PopHorror Let's Get Scared
On October 23, 2019, we get to celebrate the 60th birthday of a true cinematic icon, the one and only Sam Raimi. This is a particularly big deal for myself, as Sam is the director and creator of my favorite horror franchise of all time, the one series that has never ever let me down: The Evil Dead. But there’s so much more to this man than just the cult phenomenon he launched in 1981, so let’s look back on 60 years of greatness.
Samuel Marshall Raimi was born on October 23rd, 1959, in the humble town of Royal Oak, Michigan. The fourth of five siblings to parents Leonard Ronald Raimi and Celia Barbara Abrams, Sam would be fascinated with film from a very young age. Before he even reached the age of 10, he was already shooting homemade films with an 8mm camera his father brought home one day. A devoted fan of The Three Stooges, much of his film work during his teen years was slapstick comedy, which helped him become childhood friends Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert.
These three friends together would write, direct, produce, and edit the 32 minute horror film, Within the Woods (1978). This short was pitched to prospective investors as the blueprint for what would eventually become Raimi’s breakout feature film, The Evil Dead (1981 – read our retro review here). The gory, low-budget shocker was wildly different from the standard slashers that were all the rage at the time, and was initially met with lukewarm reception from U.S. distributors. But after a warmer greeting from European audiences, the U.S. gave The Evil Dead (fondly remembered in editorials here and here) another chance, and it would go on to become one of the most beloved and revered cult smashes in all of horror history.
The Evil Dead would go on to spawn two sequels: the nearly flawless Evil Dead 2 (1987 – read another PopHorror writer’s My Favorite Horror Movie editorial here), and the riotous Army of Darkness (1992 – read our retro review here). There was also the savage 2013 reimagining (a glowing PopHorror retro review here, a not-so thrilled review here, proving how divisive this film was), which was directed by Fede Alvarez, as well as the Ash Vs Evil Dead TV series, which had a 3 season run (read our review of season 1 here) on the Starz network. It’s also found its way into comic books, video games, action figures, and much more. Sam just recently gave fans of the series plenty to rejoice about when he confirmed at New York Comic Con earlier this year that he would be developing a new Evil Dead film with an as-yet-unnamed director, and Bruce Campbell serving as producer.
The Evil Dead films really helped to solidify some of the hallmark elements of Raimi’s unique directing style. His use of wild, kinetic camera movements and creative angles has become his signature staple. He utilizes everything from POV shots – frequently from the perspective of the monster or villain – to extreme closeups into a character’s eyes or mouth to jarring whip-pans with the camera. He’s also always been known to mix slapstick comedy with his violence, which was displayed to comic perfection in Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness.
While horror has definitely played a major role in Sam’s career, he has done some tremendous work outside the genre as well. He delivered a pretty unforgettable modern western with 1995’s The Quick and the Dead, starring the then meteorically rising Sharon Stone, and a ridiculously young but still far too good looking Leonardo DiCaprio. Slightly less memorable is his crime drama/thriller, A Simple Plan (1998), and Kevin Costner as an aging baseball player in For Love of the Game (1999).
He also helped revitalize comic book films in the pre-MCU years. Before Marvel turned comic book films into the money-making juggernaut they’ve become, they were much more hit or miss, both in quality and reception. But Raimi delivered solidly with his sorely underappreciated Darkman (1990), and then was tapped by Stan Lee to direct the first three Tobey Maguire-helmed Spider-Man films for Marvel to great success. Nearly 25 years after dropping The Evil Dead at a meager budget of $350,000, he directed 2007’s Spider-Man 3 at nearly 1,000 times that, with an estimated $350,000,000 budget, the most expensive motion picture produced up to that point and time.
But he never forgot the genre that helped launch him, and he returned to directing horror with a savage vengeance in 2009 with Drag Me to Hell, a film I still have great love for, despite mixed reaction from critics. It was a wildly fun, original concept, with a style that should have Evil Dead lovers grinning from ear to ear. He’s also lent his talents in the role of producer or executive producer to many massive horror films over the years, including The Grudge (2004), The Boogeyman (2005), 30 Days of Night (2007), teaming with Fede Alvarez for his grisly 2013 remake of The Evil Dead and 2016’s excellent Don’t Breathe (read our review here).
He just recently worked with director Alexandre Aja to deliver 2019’s summer blockbuster, Crawl (read our review here). And while I’m not exactly one of the world’s biggest remake enthusiasts, I’ll be waiting on pins and needles for the upcoming return of The Grudge, with Sam producing, with writing and directing by the insanely talented Nicholas Pesce (The Eyes of My Mother 2016 – read our review here, Piercing 2018 – read our review here).
Without a doubt, Sam Raimi is one of this generation’s leading horror visionaries, chilling and thrilling audiences for nearly 4 decades. He unquestionably deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as legends like John Carpenter, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg and George Romero. So, if you’re caught up in the magic of this most wonderful of Halloween seasons, and you’re stumped for what to watch this October 23rd, why not descend upon a remote cabin in the woods and soak up the bountiful bloody bliss of the Evil Dead films? And, give thanks to the horror gods for Mr. Sam Raimi. Happy 60th birthday, Sam, and thank you for all the carnage!
