Sam Raimi Initially Hated the Title for Evil Dead: “It Was So Stupid”

The post Sam Raimi Initially Hated the Title for Evil Dead: “It Was So Stupid” appeared first on Consequence.

When director Sam Raimi was creating the now-iconic horror film The Evil Dead in 1981, he had no idea how huge the franchise would grow to be — in fact, he didn’t even know the franchise would be called Evil Dead. As he revealed to Empire this week, film sales agent Irvin Shapiro came up with the title, and, at first, Raimi hated it.

“The original title of the [original] movie was The Book of the Dead,” Raimi said. “But Shapiro sat Rob [Tapert], Bruce [Campbell], and I down and said: ‘We’re changing the title, boys. Advertising space in the newspaper is paid for by the inch, kid. We’re not going to have a five-word title. “Dead” can stay. You can have one other word. You can call it 101% Dead or Evil Dead.’”

Faced with those two options, Raimi went with what seemed like, well, the lesser of two evils. “’101% Dead?’ I thought, ‘I’ll die first,’” he said. But even Evil Dead didn’t sit well initially. “How can something be evil and dead?” he wondered. “I just thought it was so stupid.”

As time’s gone on, however, the Evil Dead franchise has become a household name, with numerous films, comic books, video games, a TV show, and even a musical all in the canon. Accordingly, Raimi has warmed up to the name. “Now I’ve started to like it,” he said. “It’s pretty good.”

The latest title in the Evil Dead series, Evil Dead Rise, will premiere in theaters on April 21st. Directed by Lee Cronin, both Raimi and Campbell have returned as executive producers, and the latter described the film as the “scariest” yet for the franchise. Revisit the trailer for the new film here.

Sam Raimi Initially Hated the Title for Evil Dead: “It Was So Stupid”
Jo Vito

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