Sam Raimi’s cult horror film The Evil Dead – Book of the Dead editions on DVD… and a musical?

Evil dead, Sam Raimi’s classic horror film. Released in the early 80’s it was THE horror movie to see. My older brother had watched it and as I was too young, he delivered it to me in his own words. Weaving vivid descriptions of its scariest and bloodiest moments, it was all the nourishment my young mind needed to recreate every moment he described into a terrifying vision.

I was 15 by the time I finally got to see it and it didn’t disappoint. It was scary, like I had always anticipated, and set the benchmark for what horror movies could be, even with the low budget it was produced on.

Here’s a quick recap the story: a group of young college friends go to a cabin in the woods for a break. In the cabin they find a tape recorder and a book called the Necronomicon or Book of the Dead. On the tape is a translation of the Necronomicon and once played it unleashes a horde demons that possess the friends one by one. Ash (the hero played by Bruce Campbell) fights to keep his life and his sanity intact as he fights through the night in one of the most harrowing ordeals ever.

Sam Raimi created the movies and of course went on to direct and produce a whole raft of cult movies and tv shows including the Spider-Man movie trilogy, Hercules and Xena, Warrior Princess. Next year sees him helming another major motion picture with Oz: The Great and Powerful. This is an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of OZ.

 

The original Evil Dead movies are still highly regarded today, and awesomely, there’s a new Evil Dead movie released to be in 2013. There’s no trailer available yet, but there’s a lot of buzz already for it and fans are hoping it lives up to the original films.

Evil Dead – Book of the Dead DVD & Blu-Ray Limited Editions

The Evil Dead series centres on the Necronomicon. The story talks of this book being bound in human flesh and inked in blood that holds ancient incantations with the power to bring forth unspeakable evil. So it’s fitting that any self-respecting fan would want to own them, especially when they are the covers for special collector’s editions of the DVDs.

Featuring lots of special extras including audio commentaries with the director and stars, behind the scenes and more they are an awesome way of fleshing out (sorry) your movie collection. The first two were released in 2005 and it’s only now (Mid-2012) that Army of Darkness was finally released in its own Book of the Dead edition – so it’s the perfect time to feature them as a post.The first two are considered to be getting quite hard to find, but you can track them down on Ebay and places like that.

Inside the packaging of each one is a rendition of the Necronomicon including reproduction artwork of the pages featured in the movies.

Evil Dead comics – expanding the universe

To this day there are comic spin-offs galore featuring Ash from The Evil Dead. Over time, the storylines have crossed over into many different worlds and continue to breathe fresh life into the original concept. With appearances ranging from A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger, Jason from Friday the 13th, Sam Raimi’s cult TV series heroine Xena Warrior Princess, H. P. Lovecraft’s character Herbert West – Reanimator and even President Obama you can see there’s no shortage of ideas out there!

The very popular Marvel Zombies series even had a cross-over with Ash in Marvel Zombies VS Army of Darkness. Created by Robert Kirkman – the writer behind The Walking Dead the original series was based on a virus released on Earth turns everyone into zombies… including the Superheroes like the Avengers and the X-Men.

Evil Dead – The Musical

There’s so much more to cover like the video games and toys, but to wrap up this post I want to talk about Evil Dead – The Musical. It’s just so crazy an idea it might just work.. and it does!

Created in 2003 and based on the original movies, it features original songs and lyrics like “What the fuck was that” and “Do the Necronomicon”. It’s played to sold out shows in many parts of the world including an off-broadway run. Having only seen a few clips via youtube, I’m really hoping that it makes its way to Australia one day as its actually a great production.

Let me know if you have seen it!