How To Watch The Evil Dead Movies And TV Shows In Order

One can indeed watch each installment in Sam Raimi’s celebrated “Evil Dead” franchise in the order of their release, but it might not help keep the continuity clear. The actual narrative throughline of the “Evil Dead” movies is a little hazy throughout, and each new movie might serve as a soft reboot of the one that came before it. The ending of one movie doesn’t clearly link to the next, and the main character of Ash (Bruce Campbell) doesn’t seem to learn or grow from his experiences. Indeed, Ash only appears to get dumber and more selfish with every outing. The already-weak continuity then becomes especially messy when one starts factoring in director’s edits and alternate endings that only sort of count toward the franchise’s central canon. One can also, if they were ambitious, include short films that Sam Raimi made when he was a teenager. He is an iconoclast.

And then, just to make things especially confusing, the series was rebooted in earnest, and a whole secondary trilogy of films can now be included, this time without Bruce Campbell or Sam Raimi involved in a creative capacity. And this list won’t even include the multiple “Evil Dead” video games that Bruce Campbell participated in, nor will it include any of the comic books or “Evil Dead: The Musical,” which ran Off-Broadway in 2006.

The release order is as follows: 

• “Within the Woods” (1978)
• “The Evil Dead” (1981)
• “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” (1987)
• “Army of Darkness” (1993)
• “Evil Dead” (2013)
• “Ash vs. Evil Dead” (TV Series, 2015 – 2018)
• “Evil Dead Rise” (2023)
• “Evil Dead Burn” (2026)

Now go to the drive-in in your 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, grab some popcorn, and get cracking on these wonderfully gory movies. Because no horrorhound’s education is complete without having seen all of them. 

Some fun trivia: Raimi’s original “The Evil Dead” was one of the original 72 Video Nasties, a group of mostly horror and gore films that were targeted by the British media watchdog group, the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association, back in the early ’80s. Because of the way videocassettes were distributed, many films escaped ratings by the British Board of Film Classifications, allowing horror to flood the market with little content oversight. The NVALA caught wise to the naughtier films, and began a hand-wringing campaign to censor the films they found to be the most egregious. “The Evil Dead” was among them. Naturally, the NVALA’s attempts to censor their 72 movies only made them excitingly notorious, and horror fans redoubled their efforts to seek them out. The 2021 film “Censor” was about the Video Nasties. 

Some of the Video Nasties are legitimately revolting (a phrase I use with laud and affection), and I would urge caution for anyone wanting to watch, say “Cannibal Holocaust.” But “The Evil Dead” is lightweight, silly, and downright tame in comparison. Sure, there are murders and blood and demons and buckets of glop, but the film isn’t as scary as one might assume from the cover. Sam Raimi had too broad a sense of humor to make something that was wholly terrifying and nihilistic, and one can sense his smirk shining through every frame.

It went on to inspire multiple sequels and TV shows that only became more slapstick-y and comedic as they went. To watch the “Evil Dead” movies in a marathon is to witness the evolution of the series’ own genre. Even the rebooted movies, while skewing more horrific than Raimi’s entries, have an oddball sense of humor lurking underneath. It’s hard not to thrill a little when a demon is being chainsawed through the face. 

When Sam Raimi was only 19, he gathered his buddies Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, and a few others, trekked out to one of their farm houses in the wilds of Marshall, Michigan, and shot a 32-minute short with stabbings, demonic possession, and at least a few murders. A lot of the tropes from the “Evil Dead” movies were born in “Within the Woods,” including a fast-moving camera to indicate a demonic presence, possessed corpses, and the demonic phrase “Join us.” The only “Evil Dead” concept missing from the short was the inclusion of the Necronomicon, an evil book that resurrected the dead. 

It cost Raimi $1,600 to make, which is about $7,800 in 2025 dollars. He shot the film on Super 8, and had it blown up to 35mm. The film has been leaked online, and you can watch it immediately. 

