Blair Loveday
Evil Dead is one of the most fascinating series I have seen.
The first movie was a through and through horror, followed by a sequel that leans into absurd comedy, and the third movie is a purely absurd comedy in a horror world. The series Ash Vs Evil Dead leaned so much further into the comedy of it, and somehow it works way better than it should.
The series kicks off with Ash strapping up the laces of his… corset. He is headed out to the bar to pick up ladies with a combination of charm and lies. While in a bathroom stall with a lady a demons face appears saying they are back. When Ash finishes he heads home and finds a weed baggy in his copy of the Necronomicon. Suddenly he has a flashback to when he was impressing another lady in his trailer, needed some poetry, and read some of the Deadite text from the book.
All of a sudden we are off on a new adventure with Ash and the evil Deadites.
I don’t really want to spoil the story any more than this, but these opening series of scenes really lets you know what you are in for here. The absurdity and humour of the Evil Dead series is back, and from the first minutes of the show I was here for it.
Ash isn’t alone, he has sidekicks and guest characters. They vary in quality from hilarious, to … well.. they are there. But with this selection of characters that means the show can have different ones to appeal to different viewers. All I can say is I liked the bulk of them enough, and any time a show has Lucy Lawless, well that is fine by me.
One thing I am wary of with shows like this is how well will it work as a new release. When you watch Army of Darkness, a lot of the comedy is dated.
By all means it does stand up, but you give a lot of leeway given how dated it is. Fortunately Ash Vs Evil Dead doesn’t fall for any of the issues it could have, and instead it winds up being a solid comedy by 2015 standards when it released. Best of all it still stands up now in 2023 / 24 for this Bluray release.
It’s silly, but not cheesy 80’s silly. It’s more like an absurd violent sitcom level of comedy, and it works so damn well.
All 3 season here are wrapped up with a bunch of special features as well. These all give some great insights behind the show. Any time I can hear Bruce Campbell speak, that’s always a plus. As Ash or himself, he is just such a fascinating actor.
Ash Vs Evil Dead: The Complete Series is a fantastic Bluray to add to the collection. It is as fresh and new as it is honouring the old.
There are 30 episodes of Ash goodness from the gore to the comedy. I hope like hell someone throws them money to get some more seasons though.
