10 Movies That Were Clearly Inspired By The Evil Dead

Summary

• Over the years, many horror movies have paid homage to 1981’s
  The Evil Dead
  in ways both large and small.
• One of the most notable entries is 2011’s
  The Cabin in the Woods
  , which deconstructs the titular subgenre.
• Other prominent titles that pay homage to the Sam Raimi classic are
  Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
  ,
  Wither
  , and
  My Name is Bruce
  .

1981’s The Evil Dead has influenced the future of cinema in ways both large and small. This includes birthing the career of director Sam Raimi, who made the movie as an expansion of his 1978 short film Within the Woods, and that of star Bruce Campbell, who played the beleaguered survivor Ash Williams. Both would go on to major projects both in and out of the horror genre, with Raimi helming projects including the Spider-Man trilogy and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Campbell starring in titles such as Burn Notice, Sky High, and Xena: Warrior Princess.

However, the movie has proven to be even more influential in the horror sphere. This includes birthing an entire franchise that now includes five Evil Dead movies with more on the way, a three-season television show, a stage musical, and multiple video games and comic books. In addition to being the beginning of a sprawling franchise, the iconic horror classic has spawned a legion of largely unrelated horror movies that have paid homage to it in various ways over the decades, either in their settings, their tones, or in even more direct references.

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Related Evil Dead Movies In Order & Timeline

Watching the Evil Dead movies in order can be difficult because the Sam Raimi horror franchise has a confusing timeline, but we break it down here.

10 Shaun of the Dead (2004)

A Zombie Comedy That Wears Its Influences On Its Sleeve

Shaun of the Dead 4.0 R

Director Edgar Wright Release Date September 24, 2004 Cast Kate Ashfield , Nick Frost , Simon Pegg , Lucy Davis , Dylan Moran Runtime 99 minutes

Edgar Wright drew inspiration from many iconic undead movie when crafting his seminal horror-comedy classic Shaun of the Dead, most notably the works of George A. Romero, including 1978’s Dawn of the Dead. While the original The Evil Dead is about ancient demonic forces rather than more traditional zombies and thus isn’t referenced frequently throughout the 2004 movie, it is still subtly mentioned during one early moment when Shaun mentions that his coworker Ash is out sick.

The influence of Sam Raimi can be felt more in the snappy pace of the editing and visuals of the movie rather than the zombie pastiche, especially in the moments when Shaun readies himself for battle, which take place in a series of quick cuts that exhibit the kinetic energy and vibrant creativity of Raimi’s Evil Dead movies.

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9 Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

A Horror-Comedy Featuring Bruce Campbell

Bubba Ho-Tep RComedyDramaFantasyHorrorMysteryThriller Director Don Coscarelli Release Date June 9, 2002 Cast Bruce Campbell , Ossie Davis , Ella Joyce , Heidi Marnhout , Bob Ivy , Edith Jefferson

One of the best ways for an Evil Dead-influenced movie to wear its intentions on its sleeve is to cast Bruce Campbell. An even better way is to cast Bruce Campbell as iconic rock ‘n roller Elvis Presley, who has secretly remained alive in a retirement home after swapping places with a lookalike in in the 1970s. With the Bruce Campbell character in place, the “evil dead” element is secured when an ancient mummy is unleashed upon the retirement home. The two must do battle, and a variety of macabre hijinks ensue.

It nevertheless also showcases some of the fearlessly creative low-budget innovation that fueled the original movie as well.

The movie, which comes from Sam Raimi contemporary Don Coscarelli (Phantasm) features horror-comedy stylings that take after the slapstick nature of the sequels Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness more than The Evil Dead, but it nevertheless also showcases some of the fearlessly creative low-budget innovation that fueled the original movie as well.

8 Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

A Twist On The Cabin In The Woods Genre

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Tucker & Dale vs. Evil 4.0 R

Director Eli Craig Release Date September 30, 2011 Cast Tyler Labine , Katrina Bowden , Alan Tudyk , Chelan Simmons , Jesse Moss Runtime 89 minutes

The horror-comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, which stars Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk in the title roles, has a lot of different subgenres on its mind when it comes to the tropes it has set out to lampoon. Primarily, this involves the “hicksploitation” subgenre, which includes movies as wide-ranging as Deliverance, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Wrong Turn, by having college kids assume that a pair of well-meaning hillbillies are backwoods murderers.

However, director Eli Craig has specifically stated that it was his intention to evoke the cabin from The Evil Dead when it came to designing Tucker and Dale’s West Virginia vacation home. While this doesn’t necessarily mesh with the primary hicksploitation theme, it evokes the “cabin in the woods” subgenre that the 1981 movie helped cement and thus folds perfectly into the overall pastiche of the 2010 title.

Related Every Horror Movie Reference In Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil

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7 Demons (1985)

An Italian Movie Filled With Demonic Mayhem

Demons (1985) R Release Date October 4, 1985 Main Genre Horror

Known as Dèmoni in the original Italian, Demons is a 1985 outing from director Lamberto Bava (A Blade in the Dark) that follows attendees of a movie screening who are transformed into evil, zombie-esque demons. The rules by which the demons operate can be a little bit unpredictable, but they almost always come attached to heaps of gruesome special effects.

While many subsequent movies that were influenced by The Evil Dead attempted to meld the Raimi movie with more Romero-influenced flesh-eating zombies, 1985’s Demons is one of the best evocations of the 1981 movie’s Kandarian demons. Not only do they meld the tropes of undead horror and possession horror, they possess their hosts with a gleeful, anarchistic abandon that can result in unpredictable terror as much as it may delight, depending on the audience members’ individual reactions.

