The Evil Dead Will Swallow Your Soul in a 40th Anniversary Re-Release This October
Deadites unite. Fans of Sam Raimi's 1981 horror classic The Evil Dead will have a chance to endure the “ultimate experience in grueling terror” this October, when Fathom Events and Grindhouse Releasing re-release the film in theaters nationwide in honor of its 40th anniversary.
Made on a shoestring budget, Raimi's The Evil Dead introduced horror fans to Ash, the somewhat dim protagonist portrayed by Bruce Campbell. On a weekend getaway in a cabin, Ash and his friends are besieged by unrelenting evil after accidentally invoking disaster by reading from the Necronomicon.
The movie’s success led to two sequels, 1987’s pseudo-remake Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn and 1993’s Army of Darkness, as well as a series, Ash vs. Evil Dead (2015-2018)—not to mention a remake in 2013, courtesy of director Fede Álvarez. A new film, Evil Dead Rise, is expected next year.
To celebrate the occasion, Campbell will provide an introduction to the screening, though the actor told Entertainment Weekly the math isn't exactly correct.
“I would not call it the 40th anniversary, I would call it the 42nd anniversary,” Campbell said. “There's always a difference between when the movie actually got shot and when it came out. And with Evil Dead, it was about two or three years difference, because we filmed it in 1979, so we're coming up on 42-odd years later. But it's fun to celebrate it!”
You can catch The Evil Dead at participating theaters on Thursday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m. local time. Tickets go on sale at the Fathom Events website on August 13.