There isn’t a more consistent franchise in all of horror and really movies for that matter, than Evil Dead. Right from the beginning we had a classic with Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead and all the way up to the most recent film, Evil Dead: Burn, we’ve been eating good as horror fans. But with so many great movies in the franchise, what are the best ones? This is an easy exercise when it comes to other franchises like Hellraiser or Halloween, but with Evil Dead, the quality is across the board.
So without further ado, lets get to the list.
6. Evil Dead Burn (2026)
Read our full review of Evil Dead Burn.
Evil Dead Burn continued the familial aspect that has been in recent entries of the series but in a slightly different way. Instead of a family coming together, its breaking apart at the seams. Our main character Alice, played by Souhella Yacoub) is coming back to her husband’s family home after his tragic death. But all is not what it seems here, with abuse, familial dynamics, and even a creepy grandma making up the bulk of this one. It has some subtext that hits like a truck, gross out effects, and an outstanding oner scene with the Deadite Dad beating the ever-loving crap out of his son.
This one gets docked a bit because it feels like it has a natural ending point and then keeps going after that for a bit. It makes sense in the film but it might have been stronger if it was a bit leaner and meaner. That’s not to say this movie is bad, its just not as good as some of the stone-cold classics coming up.
5. Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Read our full review of Evil Dead Rise.
I think I can just quote my review for this entry on Evil Dead Rise.
Evil Dead Rise is incredibly mean, nasty, gross, filthy, and mean-spirited.
That’s exactly why I loved it so much.
This one brings a broken family together as opposed to tearing a family apart like Evil Dead Burn. This one is a LOT. Lee Cronin became an immediate name in horror overnight because of this film. It showed the idea of giving a hungry filmmaker the Necronomicon and letting them run with it would definitely work. There are some brutal scenes here, especially involving a cheese grater that’ll make you squirm in your seat.
The cast here all are great in their roles with Alyssa Sutherland as the Maggot Mommy really taking it home. The blood and gore are the highlight here though with tons of it. It doesn’t waste any time getting to the point and builds tension like no other.
A truly terrifying entry in the series.
4. The Evil Dead (1981)
Yes, I know, put the pitchforks away. The Evil Dead is among the best horror movies ever made, but its eclipsed by some of the following films on the list. The movie that started it all, the effects are there, the performances, including one that’s varied and multi-layered by Bruce Campbell. This was it. They filmed it for zero money in a cabin in the woods. And we’re here today talking about the series still. Sam Raimi and Co. made one that revolutionized the genre, influenced multiple generations of filmmakers, and we’re still talking about it today.
3. Evil Dead (2013)
While the requel/remake craze might have been popularized with Halloween (2018), Evil Dead was the first and the best. I personally don’t think this is a remake, it’s a sequel to The Evil Dead. It might be another cabin in the woods with people getting taken over by Deadites, but this movie is what the original would have looked like if it was made in 2013. Fede Alvarez is also now one of the biggest directors in horror and its because of this movie. The gore is off the charts, the mean-spiritedness is out of its mind, and the performances are all great. Jane Levy is great and that third act, complete with a chainsaw, is worth the price of admission alone.
2. Evil Dead II (1987)
Evil Dead 2 basically remakes the first movie in the opening 30 minutes and then spends the next hour beating the ever-loving hell out of Bruce Campbell. More horror-comedy than just the straight up horror of the first film, it works. The budget is bigger, the Campbell unibrow is gone, but Sam Raimi somehow crafted an even better Evil Dead than the first film. That mix of slapstick and horror does wonders and you get some of the most iconic lines of dialogue in movie history mixed up with some of the best gore effects of the 80s.
If The Evil Dead was Sam Raimi showing us what he could do, this is him perfecting that style.
1. Army of Darkness (1992)
The Medieval Dead as it should have been called. Yes, this one is a departure from the straight up horror of the previous two flims in the series, but Army of Darkness is just all kinds of iconic. The best Ash performance from Bruce Campbell, the set pieces from Sam Raimi are excellent, the dialogue, it all comes together for the best Evil Dead movie. I’m sure there are people out there who hate this movie because its not the full-on horror romp, but it’s a great action movie, a great comedy, and a great horror flick all rolled into one.
The Evil Dead series is diverse but great across the board. And we’re only getting more movies in the series with Evil Dead Wrath coming and taking up residence in the 1970s. We’ll have to see how that one turns out and where it ranks. But for now, what do you think of these rankings?
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