Exclusive: Sam Raimi praises Evil Dead remake, calls it “gut-wrenching & gritty”

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

JoBlo’s great Hollywood correspondent, Jimmy O., recently got a chance to chat 1-on-1 with Sam Raimi while he was out promoting THE POSSESSION. Of course, the inevitable subject of THE EVIL DEAD remake was broached, and perhaps unsuspectingly, Raimi echoed what Bruce Campbell confided just yesterday. That the remake is looking pretty f*ckin’ sick!

Here’s the exact quote Jimmy O. got from Raimi, exclusive to JoBlo/AITH:

“I read that thing he (Campbell) said and I’d have to agree. I saw the same cut which was really before Fede [Alvarez] was done shooting – maybe three weeks before. And it was probably already like 110 to 120 minutes long so it wasn’t even an editor’s cut but it was just a lot of the scenes he had shot, missing a lot of scenes – missing A LOT of scenes – and it was really working in great fits and starts and it was terrifying and gut-wrenching and gritty. The performances are all there, he really got great performances from the actors. I think, even though it’s really too early to say, I think he’s got the basics for a really great horror film.”

Nice! Effusive praise, sure, but also some backhanded doubts…what with the runtime and unfilmed scenes. Raimi’s too regal now to take low blows, but what else is he going to say. The remake sucks? He may think but sure won’t say it, publicly. Thing is, Campbell’s no bullshitter, so maybe these dudes are telling the truth. Maybe this Alvarez dude actually knows what he’s doing.

THE EVIL DEAD drops April 12, 2013.

EVIL DEAD star Jane Levy