'Ash Vs. The Evil Dead' Is The Horror Comedy Series We've Been Waiting For

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 31, 2015 3:00PM

Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series set the bar for low budget movies that walked the fine line between comedy and scaring your pants off. The Michigan native made his name with the low budget horror series before moving on to Hollywood and big tent productions.

But Raimi's heart has obviously always been stuck in the dark little corner he built his reputation upon. Evil Dead followed the adventures of Ash, played by the inimitable Bruce Campbell, and his numerous attempts to fight forces unleashed by accidental readings of The Necronomicon, a book of pure evil. Now a new series, Ash vs. Evil Dead, from the creators of Evil Dead, has premiered on STARZ this Halloween.

The last Evil Dead episode, the film Army Of Darkness, aired in 1992, so it's been a while since we last saw Ash. The new series shows us Ash is no different—he's still a clumsy Lothario with a knack for taking down beasties from hell. Still evident is Ash's chainsaw replacement for a hand, but new is the acknowledgement that the man has to wear a really, really constricting girdle in order to maintain his self-image.

The debut maintains many of the original series' signature moves—one of the best being a homicidal six-inch doll that drives Ash to new levels of self-abuse—so this may be one of the rare sequels that lives up to the original's promise. Sadly the pilot is the only part of this ten episode series directed by Raimi so we're hoping subsequent chapters retain the debut's charm. But even if they don't, we can't help but applaud the fact Ash is back.

Also, super bonus points for bringing Lucy Lawless back for a killer cameo.

Groovy.