Horror cult classic ‘Evil Dead’ comes home to Detroit for drive-in theater run – Detroit Free Press

Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press Published 12:47 p.m. ET June 18, 2020

"The Evil Dead" is returning to the place where its key creative trio director Sam Raimi, producer Rob Tapert and actor Bruce Campbell grew up.

But this isn't just a geographical homecoming for the 1981 cult classic, which was called "the most ferociously original horror film of the year" by author Stephen King nearly 40 years ago.

When it opens Friday at the Ford-Wyoming Drive-In in Dearborn, it's also coming home to the outdoor venues that gave it a chance when it was originally released.

Poster for the 2020 release of "The Evil Dead." It's playing drive-ins along with 1970 horror movie "I Drink Your Blood."(Photo: Grindhouse Releasing)

It played at drive-ins across America and these sort of downtown, rundown grindhouse theaters, as they called them back then," says Bob Murawski, who has edited a number of films for Raimi, including 2002's "Spider-Man" and its two sequels.

"In the old days, (drive-ins) were sort of like the Wild West with offbeat movies that nobody else would show.

Nowadays, drive-in theaters are experiencing a resurgence as one of the few places to see movies in a group setting. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Hollywood halted its summer release schedule and multiplexes across the country shut down temporarily.

In Michigan, indoor theaters are still closed by state order, but outdoor theaters have gotten the OK to reopen.

Murawski, a Detroit native, is the president of Grindhouse Releasing, an independent distribution company that's doing the national "Evil Dead" drive-in tour. Last week's kickoff in Maine sold out. This weekend, it also has dates at the Capri Drive-In in Coldwater, Michigan, as well as South Carolina and New York.

On July 10-11, Campbell the original star of "The Evil Dead" and, most recently, the lead actor of the Starz series "Ash. vs. Evil Dead" will appear at screenings at the Midway Drive-in in Sterling, Illinois.

The cinematic inventiveness and gusto of the first movie, shot in Tennessee on a shoestring budget by Raimi and a small cast and crew, sparked a franchise that included two sequels ("Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness"), a musical stage version, the Starz spinoff and a 2013 remake by director Fede Alvarez.

Campbell recently revealed that director Lee Cronin will helm another "Evil Dead" movie, this one called "Evil Dead Now."

In 2019, Grindhouse Releasing premiered a 4K restoration of "The Evil Dead."

It's an amazing legacy for a scary movie that had a hard time finding a distributor in the early '80s. According to Murawski, it was King's glowing review after a Cannes film festival screening in 1982 (not in competition, but the sales side) that helped get the original into theaters.

It was so much better and more energetic and gorier and wilder than other movies of its time," he says.

"The Evil Dead" will be paired at the Ford-Wyoming with "I Drink Your Blood, a cult horror film from 1970.

Murawski says that it's cool to see Raimi's classic come full circle with a hometown region screening and that seeing "The Evil Dead" at a drive-in might add to the chills and thrills.

"Its in the dark. Its at night. Youre a little bit isolated. Now youre even more isolated," he says, referring to COVID-19 safety measures that reduce drive-in audience capacity. "I think it gives it a special vibe being outdoors."

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.

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Horror cult classic 'Evil Dead' comes home to Detroit for drive-in theater run - Detroit Free Press

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero