‘Evil Dead Rise’ Is “All About The Necronomicon,” Says Bruce Campbell
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The Man with the Golden Chin himself,Bruce Campbell, recently sat down to discuss all thingsEvil Dead.After dropping some details aboutFathom’s 40th Anniversary screening of the first flick, he shared some fun tidbits about theupcoming installmentEvil Dead Rise.
That Damned Book
Campbell laid out as much as he could about the upcoming installment in the series withEntertainment Weekly, though it’s clear the franchise continuity is just as sketchy as it’s always been. After all, this is a series where the first sequel is also kind of a reboot, the third movie is only kind of canon because of a rights dispute, and the remake could actually be a part of the original continuity and not a remake at all. None of that really matters, though, especially to Campbell.
“People can actually call it what [they] want: Sequel, remake, reimagining. It really is just anotherEvil Deadmovie,” he explained.
“It’s book-centric. It’s all about [theNecronomicon]. Where does this book wind up and what happens to it over the millennia?” he elaborated. “In this case,it’s set in the city, it’s no more cabin in the woods. It’s entirely different, unsuspecting heroines who are going to save the day.”
The Necronomicon ex Mortis, the Book of the Dead, has featured heavily in everyEvil Deaditeration, so it’s nice to hearEvil Dead Risewill continue carrying that human flesh-bound torch. The book first appeared inThe Evil Deadin 1981, though it was called the “Naturom Demonto.” (It was also called this in the 2013 remake/reboot!) It was first called the Necronomicon ex Mortis inEvil Dead II: Dead by Dawnin 1987, and retained that name forArmy of Darknessin 1992 and theAsh vs. Evil DeadTV series from 2013 through 2015. The book was created by powerful demons and contains a whole bunch of spells to unleash Kandarian demons, resurrect the dead, and opening rifts in time and space.Ash vs. Evil Deadadded a unique feature to the book, transferring its powers to a person and creating the living embodiment of the book in the form of Ash’s buddy Pablo (Ray Santiago).
The Next Chapter of Evil Dead
Campbell also shared his thoughts about his trust in series creatorSam Raimiand the folks at the helm of the latestEvil Deadmovie and his personal involvement.
“Sam handpickedLee Cronin, who is a very good Irish director,who did a movie calledThe Hole in the Ground. Lee is a very interesting filmmaker and Sam also worked with him on a couple of Quibi projects [with] Sam in a producing capacity. So he hand-picked him like he had pickedFede Álvarez[for the 2013 film],” Campbell said. “It’s filming now in New Zealand, with some of their amazing crews down there and they’re well into it. Rob Tapert is the hands-on producer and we’re all very involved in the script. We all jump in at various times to chime in. But, yeah, the three of us are very involved.”
Despite his level of involvement, Campbell confirms that he won’t be reprising the role of Ash inEvil Dead Rise.He will, however, be contributing his voice acting talents to the upcomingEvil Dead: The Game.
“I won’t be appearing in [Evil Dead Rise],no,” he confirmed. “Iwillbe in the upcomingEvil Deadgame, which I think is due forFebruary 2022. I just finished the voice for that. The nice thing is, your voice doesn’t age as much as your body, so I can milk that for a few more years.”