6 Night of the Demons (1988)

An Isolated Demonic Nightmare

1988’s Night of the Demons is another movie that evokes the tone of 1981’s The Evil Dead perfectly, though it is much more possession-forward with very little undead element. On top of that, it also centers the element of potent isolation that the original Raimi movie features at its core. While the movie’s birthday party gone wrong doesn’t take place at a cabin in the woods, it does happen at the abandoned mortuary Hull House, where the participants are separated from any possible aid.

This is another outing that embraces shock and delight in equal measure, with special effects moments that are designed like magic tricks to invoke whatever reaction they possibly can. Its similiarity to EvilDead may indeed be one reason that it spawned a minor horror franchise, which now includes two sequels and a remake at the time of writing.

5 The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

The Ultimate Cabin In The Woods Deconstruction

The Cabin in the Woods 3.5 R

Director Drew Goddard Release Date April 13, 2012 Cast Richard Jenkins , Fran Kranz , Chris Hemsworth , Bradley Whitford , Kristen Connolly Runtime 95 minutes

The Cabin in the Woods is a deconstruction of the “cabin in the woods” subgenre in general and uses its meta approach to analyze horror and its audience from a broad perspective. This includes bringing in plenty of tropes that don’t exist in the original The Evil Dead including “The Harbinger,” a common character that warns prospective victims away from their doom like Crazy Ralph in the Friday the 13th franchise.

Additionally, ”
Angry Molesting Tree
” can be seen on a board of possible monsters that could be set upon the group of young people in the cabin,

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However, the movie nevertheless contains a multitude of references to The Evil Dead. This includes the design of the cabin itself, which owes a great deal to the original 1981 classic. Additionally, “Angry Molesting Tree” can be seen on a board of possible monsters that could be set upon the group of young people in the cabin, referencing one of the more controversial sequences from the Raimi movie.

4 Wither (2012)

A Swedish Quasi-Remake

While the 2012 movie Wither, titled Vittra in the original Swedish, is essentially a remake of The Evil Dead, it is not actually considered a remake in any official capacity. Although it contains strong story, setting, character, and atmospheric ties to the 1981 movie, nobody involved in the original classic, including Sam Raimi or producer Robert G. Tapert, are credited in the contemporary project, and there are significant dissimilarities that prevent there from being any major copyright issues.

Thus, Wither can be considered an homage to the Raimi classic rather than a remake like the 2013 Evil Dead, which followed the Swedish movie to theaters by just eight months. As a movie about an ancient Swedish evil lurking beneath the floorboards of a cabin that threatens to rip a couple apart both literally and figuratively, it is perfectly poised as a successor to the 1981 classic.

3 My Name is Bruce (2007)

A Send-Up Of Bruce Campbell’s Iconic Role

my name is bruce R Director Bruce Campbell Release Date October 1, 2007 Cast Bruce Campbell , Grace Thorsen , Taylor Sharpe , Ted Raimi , Ben L. McCain , Ellen Sandweiss Runtime 86 minutes

My Name is Bruce is a cult movie that owes such a great debt to The Evil Dead that it takes place in a world where the 1981 movie exists and inspires a young man to kidnap the real actor Bruce Campbell (playing himself, in addition to directing the movie, which was written by Falling Skies‘ Mark Verheiden) in a desperate attempt to help save his town from a rampaging supernatural threat.

While Raimi himself was not involved, the project proves that Campbell learned a great deal while on the set of the 1981 classic and many of the filmmaker’s subsequent projects.

In addition to making reference to the fact that Campbell is known as a horror hero thanks to The Evil Dead launching his career, the movie evokes the no-holds-barred Raimi approach to both the horror and the comedy. While Raimi himself was not involved, the project proves that Campbell learned a great deal while on the set of the 1981 classic and many of the filmmaker’s subsequent projects.

2 Dead Snow (2009)

A Gory Norwegian Zombie Epic

Dead Snow R Director Tommy Wirkola Release Date January 9, 2009 Cast Vegar Hoel , Stig Frode Henriksen , Charlotte Frogner , Lasse Valdal , Evy Kasseth Røsten , Jeppe Laursen Runtime 90 minutes

Of the many movies that pay homage to The Evil Dead in various clear and distinct ways, Tommy Wirkola’s Nazi zombie epic, known as Død snø in the original Norwegian, is one of the only ones to directly reference the 1981 classic in dialogue. There is a moment in the first act when the group of young campers are traipsing up to their isolated mountain cabin when the character Erlend references how their situation mimics the beginning of a “cabin in the woods” horror movie, citing The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Friday the 13th, and (incorrectly) April Fool’s Day.

The character’s misremembered slasher trivia aside, his citation of The Evil Dead is a clear callout to the fact that the bloody “cabin in the woods” zombie epic about to follow owes a great debt to the Raimi classic that came before.

1 Dead Alive (1992)

Peter Jackson’s Love Letter To Gory Zombie Horror

Dead Alive R

Director Peter Jackson Release Date August 13, 1992 Cast Timothy Balme , Diana Peñalver , Elizabeth Moody , Ian Watkin , Brenda Kendall , Stuart Devenie Runtime 104 Minutes

One of the earliest features from a pre-Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson, Dead Alive (also known as Braindead) is a propulsive gauntlet of practical gore effects and stylized monster mayhem. Jackson has admitted that the work of George A. Romero and Sam Raimi was at the front of his mind when making the movie, which features a character using a lawn mower to cut down a horde of zombies in a manner reminiscent to the chainsaw-wielding Ash.

This is another movie where the influence of Raimi can be felt most strongly not in the material but in the way that it is brought to life, though it can be fully felt in both. The handcrafted, rubbery nature of the special effects and the way they are given pride of place while being both grotesque and inviting is what gives the movie the strongest ties to the iconic horror director’s early work.

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