Raimi shopped “Within the Woods” to his local movie theater, the one that was showing midnight screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The theater owner screened it, and the audience liked it. The film didn’t earn Raimi any money, but it did serve as a “proof of concept” for a feature film. The following year, he and his friends began shooting the original “The Evil Dead.” /Film loves it.

The full-length feature film is just as much a satire as a horror film. Raimi seems to be sending up cinematic tropes as much as he is executing them. There is a scene in “The Evil Dead” wherein a Super 8 film projector is running when blood is splashed upon it. Ash (Campbell) staggers in front of a pull-down movie screen, and the blood is projected onto his body. He is now the screen onto which horror is projected. That’s a handy symbol for the way Raimi treats his character. 

In some respects, “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” is not really a sequel to “The Evil Dead,” but more like a remake. Campbell plays the same character, only now Raimi was working with a heftier budget (a full $3.5 million). The story is more or less the same: characters trek out to a cabin in the woods for a private getaway, only to find a tape recorder in the basement. When played, they hear the voice of an old professor reading passages from the Necronomicon. The recording summons evil demons who take possession of their bodies.

The “Evil Dead” movies were loosely inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft (he invented the word Necronomicon), but Raimi gave them a Looney Tunes spin. “Evil Dead 2” bears the visuals of a horror movie, but is told with the timing of a Laurel & Hardy short. It also boasts some of cinema’s finest physical comedy, as when Ash’s hand become possessed, and he flips himself over and beats himself in the face, trying to escape his own hand. The film is gloppy and gorgeous, and it’s rightly hailed by weird teenagers everywhere as one of the best horror movies of all time. 

The film ends with Ash and some fellow compatriots (notably the professor’s daughter Annie, played by Sarah Berry) using the Necronomicon to banish the demons back to Hell. It works a little too well, and opens a portal in time. Ash flies through and lands in the 14th century. He is praised as a savior by the locals, something he hates. “Evil Dead 2” sees Ash stranded in the past. 

Fun trivia: “Evil Dead 2” codified an unofficial on-screen “rivalry” between Raimi and fellow horror director Wes Craven. There are many Easter eggs hidden throughout this one. 

For the bigger-budget “Army of Darkness” (made for a whopping $11 million), we pick up in the 14th century where Ash was last seen. This time, though, Raimi changed the narrative a little. Rather than have Ash being praised as a savior, he’s cuffed and arrested and taken away to be executed by a local king (Marcus Gilbert). It’s also worth noting that Ash is now a full-on a**hole, treating the people around him as horribly and rudely as ever. The only thing he seems to be good at by now is fighting monsters, now codified as Deadites. His goal is to find the Necronomicon in the 14th century, and use its magic to return to the present. 

Because Ash is now an idiot, however, he misspeaks the magic works and accidentally resurrects an army of the dead. This is after accidentally creating an evil duplicate of himself (also Campbell) who will lead said army. The film’s climax is a Ray Harryhausen-inspired castle siege that Ash gets to help organize. Embeth Davidtz plays Ash’s medieval love interest, who gets transformed into an evil witch. 

“Army of Darkness” is, in a word, sublime. It’s comedic, horror goofiness at its finest. Of course, it bombed in theaters, but its many cultists have the film memorized. 

There are two endings to “Army of Darkness.” In the original cut, Ash uses a magical elixir to time travel, but accidentally drinks too much, and lands in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Nothing works out for this poor dope. That ending (easily seen on home video) didn’t test well, and the actual theatrical ending saw Ash landing in the 20th century … but accidentally dragging a hag-witch with him. The action is great. 

The spinoff “Ash vs. Evil Dead” TV series would canonize the theatrical ending. Before it began, though, there was a remake.

The 2013 remake of “The Evil Dead,” simply called “Evil Dead,” was co-written and directed by Fede Álvarez who, more recently, directed “Alien: Romulus.” He took the series back to its horror origins, and, for the bulk of its running time, is genuinely suspenseful. The story is still set in a cabin in the woods, but the location was selected to oversee the detoxification of Mia (Jane Levy), who is trying to kick a heroin addiction. Her friend Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) finds a book of evil in the basement, reads it, and invokes demons. What else would happen? Mia becomes possessed and begins behaving in an erratic fashion. For a long time, however, her friends think her demonic behavior is a result of heroin withdrawal. 

