# Ash vs Evil Dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216 "2015-10-30T23:22:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/21 "2015-11-03T01:45:25Z")
Okay, I’ve seen eleven minutes and I’m sold. The production is great! I love the camera movements and the schlocky incidental music present in everything featuring Bruce Campbell(love his work!) apart from Burn Notice(didn’t like that one…). As for plot, I like the straight-forward denial of it, at least so far as eleven minutes in. I’m happy as a clam! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/22 "2015-11-03T03:06:23Z")
> [@Plumpudding](#): > > Okay, I’ve seen eleven minutes and I’m sold. The production is great! I love the camera movements and the schlocky incidental music present in everything featuring Bruce Campbell(love his work!) apart from Burn Notice(didn’t like that one…). As for plot, I like the straight-forward denial of it, at least so far as eleven minutes in. I’m happy as a clam! I thought the back half of the episode was the part that rocked. Get ready! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/23 "2015-11-03T04:10:18Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > This is what bothered me about it, I think. The Ash of Army of Darkness _is_ an idiot but he _isn’t_ an asshole. It’s the asshole bit that is causing me problems. Really? Which of these AoD quotes don’t sound like they came from an asshole? Alright you Primitive Screwheads, listen up! I got it, I got it! I know your damn words, alright? Gimme some sugar, baby. Well hello Mister Fancypants. Well, I’ve got news for you pal, you ain’t leadin’ but two things, right now: Jack and shit… and Jack left town. Are all men from the future loud-mouthed braggarts? Nope. Just me baby… Just me. Oh that’s just what we call pillow talk, baby, that’s all. First you wanna kill me, now you wanna kiss me. Blow. Don’t touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn’t understand alloys and compositions and things with… molecular structures. What? Were you raised in a barn? Shut the door! Probably was raised in a barn, along with the other primitives ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/24 "2015-11-03T04:11:45Z")
Ash is indeed an asshole, but he’s a _funny_ asshole, and that goes a long way. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/25 "2015-11-03T04:14:26Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Ash is indeed an asshole, but he’s a _funny_ asshole, and that goes a long way. He’s a hilarious asshole. Basically for the past 30 years, all he’s been doing was living in a trailer, getting stoned and drunk and banging chicks. I thought the fact that he drove into town to go to a bar ten minutes before closing to pick up some girl using some bullshit line about losing his hand rescuing an 8 year old boy from a train funny as shit. > [@groovie](#): > > I liked it, it racked up the tension nicely in the house with the two FBI agents. Ash has a certain charisma about him. I told you ‘it’ would cross your mind. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/26 "2015-11-03T12:27:09Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I thought the back half of the episode was the part that rocked. Get ready! It did rock! I like that they made it look like an \*expensive \*SciFi channel straight to television movie shot by Hitchcock on speed. The fake looking CGI and rubber props made it even better. I’m definately gonna continue watching this. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Bragg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Stealth\_Bragg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Bragg)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/27 "2015-11-03T13:04:31Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > "The rights thing makes sense, though, as all three movies are owned by different entities, and that’s why ED2 opens with an abridged recreation of ED rather than just showing footage from it, stuff like that. According to the DVD commentary I have here 😉 Sam Raimi says that the footage from ED wasn’t in “recap pace” so they had to re-make it. I think your explanation is likely the real one though. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/28 "2015-11-03T20:53:17Z")
I love that Ash is still driving the Oldsmobile. The fact that they have Bruce in this pretty much guarantees I’ll be watching this show no matter what. I do hope they can sneak a couple of AoD quotes in. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/29 "2015-11-03T21:45:04Z")
…and that’s kinda the point. The first Evil Dead movie was a mediocre spam-in-a-cabin movie. The second one streamlined it and made it about Ash having Three Stooges shenanigans with Kandarian demons. The third one finalized the idea that Ash is kind of an arrogant idiot who’s really good at fighting Deadites… and not much else. And unlike most movie series, each movie consistently topped the previous one, at least until the reboot. I look forward to seeing if they can maintain this. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/30 "2015-11-05T00:17:19Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I honestly would have loved the show even more if they’d gone CGI-free and done all practical effects, but I suspect that there are very few people left in the business these days who would be able to execute them very well. As it is, they did a good job getting a stop-motion-esque feel out of the killer doll, and the makeup on the Deadites is pretty good. Yeah the doll was well done, but some of the shots where demons would get parts blown off, just looked like they were made with 90’s era CGI machines. If they’d done things practically, they’d have looked fine, if cheesy (appropriately so). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/31 "2015-11-08T19:28:17Z")
