10 Best Evil Dead Moments
8. Pit Escape
“This… is my boomstick!”
Army of Darkness
Transported to 1300 AD, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) is met with hostility as he is immediately mistaken for an enemy. Before long, he is thrust into a deadly pit, where some Deadites lurk and a spike trap awaits. An extravagant battle ensues, and in a gloriously exaggerated moment, Ash soars through the air and catches his chainsaw mid-flight. By now, he is undeniably an action-hero. After finally escaping the pit, he begins making an arrogant speech about his “Boomstick” (a double-barrelled shotgun), before publicly executing a Deadite with it.
The pit is introduced with a shocking geyser of blood, marking the film’s first action set piece. During the fight, Ash’s resourcefulness is conveyed through some proficient combat and a hasty escape strategy via snagging his belt buckle onto a pulley. The pit makes for a claustrophobic arena, adding some tension to an already visceral fight. When Ash emerges from the pit, his now-iconic speech is extremely entertaining, but it also shows how far he has come as a character. Compared to his terrified counterpart in the first film, this scene shows a cockier, hardened side of him. Furthermore, it leads to him proving to the medieval knights that he is the chosen one (by shooting the Deadite that escaped the pit), as prophesised by the Book of the Dead; it’s a fun, elaborate way to get the story moving.
Army of Darkness contains some of Ash’s greatest one-liners, and the “Boomstick” quote is one of the most recognisable. Ash’s ramblings are hilarious: the scene plays into Bruce Campbell’s comedic acting abilities, while also letting Ash blow off some steam (given that this takes place immediately after the previous two films) and prove he’s a resourceful fighter.
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7. David’s Apology
“Please come back to me…”
Evil Dead
It’s no secret that Fede Álvarez’s reimagining of the Evil Dead franchise is the goriest film in the series. Evil Dead (2013) is strictly a horror film, lacking the trademark humour of other entries. This works for the story Álvarez intended to tell. He took Ash (Bruce Campbell) and Cheryl’s (Ellen Sandweiss) underused sibling dynamic from the original film, and extensively elaborated on it, this time through Mia (Jane Levy) and David (Shiloh Fernandez).
In this underrated moment, David has finished burying his possessed sister in an effort to free her from the Deadite’s demonic clutches. Here, he breaks down and apologises for everything.
Most remember the remake for its serious tone and Mia’s arc – but many overlook David’s contribution. The first half of the film hints towards David and Mia’s estranged relationship, due to David leaving his sick mother in Mia’s care years prior, essentially abandoning them. He is partly responsible for Mia’s spiral into addiction, and he spends a lot of the runtime trying to make amends – especially when Mia becomes a Deadite early on. Despite everything, David keeps fighting to save Mia’s life, even when he hits rock bottom and becomes the sole survivor.
David’s apology is rather earnest, offering a resolution to the fractured relationship he holds with Mia. When Mia eventually returns, his character arc comes full circle. Likewise, his sacrifice shortly afterwards to save Mia (a wounded David weakly tells her to “go now and live”) puts a profound spin on their relationship. Much of Evil Dead – beyond the gruesome mayhem – is about David making up for his detrimental mistake of ruining his sister’s life, which makes his apology and eventual sacrifice one of the series’ most powerful and emotional moments.
6. The Peephole
“Open up now… that’s it! Do it for mom and dad…”
Evil Dead Rise
Deadite Ellie’s (Alyssa Sutherland) introductory scene may be the most memorable, but her hallway massacre – displayed entirely through the apartment’s peephole – is undoubtedly her most sadistic moment. As Beth (Lily Sullivan) watches through the peephole, Ellie picks off the surviving residents one by one. Afterwards, she sits patiently outside the door, waiting to deceive her youngest child, Kassie (Nell Fisher), into letting her back in.
This scene effectively blends the horror and humour the franchise is known for.
Due to the peephole being visually restrictive, the sound design of Ellie’s rampage is strongly emphasised; it forces viewers to use their imaginations. The only glimpses of Ellie’s victims are sparing, while their screams, attacks, and footsteps can be heard offscreen. Despite Ellie being offscreen for most of the carnage, the claustrophobic perspective through the peephole (Beth’s point-of-view) strikingly expresses her unwavering brutality. Furthermore, when she lures Kassie into looking through the peephole (by disturbingly singing a lullaby), the suspense continues to rise. Phrases such as “open up now” and “nothing a big old hug and kiss won’t fix,” spoken with a kindly tone, are used to deceive her naïve youngest daughter. This severely raises the tension, since Ellie is guaranteed to strike against the family again – it also adds some compelling emotional stakes. It’s the final reminder that the mother Kassie once knew has been replaced by a formidable monster.
Fundamentally, the peephole scene demonstrates how director Lee Cronin took advantage of the new setting: he used a peephole to convey and daringly obscure one of the film’s goriest moments. Thus, it amplifies the sound design, and challenges viewers to use their imaginations to paint the blood-covered picture in their heads. Furthermore, it offers a deeper insight into Deadite Ellie’s character. Evidently, she’s chaotic and over-the-top, yet cunning and manipulative. The scene argues why Ellie isn’t just the summation of who the Deadites are, but it also cements her as one of the franchise’s most memorable antagonists.
