halloweenbut Michael Myers was still where our attention was. Sigourney Weaver he was a villain like Ellen Ripley alien i extraterrestrialsbut we were still drawn to those xenomorphs.

Then, in 1981, a new kind of horror film emerged, one that seemed similar to the one that was exploding at the multiplex, but was very different. The Evil Dead He may have had a group of friends stalked and murdered in a cabin in the woods, but some silent helmet with a mask wasn't the culprit. Instead, it was an awakened demonic force. This meant that The Evil Dead could go further. They didn't stick to the tropes of some rod and rod movie. They could go wild, letting the evil Deadites do anything crazy that can be conjured up. And to fight them was a man named Ash Williams. Bruce Williams played Ash with wild charm. Ash was a jerk who didn't want to be, but was still just as cool with his crazy mannerisms and one-liners. More than the scares and blood, Ash Williams became the story. The horror of the 80s had its hero in him. This popularity would lead to Evil Dead 2 in 1987 and Army of Darkness in 1992.

A Stephen King review of “Evil Dead” helped the film gain attention

The Evil Dead The franchise could be mainstream now, and Sam Raimi could be the man behind the blockbuster entries spider man spiderman i Doctor Strangebut four decades ago, nobody knew who he was. The Evil Dead it was actually his first film. The same goes for Bruce Campbell. In 1981, he was friends with Raimi. Pretty much the only credits to Campbell's name were the short film she made with him. His first feature film was born from one of these short films. Raimi was a man who fought hard to get it The Evil Dead noticed After making it, he took it everywhere, looking for someone to hand it out. He got lucky with a man named Irvin Shapiro. Shapiro was the man who created the beloved Cannes Film Festival and allowed Raimi to screen it The Evil Dead there. A very famous man in attendance the night it was shown changed the fate of Raimi and Campbell, along with their passion project, forever.

Stephen King is a household name now, but even 40 years ago almost everyone knew who he was thanks to popular novels like Carrie i Brightness, as well as its well-received film adaptations. He was in the audience that night The Evil Dead it was screened at Cannes. The purpose of showing any film at Cannes is the hope of finding potential buyers. Now, that's not where King could help. He was an author, not a movie executive. However, it could help through its great popularity.

As Raimi told IGN in 2015, “During one of those marketing screenings at the Cannes Film Festival, where different distributors were watching the films trying to make their judgments about what they're going to buy that year, Stephen King was among the audience. and we felt, 'Oh, he was really screaming and yelling during the movie.'” Raimi loved Stephen King, so Shapiro told him to ask him for a quote. Raimi called him, since King was also represented by Irvin Shapiro, and he did just that. Stephen King, however, did not want to make a date. “He said, 'I'm not going to do that, but I'm going to write a review. If there's anything in the review you want to use as a quote, you're welcome to do so.” King wrote a review that was posted below at Twilight Zone Magazine. “It was very generous of him, and we were able to use the very positive quote he gave us. Without that, the film might have been lost, but with Stephen King's endorsement, we were able to make the our first sales”.

Stephen King stepped in to make sure 'Evil Dead 2' was made

The Evil Dead it wasn't a big box office hit, but it did well enough and found more fans on home video. A few years later, Raimi and Campbell were ready to make a sequel. Evil Dead 2 it pretty much follows the same plot as the first movie. It's a reboot of sorts, with Ash and his friends in the woods and The Deadites attacking after someone accidentally summons them with the Necronomicon. The first film was beloved, but the second could be even better, with its improved effects and production values ​​and a plot that leaned more towards the crazy. Sam Raimi made a great follow up, but before that happened, there was still the same problem as before. Who was going to buy Evil Dead 2? How were they going to get it to the public? They found a horror hero once again in Stephen King.

In 1986, King decided to become a film director himself, making his only feature film, Maximum overdrive. On the set of the film, he had a fateful interaction that would save him The Evil Dead a second time In an interview with Consequence, Bruce Campbell said of Stephen King: “He is responsible for two of The Evil Dead movies, not just one.” A crew member Evil Dead 2 he had to let go, so he went down to North Carolina to work there Maximum overdrivewhich was being produced by Hollywood heavyweights Dino De Laurentiis. It was there that he had a conversation with King. “Stephen said, 'What are you doing?' And she said, “I just worked with these guys trying to get money.” Evil Dead 2.' He goes,'Evil Dead 2? Can't they get the money for it? She says 'No'. He calls Dino De Laurentiis and says, “You should make this movie.” I think we had an agreement … we met with Dino and I think we had an agreement in about half an hour and a basic understanding.”

Stephen King is a horror icon not only from his novels, but from the movies based on his work. To this day, it remains as popular as ever thanks to people like this i Doctor Sleep. Not only is he responsible for creating horror masterpieces, but he's also responsible for saving quite a few.

The Evil Dead is currently available to rent or buy on Prime Video in the US

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