The original trilogy of Evil Dead films directed by Sam Raimi vary significantly in tone: The Evil Dead (1981) is an assaultive shriek of midnight-movie nastiness, Evil Dead II (1987) remixes the first feature as a pitch-perfect slapstick horror-comedy, and Army of Darkness (1992) mutates the series’ premise yet again into a dark medieval fantasy (via some time-travel shenanigans). The two elements that tie together Raimi’s protean trilogy are 1) the fabled grimoire the Necronomicon and 2) the vile Deadites, the gleefully sadistic demonic entities summoned from Hell by the words of the evil tome. Throw in some over-the-top gore and a Chekhov’s power tool or two, and you have yourself an Evil Dead film. The formula is simple but reliable, persisting through a 30-years-later sequel television series created by Raimi (Ash vs Evil Dead) as well as legacy features