CS: What do you think of the backlash against an Evi Dead remake?
Sam Raimi: Well, I respect the fans and their wishes, and more than anything, Rob and I want to please the fans of the films. But I've never thought that making a film ever takes away from an existing film. No matter what you do, they're just two separate realities. Evil Dead was made by Rob Tapert, Bruce Campbell and myself, in 1979 we were shooting it. It bridged over into 1980. It was a 16mm film and although we think it was effective in a lot of ways, we actually think that it's not like it couldn't be improved in so many ways, from characterizations - there's like no real characterizations - the dialogue is not very good, the photography is like I mentioned 16mm, we had a small lighting kit. I think Tom Sullivan did a great job with the makeup but if he was given a little more time and a little better budget, I think he could have even gone further. And I love Bruce Campbell, so I don't think you ever replace Bruce but I just think there's a lot that a new director could bring to it that I didn't. I'm kind of excited to see it be born again in a strange way. I think it could be a lot of fun for the fans of the first one, and I think there are so many people that have never seen the thing that it's exciting to realize that gee, that horror story we told could be retold to a much larger audience, and maybe if it was told in a finer quality, maybe they would like it.
CS: Would it be grounds for a new trilogy?
Raimi: I haven't thought that far ahead.
CS: Would it be PG-13 like the other Ghost House movies?
Rob Tapert: I think that would be a mistake.
Raimi: No, I don't think so.
CS: Would remaking it seal the doors for a part four? Wouldn't Evil Dead IV confuse people then?
Raimi: Oh, I think the fans are really smart. I don't think they'd be confused. I'd like to make a part four. There's this very small audience for Evil Dead IV, and if we ever make a movie called Evil Dead IV, which I'd like to make with Rob at some point and starring Bruce Campbell, I'm not saying there's a million people, but there's 100,000 people that will know exactly what it is and that's about as big as the crowd is, honestly. It's not a giant crowd. They're a great crowd.
Tapert: And you might have to call it Army of Darkness II oddly enough because only the fans really knew that that was Evil Dead III. Even the people at Universal Home Video called us up one time and said, "We want to do a direct to video Army of Darkness II because that's a really good title." We said, "No, that's really Evil Dead III." They said, "Oh, well, we don't care about that Evil Dead stuff but the Army of Darkness was really good." They're totally confused.
CS: Will Bruce be involved?
Raimi: Evil Dead IV would just be made with Bruce, but if we make a new Evil Dead movie, which we're hoping to produce, Rob and I would try to get a young director with brand new ideas with his own cast and his own take on the thing.
CS: No Bruce cameo?
Raimi: I don't know.
Tapert: Bruce has said no. He said he'd rather wait and do something else rather than strictly playing a cameo.
CS: What are his feelings on the remake talk?
Tapert: The only thing that Bruce has asked is that nobody is called Ash. He wants to sit on that name.
CS: How far out are you?
Raimi: We're way out in development. We're waiting to find the right director for the project, that thinks he can really bring something new to it so that we can say to the fans, "We really believe in this guy. He loves the material. He's got a great new take on it. He's told us all these different ways he can improve it. And therefore we can go ahead with a clean conscience thinking it's going to be a really good project, something that the fans would like."
CS: Would it be a Ghost House release?
Raimi: Would it be, Rob?
Tapert: I don't know. Meaning, eventually it'll probably end up back in the Ghost House library. We actually haven't even thought about it.
Raimi: It's probably not, but we don't know.
CS: Did Bruce want to do Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash?
Raimi: He might have been. I don't want to speak for Bruce. I don't really know how he felt about it.
CS: What do you look for in a young director?
Raimi: Somebody that can create really good characters, because I think that would be a great way to improve Evil Dead. Somebody with a real desire to terrify the audience, that has a morbid, sick fascination with punishing them. Someone who is really a great visualist, good campfire storyteller.
CS: More scary than funny now?
Raimi: Well, the Evil Dead movie was always intended to be the scariest movie we could make with elements of black humor. Then Evil Dead II, we tried to change the balance of that and mostly make a dark comedy that had elements of a horror film. But to remake Evil Dead 1, that much I would like to insist upon, our goal and the goal of this director should be to terrify the audience in a very intense, and merciless way.
Tapert: As Sam would say, to punish them.
Nykyään en pysty juuri katsomaan leffaa tökeröiden tehosteiden takia, eikä se komediallinen linjaus muutenkaan pure.