Groovy! - Ash vs Evil Dead.

The latest spawning from the Evil Dead franchise spots the man, the myth and indeed, the legend that is Bruce Campell reprising his role as Ashley J. Williams in Ash vs Evil Dead. Fans of the film series will already have an idea of the style and tone of Evil Dead, which thankfully is well adapted to the small screen: over the top violence, blood measured not in litres but by Olympic swimming pools and cheestastic cringe inducing one liners that will leave you adequately tickled well into the next action scene (depending on what point along the tickle-ometer you find adequate, of course).

For those of you unfamiliar with Evil Dead (shame on you) the essential premise is that reading texts from the Book of the Dead opens a portal from which spawns forth the dead, primarily of the evil variety. And of course it’s only a matter of time before some poor soul recites the doomed passages. Oh, and did I mention the book is also bound in human skin, with the face right on the front cover. This might just be me, but I’d say that maybe those thinking it’s a good idea to read from it might be taking the phrase ‘never judge a book by its cover’ a little too literally. But I guess it would be a pretty uneventful series if they didn’t read from it – “Hey that book looks creepy! Nobody read from it ok.” The End. Roll credits. Ask for a refund.

Ash first appeared in the initial outing of Evil Dead back in 1981, where Ash (played by Bruce Campbell, that magnificent son of a bitch!) and some friends go to vacation in a cabin in the woods. They must have picked that place out of the ‘A holiday you’ll never be able to forget’ brochure, with other options including ‘graveyard at midnight’ and ‘the old derelict insane asylum’. The ‘spooky mansion’ must have been fully booked.

The short version of events is: they accidently cause the spawning of crazy shit, which proceeds to possess, maim and mutilate the entire cast. Not to mention Ash cuts off his own possessed hand and fits onto his arm a chainsaw!The long version is: watch the goddamn movies, dumbass!

Ash vs Evil dead picks up the story 30 years later, where an older and heaver Ash who works at a department store, must once again battle the forces of evil. Ash being Ash accidently read from the book whilst high and drunk and in the process of trying to impress a female acquaintance. When the Evil Dead come for Ash he realised what he has done and the show gets going. However this time round Ash isn’t working alone, he reluctantly teams up with a couple of spunky colleagues, and they all head out on a road trip/let’s kick Evil’s butt adventure.

The show is light hearted, fast paced and funny, in addition to the prominent over the top and utterly ridiculous gore. It can take a couple of episodes to really get going and is strong thereafter and throughout the 10-part season. Probably not best suited to those looking for more series horror, but if you’re looking for some balls to wall action scenes with a side of laughs then do yourself a favour, check out the show and let us know what you think in the comments below.