Dear Reader,

I would love to take this moment to do a bit of free association with you. When I say the name “Sam Raimi”, what comes to mind? Maybe it's the new film ‘Send Help’ starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. I wouldn’t blame you; it was, admittedly, an incredible film. Perhaps if you knew he directed it and you are very into the Marvel Universe, you might also have thought of the Dr Strange movie. But maybe, if you had a cooler, older cousin who was into comic book movies, you may have first thought of the early 2000s Tobey Maguire Spiderman trilogy. Now that’s good taste, Reader. Those films still hold up for me, too. When I think of Sam Raimi, I think of his signature wide shots of chilling landscapes, captured by a camera that moves as though it were an autonomous entity. I also think of sudden close-up shots of hands (or chainsaws). Then I (often) think of Bruce Campbell. In other words, I think of Evil Dead.

I doubt, my dearest reader, that when we started this free association exercise, you thought anything about musical theatre, did you? Well, you should have!

Two weeks ago, I, along with two friends, went to see Evil Dead The Musical at the Seymour Centre in Sydney. The night of the musical, I almost didn’t go. I had been busy all day running all over Sydney (literally from the west, to the east, to the west, to the city…). But even after this eventful day, I knew that I simply couldn’t miss it; it was either going to be the best or most disappointing thing I had ever seen. I love Evil Dead, I love Bruce Campbell, I love Sam Raimi and, most of all, I love fun. Everything about this musical should be up my alley. 

When buying the tickets, we were given the option to sit in the ‘splash zone’. Unfortunately (or luckily, I'm still not too sure), we found out that they had already sold out, so we opted to sit in the second-closest available spot, row C, where we were still urged to “wear something you don’t love.” Both of my friends (who, mind you, wanted the splash zone seats) forgot about this on the night of the musical, and ended up having to ask for ponchos (Reader, please take note that I did not ask for a poncho). 

Sitting in our up-close seats, waiting for the show to start, my friends and I began considering whether this musical would lean more into the horror or the comedy of the franchise; we concluded it would have to lean into the comedy for the musical to work. We also had a conversation about how the promotional image for the production did look a lot like an AI-generated image, which had me a bit worried (apologies to the artist if it isn’t, but I still suspect it may be). Knowing nothing more than the film's plot, we sat back and prepared to be amazed (or horrified). But as I began to relax into my chair, I felt the crinkle of a plastic seat cover beneath me, a cover that only went as far as our row (uh-oh!).

When the lights dimmed, and the humongous Necronomicon in the middle of the stage opened up, I was very excited. But this initial excitement hesitated as the lowered curtain revealed a cartoonish background painting of a ‘woods’ and cardboard props. Yet, as the first song ended and the curtain lifted, a perfect replica of the franchise’s signature cabin in the woods was revealed. I felt myself exhale. Now, trusting that the musical was in safe hands, I could finally relax and enjoy the show. 

When I first saw the actor playing Ash Williams, I wasn’t sure whether he could embody the character the way Bruce Campbell did, but he somehow managed to capture all the role’s heroism, comedic mannerisms, and timing pretty effortlessly. I could see him slowly transforming throughout the musical into the very over-the-top, immediately recognisable Ash that we find in the second half of Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness. The rest of the cast were similarly skilful, particularly the character of Cheryl, who really leaned into the musical’s camp nature once she transformed into a deadite. Scott’s fluctuation between a Californian, Canadian, and Midwestern accent made the experience all the more enjoyable, as I was almost brought to tears by how hard I laughed at his accent as he travelled across North America. Speaking of crying from laughing, when the character Jake sang the lines “Who coined the phrase ‘stop running with scissors’” during his solo song ‘Good Old Reliable Jake’, I actually did break out into tears from laughing so much. Later during that song, I made extended eye contact with the actor, and I can only hope it made him happy to see someone suffering so much from having such a good time. 

Although all the songs were fun and undoubtedly essential to the plot, the most memorable were undeniably the Thriller/Time-Warp inspired “Do the Necronomicon” and the romantic “Housewares Employee” number between Ash and Linda. Both boasted elaborate yet completely entertaining choreography, so smooth and lively that I began to reflect on all of the hours it must have taken to perfect. For reference, all of this rolling, jumping and dancing was done all while keeping in tune. 

Reader, you are probably wondering whether I got drenched in fake blood in the final moments of this play, aren’t you? Well, my friends were smart to grab a poncho, because the ending sequence was a literal mess. My friends got completely splattered, but I, seated in the corner, only got a little on my black skirt (it all comes out in the wash, apparently). Overall, even in light of Splash-Gate, I could not critique the musical. It perfectly recreated the franchise’s trademark comedic spirit, executed with precision. It was a hell of a lot of fun, and the cast was insanely impressive. There wasn’t a moment during the musical where I wasn’t entertained. I want to gush more about it, but I don’t want to spoil too much, so I will just give you my final rating: 

It was very, very…

Neve Jacqueline Thomson is currently studying English, French and Education. She loves to read, watch and write about the horror genre and speculative fiction.