Bruce Campbell Prefers Lighter Evil Dead Over Gory Versions

In the 40 years since director Sam Raimi unleashed The Evil Dead on audiences, the franchise has delivered fans countless iconic moments across a variety of mediums, but according to longtime star and producer Bruce Campbell, he personally prefers when the franchise embraces the sillier side of the concept. While every entry has blended together both humor and horror, he can respect what each adventure brings to the series, but as an entertainer himself, he’d rather the material be accessible to fans of all ages. Campbell can next be seen in Discontinued when it premieres on the Maximum Effort Channel on Fubo tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

“I like it a little lighter, I’ll always take the Army of Darkness way to go. My granddaughter, she’s 8, I think could see that movie. It’s talking skeletons, for God’s sake. Evil Dead‘s a little grim, I like the filmmaking, Sam’s a really good filmmaker, there’s some great filmmaking sequences in there. A man alone in a cabin, really cool sequences, but I don’t know, I wouldn’t wanna get completely stuck in that world,” Campbell revealed to ComicBook.com about his preferences for the franchise. “With Evil Dead 2, we started to add gags, like slapstick. We wound up calling it ‘splatstick.’ Only because I don’t need people fainting in the theater, I’m an entertainer. I want people to scream [peeking from behind their hands]. Sort of laughing and screaming at the same time.”

With the original trilogy of films from Raimi, the narrative ventured further into the comedic realm with each installment, while the 2013 remake offered little levity and instead delivered gruesome gore. This year’s Evil Dead Rise similarly leaned into the violence over the humor, while all three seasons of Ash vs. Evil Dead saw Campbell and his Ash Williams embrace the absurdity of the concept.

While Campbell may have retired the role of Ash on-screen, he stays committed to the franchise as a producer.

“We let the filmmakers decide. Sam puts it on their plate,” Campbell expressed. “Fede Álvarez wanted to do a straight version, because the original Evil Dead is sort of melodramatic. [Evil Dead Rise director] Lee Cronin, his background is drama, I don’t think he wanted any winking at the camera. And we don’t ever try to put these guys beyond their comfort zone. I would like to see another Evil Dead 2-type movie. We’ve got a couple more in the pipeline and it would be nice to jolly it up a little bit, but we try to respect the filmmakers. If they’re better at doing a straight horror, that’s okay.”

Discontinued premieres on the Maximum Effort Channel on Fubo tonight at 8 p.m. ET. Starting the following week, episodes will move to Wednesdays (December 6th being the first) at 9 p.m. ET. Maximum Effort Channel, curated by Ryan Reynolds and the Maximum Effort team in partnership with Fubo, is available to watch on Fubo as well as Amazon Freevee, LG Channels, Plex, Sling Freestream, Tubi, VIDAA, VIZIO Watchfree+ and Xumo Play.

Stay tuned for updates on the Evil Dead franchise.

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