Hail to the king, baby! Bruce Campbell is back and he’s brought his boomstick in the blood-soaked trailer for Starz’s Ash vs. Evil Dead
It’s been 23 long years since Bruce Campbell last chewed all of the scenery as Ash, the one-armed, deadite-slayer from the cult classic Evil Dead series, but finally, the hero from the sky has returned!!
We may still be a few months out from the premiere of Ash vs. Evil Dead on the Starz network, but if this trailer released over the weekend is any indication, Ash’s return will be well worth the wait. The official synopsis of the upcoming season comes to us via Starz:
“Ash vs Evil Dead” is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film franchise The Evil Dead. The 10-episode first season of the half-hour series executive produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell, the original filmmakers of the franchise, and Craig DiGregorio, who will serve as executive producer and showrunner.
The cast is led by Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) in the role of Ash Williams, Lucy Lawless (“Salem,” “Spartacus”) as Ruby a mysterious figure who believes Ash is the cause of the Evil outbreaks, Ray Santiago (“Touch,” Meet the Fockers) as Pablo Simon Bolivar, an idealistic immigrant who becomes Ash’s loyal sidekick, Dana DeLorenzo (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) as Kelly Maxwell, a moody wild child trying to outrun her past and Jill Marie Jones (“Sleepy Hollow”) as Amanda Fisher, a disgraced Michigan State Trooper set to find our anti-hero Ash and prove his responsibility in the grisly murder of her partner.
My only issue with this gloriously over-the-top trailer? It’s too clean. I don’t mean in the visceral sense, obviously — there’s enough blood and guts packed into these 60 seconds to satiate even the most diehard gorehound. I mean in the cinematic sense. The big appeal of the Evil Dead series — aside from the intentionally hammy acting and Gallagher-esque FX — was the low budget aesthetic of the films themselves. While it’s understandable that Starz can’t simply turn back the clock and shoot everything in the grainy, independent style of the original, the digital wash of this trailer just doesn’t fit for me, especially considering they brought in original Evil Dead visionary Sam Raimi to direct the pilot.
Ash vs. Evil Dead premieres on Halloween night on Starz.
