The Evil Dead Franchise Can Move Forward By Going To The Past

Word recently broke that a new "Evil Dead" movie was on the way, with filmmaker Francis Galluppi ("The Last Stop in Yuma County") at the helm. This news came accompanied by the following statement from "Evil Dead' mastermind Sam Raimi: "Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence. He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut."

The curious thing about this info is that earlier this year, we learned another "Evil Dead" movie was in the works, this one directed by Sébastien Vaniček, the filmmaker behind the killer spider movie "Infested." That's right: There are now two different "Evil Dead" movies on the way. And that, in my humble opinion, is a good thing! The "Evil Dead" franchise feels big enough to encompass all sorts of entries because the basic setup is deceptively simple: Someone finds an ancient book, reads from it, and unleashes demonic forces. That's really all you need. Once you have that in place, you can go nuts. And that's exactly what Raimi and company should be doing. Hell, why not drop us into different eras while they're at it? 

The book that unleashes all that evil deadness, the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, is ancient. Within the lore of the franchise, it's been around since the time of Ancient Egypt, if not earlier (the timeline has changed depending on the telling; at one point, it was also said to have been created between 3100 and 2500 BCE). With that in mind, you can have an "Evil Dead" story set practically anywhere, anytime. Look, I love the classic "Evil Dead" films featuring Bruce Campbell as the boomstick-wielding Ash, but the 2013 "Evil Dead" reboot and "Evil Dead Rise" both show that the franchise can stand on its own two feet without Ash. 

So why not drop us into different time periods? The franchise already went to the past once with "Army of Darkness," so why stop there? Imagine a noir-tinged "Evil Dead" movie set in the 1930s or 40s. It could be a pulpy detective story that just happens to feature some "Evil Dead" body horror. Really, the sky is the limit here. As long as you have a character find that cursed book at some point, you can theoretically set an "Evil Dead" story anywhere, anytime. I have no idea what Francis Galluppi or Sébastien Vaniček will do with their respective "Evil Dead" movies that are coming our way in the not-too-distant future (plot details are still being kept secret for now), but I hope they both realize the franchise is extremely flexible. You can do anything here. Take advantage of that.

We spoke about this and some other recent film and TV news on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:

You can subscribe to /Film Daily on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and send your feedback, questions, comments, concerns, and mailbag topics to us at bpearson@slashfilm.com. Please leave your name and general geographic location in case we mention your e-mail on the air.