After my startling revelation about Evil Dead 2 and my childhood penchant for thievery, I figured it would be just as well if I shared how I felt about Bruce Campbell’s book, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor. I gave the book four stars on Goodreads, and this is what I said:
“I enjoyed this very much. I’m a fan of the Evil Dead franchise, as well as the various and sundry things Bruce Campbell has been a part of. It has an easy, readable narrative and the stories therein are great windows into the world of movie making from the Indies on up.
I don’t have too much more to say about it. It wasn’t a quick read, but it was worth the time.”
The first thing I saw of his was Army of Darkness, which really blew my mind open. I’d seen zombie stuff before that, and I’d seen kind of Lovecraft-adjacent stuff as well, but Army of Darkness? Man, that thing was everything. And Ash, too, if I’m being honest. I was right at the age where I had finally decided (rightly so) that Han Solo was cooler than Luke Skywalker, and Ash with all his bravado and 85% ability to back it up was both hilarious and inspiring.
Following that, I’ve seen Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2, but they haven’t touched me like the first one did. The 2013 reboot that I’ve finally seen was thoroughly enjoyable, even if there was no Ash or even an Ash-like character. I had heard rumors they were going to attempt a crossing-over of the two sides of the franchise, but I understand that’s a dream, now.
The only way I could see it is if the ending of the Ash vs Evil Dead AMC television show led to an Army of Darkness 2 somehow, but that would be completely unexpected. I’m looking forward to Evil Dead Rise, too, even though it doesn’t look like it has any connection to 2013’s Evil Dead.
In any case, I’m glad for what we’ve got, no matter what may come next. If there was any possibility of writing something set in that universe, I’d jump at it. I might do some of that right now, just for me, damn it. -TB