If you can find a better half-hour series than “Ash Vs. Evil Dead,” buy it. But there is none better.
Sam Raimi co-wrote and directed the first episode, which is hilarious and as gory as one could hope, but I believe I can see Raimi’s fingerprints on next week’s second episode as well, even though others receive the credit for writing and direction.
Starz likes the show so much it’s already ordered a second season.
Come get some.
… you can say "Hail to the King, baby," because Ash — and everyone else involved in this continuation of the franchise — has still got it … the images of Deadites crawling up walls or fighting even after their heads have been twisted 180 degrees around remain creepy. Ash's schtick has aged even better. By "Army of Darkness," Raimi, Campbell, and company had really started pushing the idea that Ash, for all his skill at killing monsters, is still an overconfident schmuck with too high an opinion of himself. Making him a middle-aged guy with a beer gut and a collection of references even more out of date only enhances the joke — and makes the moments where Ash lives up to his macho self-image even more satisfying. … Raimi only directed the 45-minute "Ash" premiere (later episodes run closer to a half hour), but based on the second installment, helmed by Michael J. Bassett ("Strike Back," "Solomon Kane"), it's clear that others can pull off the giddy blend of horror, comedy, and action just fine. …
... like the films, it’s clever, engaging, brisk and, crucially, unpretentious. Amid the current glut of serious horror series (some of them, like “The Strain” and “The Returned,” quite good), the “Ash vs. Evil Dead” pilot stands out for its intelligent esprit. …
… feels like a king-size-candy-bar bonanza for a holiday sorely in need of full-contact, rock-and-roll gross-outs and good times. … When the stump of Ash’s right arm connects once more with his famous chain saw, you know it’s time to party, and pretty soon everything in the show looks like an explosion at the Ragú spaghetti sauce factory. It is indeed the happiest of Halloweens. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... A rollicking good time for fans of horror-comedies, “Ash vs. Evil Dead” drenches its characters in a comic amount of bright red blood … Mr. Campbell plays Ash with just the right mix of bravado masking insecurity and, as always, he’s hilarious to watch. The pilot’s script, written by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi and Tom Spezialy, also pushes comedy as much as it emphasizes blood-soaked fights. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... The gore and the laughs begin almost at once and never let up. …
... Granted, there are a lot of guts strewn about in cable these days, but few TV programs dabble in gore quite so gleefully, leaving characters drenched in cartoonish sprays of blood, much of it oozing out of creatures that scale walls like a big spider (something with which Raimi should be especially familiar). Campbell, meanwhile, saunters through it all with his trademark swagger, and when Pablo complains about being soaked in muck, Ash helpfully hands him a small, packaged towelette. …
... Premiering on Halloween night, the pilot is everything that fans will want in an Evil Dead TV show. It's drenched in spouting, dripping, viscous bodily fluids and loaded with Bruce Campbell attitude. …
12:15 a.m. Saturday. Starz.