The gore in “Evil Dead” is spectacular. Cheeks are gashed open and great, long strips of flesh are removed with blades. Someone slices their tongue lengthwise. By the end of the movie, the sky is literally raining blood as someone takes a chainsaw through their face. Álvarez strikes a pretty good balance between the violence and the over-the-top gore. Indeed, the gore is so over-the-top, it almost becomes comedic, keeping “Evil Dead” in the same spirit as Raimi’s movies. 

There is a post-credits stinger wherein Campbell appears out of the shadows to deliver his catchphrase, “Groovy.” He has no actual scene, though, so the stinger is little more than a wink to fans, and not a declaration that Ash will appear alongside the remake’s characters in the future, a la the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Ash would return, however, in a fun Starz TV series. 

The central gag of “Ash vs. Evil Dead” is that Ash (Campbell is back) has become pathetic in the time since “Army of Darkness” 30 years earlier. Ever since “Army of Darkness” was released Campbell and Raimi have fielded questions from fans about the possibility of a fourth “Evil Dead” film, and Campbell would often scream that there was no way he’d do it. The films didn’t make a lot of money, and making them was exhausting for him. Eventually, he just started saying that he was too old for an “Evil Dead” film, and he’d even rib fans for asking in the first place. For decades, “Evil Dead” fans had to comfort themselves with the fact that Campbell wouldn’t ever be back. 

But eventually he and Raimi became nostalgic, and they made “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” a TV series about Ash’s new adventures with the Deadites. Fitting for Ash, it picked up as he was still working at a big-box store, not having done anything with his life. He’s as dumb and a-hole-ish as ever. The series opens with him strapping himself into a girdle so he can go out to a bar and pick up women. The series also starred Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo. Raimi directed the pilot, and Lucy Lawless turned up from time to time. Campbell, Raimi, and Lawless all worked together on “Xena: Warrior Princess.” 

Samara Weaving also appeared on the series, and one of her makeup tests — wherein she was splattered with stage blood — was used to perpetrate an online hoax about an abused Trump supporter. Weaving and Campbell tried to set the record straight. 

After three seasons, “Ash vs. Evil Dead” ran its course, and Campbell officially retired the role. “Evil Dead” fans would have to settle into the new continuity introduced by the 2013 film. 

Lee Cronin wrote and directed 2023’s “Evil Dead Rise,” cleverly transposing Deadite action from a cabin in the woods to an apartment in Los Angeles. A young mother named Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) becomes possessed when the Necronomicon, called the Naturom Demonto in the reboot films, is found in her building’s basement. Beth (Lily Sullivan) will have to protect Ellie’s children from her. There is a little extra information about the demonic book in “Evil Dead Rise,” gleaned from additional recordings and photos, but it’s nothing so significant that it alters the basic premise of the “Evil Dead” series. Pretty soon, the decrepit building becomes broken to the point where people are trapped inside, not a great place to be with a demon wandering around. The film ends with multiple possessed people, all merging into a bizarre, multi-limbed monster. 

It’s unusual that so many movies, a TV show, video games, and comics have been milked from such a simple premise. People go to cabin. Demons possess them. Ash is tortured. Ash, while a fool, fights back and barely escapes. His life gets worse. Repeat. There’s little in the way of character development, and there certainly isn’t a lot of rich, complex lore. “Dune,” it ain’t.

Scheduled for release in 2026 is “Evil Dead Burn” will be co-written and directed Sébastien Vaniček. Like with the other remakes, Raimi is producing. Nothing is yet known about the premise or the story, but we can rest assured there will be a lot of blood. Like, so much. And a chainsaw. And an evil book. Also, more blood. 45 years after the original “Evil Dead” was a Video Nasty, it’s now a mainstream hit. One might wonder what those old British censors think of “Evil Dead” now.