When it comes to remakes of iconic horror movies, there's a reason why fans aren't always the biggest supporters; more often than not, those remakes merely serve as a collection of "remember this scene?" moments which can never hope to capture the same spark as the original. That said, every now and again there's a horror remake which knocks it out of the park and can proudly stand alongside the original, and I would count Fede Alvarez's EVIL DEAD among them.
Although the film was reasonably well-received and a box-office success, we've yet to have seen a sequel. At the time, the word on the street was for Sam Raimi to return in order to write ARMY OF DARKNESS 2 while Alvarez moved ahead with EVIL DEAD 2. Then, a seventh film would bring Ash (Bruce Campbell) and Mia (Jane Levy) together. A nice thought, but it never worked out. Instead, the franchise headed to TV where Ash vs Evil Dead aired for three seasons on Starz until it was cancelled and Bruce Campbell announced that he had officially retired from playing Ash. I can't imagine that the EVIL DEAD franchise will remain dormant for long, and it's possible that Fede Alvarez could even return. Last week, the director jokingly agreed on Twitter that he would make EVIL DEAD 2 if Uruguay won the World Cup, and Entertainment Weekly recently caught up with him and asked whether he was really serious about returning for more deadite action.
Look, I love those movies. Making my Evil Dead was an amazing experience, it was my first film. So, going back at some point will be a possibility. I mean, I’m really good friends with all those guys, with Bruce, and Sam, and Rob (Tapert, who has produced all the Evil Dead movies). So, we always chat about it. The good news — and I think that’s what sometimes people don’t understand — is, none of those guys will make any of these movies just because they can, just because it’s good business. They will only make it if they believe they have some good story to tell. A lot of people say that in this industry, but most of the time it’s not true. With those guys, all of us involved in those movies, we will just make them if we believe there’s a story that has to be told, and is awesome, and is great, and we believe that it will be better than anything that will be done before in that world. [When] we find that story, when we all agree on what it is, it will probably happen.
It's nice to know that there's still a possibility that EVIL DEAD 2 may happen, but I'd imagine that we're still a ways off from anything concrete. Fede Alvarez's next film, THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB, will hit theaters on November 9, 2018.
Does EVIL DEAD deserve a sequel? Or would you rather see the franchise go in another direction?