The second episode was just as good as the first - gotta love a show that can go from cracking you up to giving you goosebumps in a matter of seconds. The gore effects were pretty over-the-top here, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. The fight scene in the car was great, and Ash’s explanation for why he interrupted a family reunion covered in blood and wielding a shotgun and chainsaw-arm was hilarious. The psychedelic soundtrack is working pretty well. I do wish that at some point they’d come up with a consistent explanation for why and how the Evil is able to possess some people and not others - it’s always been vague since the beginning, and I don’t think they’ve ever shown it doing something as advanced as possessing a year-old drowning victim and making them look alive and well for several hours. You could argue that it seeks out people with a hateful mind (since the Kandarians’ principal motivation seems to be raw primal hatred), but that doesn’t really fit with Ash’s girlfriend from the first movie/s or with Kelly’s mother (unless what it said about killing herself to get away from Kelly was true, and it seems unlikely to expect honesty from a demon). Maybe I’m asking too much from my B-grade horror comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/32 "2015-11-08T21:59:13Z")
I am so happy right now. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/33 "2015-11-09T05:42:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I do wish that at some point they’d come up with a consistent explanation for why and how the Evil is able to possess some people and not others - it’s always been vague since the beginning, and I don’t think they’ve ever shown it doing something as advanced as possessing a year-old drowning victim and making them look alive and well for several hours. The “Army of Darkness” was raised by digging up the reanimated corpses of a whole cemetery of people. The force that controls the Deadites seems to have no real limits. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/34 "2015-11-09T20:53:10Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The force that controls the Deadites seems to have no real limits. Which, of course, raises the question of why it didn’t possess both of Kelly’s parents instead of just mom, or why it doesn’t possess Pablo and Kelly, or why it doesn’t just possess the entire town to get at Ash. Maybe it just enjoys toying with its prey. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/35 "2015-11-11T15:50:02Z")
I watched the first episode last night; I’ll probably continue onto further episodes just out of nostalgia. (It doesn’t hurt that this is the season of the birth and death of my eldest brother, who absolutely adored Army of Darkness. I feel almost obligated to watch.) It wasn’t _bad_, exactly, but I admit that I enjoyed it less than I would have hoped. Evil Dead II was always my favorite in the series – funny without being balls-to-the-wall goofy like Army of Darkness, and still rather scary to boot. Ash vs. Evil Dead takes the AoD version of Ash and ups his hapless oafishness up a few notches. Which is fine, but becomes kind of a one-note joke after a while. We’ll see. It looks like we’ll have a lot of strong women characters here, which may be a nice contrast to Ash’s skeeviness. ETA: The CGI was kind of off-puttingly bad at points. Hopefully that’ll improve. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/36 "2015-11-12T00:50:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Which, of course, raises the question of why it didn’t possess both of Kelly’s parents instead of just mom, or why it doesn’t possess Pablo and Kelly, or why it doesn’t just possess the entire town to get at Ash. In most cases, the people being possessed are already dead or dying. The living souls that are attacked by the force and instantly possessed are the exception. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/37 "2015-11-15T03:31:11Z")
Anyone else sticking with it? I just saw the third episode and liked it the most. I’m glad it is coming back next year. It’s turning into a really good show. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/38 "2015-11-15T04:16:27Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Which, of course, raises the question of why it didn’t possess both of Kelly’s parents instead of just mom, or why it doesn’t possess Pablo and Kelly, or why it doesn’t just possess the entire town to get at Ash. > > Maybe it just enjoys toying with its prey. You are committing the sin of over-thinking the Evil Dead. Any thinking is too much. Just sit back and enjoy the splatter. The first movie stunk. The second one was the first with a smaller cast. I started AoD but lost interest and got drunk. But I’ll watch anything with Bruce Campbell, even Bubba Ho-Tep, which blew chunks, and Jack of All Trades, which I rather liked. This series I’m liking because it is so cheesy on purpose. I’m starting to get ED. Doesn’t make the first two movies any better. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/39 "2015-11-16T22:45:08Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > You are committing the sin of over-thinking the Evil Dead. Any thinking is too much. Just sit back and enjoy the splatter. True. Little late to watching the third episode, but I loved it. A little more scary and less comedic this time. It’s a shame Lionel got killed off and Deadite-d so quickly - his character seemed one that would’ve been interesting to have around, though considering how eager he was to get to summon a Kandarian Demon I guess it’s not surprising that it got him killed. I liked that we finally got to see a Kandarian in its physical form instead of just via the people/things it possesses. I swear I’ve seen a creature that looked exactly like “Eligos” in some other horror franchise before, but I can’t recall where. I loved the flicker-effect on it (which, I’ve read, was the only part of it that _wasn’t_ practical effects) and the way it tried to kill Ash and Pablo by literally tearing apart their brains. Choice lines; “We can stop for churros on the way back. And don’t worry, Pablo, that’s not a racist thing, they’re just a delicious snack.” “You know I’m not Mexican, right?” “That’s the spirit!” “Summoning another demon can’t possibly make things any worse. It’s like getting paint on a painting. It’s OK because there’s already paint on it.” “That… is incorrect.” ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216/40 "2015-11-16T23:03:33Z")
Saw the first episode for free and loved it. Buuuuuttttt I really don’t want to subscribe to Starz just for this one show. Kinda lame they won’t let Amazon stream it. Did see Evil Dead: The Musical last week. That shit was awesome! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ash-vs-evil-dead/736216.md?page=3)