Evil Dead

Evil Dead is an American horror media franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of five feature films and a television series. The series follows various characters as they battle demonic forces unleashed by an ancient book called the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis.

The protagonist, Ashley Joanna "Ash" Williams (Bruce Campbell), appears in the original trilogy including The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992), all written and directed by Raimi, produced by Rob Tapert and starring Campbell. The franchise has since expanded into other formats, including video games, comic books and a musical.

The film franchise was resurrected in 2013 with Evil Dead, both a reboot and a loose continuation of the series directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rodo Sayagues. It was produced by Raimi, Campbell and Tapert, featuring a new protagonist in Mia Allen (Jane Levy). A television series, Ash vs. Evil Dead, premiered on cable network Starz in 2015, lasted for three seasons, and ended in 2018, with Campbell announcing an animated revival to be in active development in July 2022. It starred Bruce Campbell as Ash and was executive produced by Campbell, Raimi and Tapert. A fifth film in the franchise, titled Evil Dead Rise, was theatrically released on April 21, 2023, with Lee Cronin serving as writer and director, Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan starring as sisters Ellie and Beth Bixler, Tapert serving as a producer, and Raimi and Campbell both acting as executive producers.

Each film of the franchise has received generally positive reviews from critics, with the original trilogy developing a cult following, and has grossed a collective $300 million worldwide.