The screen is awash in blood. Cheesy one-liners are being tossed about like confetti. Our unlikely hero has a chain saw for a hand. This can mean only one thing:
The beloved “Evil Dead” horror franchise is back — in all its over-the-top, gory, groovy glory.
For die-hard devotees, “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” the new 10-episode series coming to Starz on Halloween, is indeed a major treat. Ever since the last of three films (“Army of Darkness”) hit movie screens in 1992, fans have clamored for more. So claims star Bruce Campbell, who says, “They haven’t shut up. No matter what we say or give to them, it will never be enough.”
Lucky for them, producer-director Sam Raimi and his team have delivered a rollicking, frightfully funny reboot that, after all this time, catches up with Campbell’s Ashley (“Ash”) Williams, the trilogy’s lunkheaded, monster-fighting warrior.
Newcomers might want to know that this all started with 1981’s “The Evil Dead,” a horror flick made by Raimi and his college buddies for less than $400,000. Despite its tiny budget, it became a landmark of the genre, lauded for the way it nimbly blended outlandish amounts of gore with lots of dark humor.
As the story goes, Ash and his friends spent a horrific night more than 30 years ago in a mountain cabin. There, they made the mistake of messing with an ancient mythical book that unleashed vicious demons — or Deadites — into the woods. Ash was the only one to survive, but he lost his hand, and sense of security, in the process.
Cut to present day: Ash is now America’s oldest, one-handed stock boy at a low-end superstore who spends his off hours chasing skirts, getting wasted and hanging out in his Airstream trailer. It’s an under-the-radar kind of life — the better to avoid any run-ins with supernatural creatures.
But one fateful night, Ash makes a really stupid mistake, and all hell breaks loose again. Like it or not, he will be forced into action.
At a time when TV is teeming with caped crusaders and towering models of authority (FBI agents, Navy SEALS, etc.), Campbell gives us an accidental action hero at the other end of the spectrum. Ash is a big, lazy doofus who cracks bad jokes, has a bulging midsection and gets winded during sex. But in his warped mind, he’s the coolest guy in the room and it’s a hoot to watch him struggle to live up to his false bravado.
Make no mistake, “Ash vs. Evil Dead” is not “Scream Queens.” The series takes its horror seriously. There are genuine jolts, along with lots of intense, turbocharged action sequences, and fountains of blood that give the story visceral oomph. The faint of heart may want to sit this one out.
On the other hand, there’s also enough comedic energy to keep things from feeling excruciatingly brutal. As the saga unfolds, Campbell and his fellow hell-raisers — including Lucy Lawless — appear to be having an absolute blast. And the fun is infectious, even if forces of evil are everywhere you turn.
BACK FROM THE DEAD: If you prefer your TV horror to be more creepy than comical, take note that “The Returned” (10 p.m. Saturday, Sundance TV) launches its second season on Halloween.
Not to be confused with this year’s A&E remake, “The Returned” — or “Les Revenants” — is a chilling and atmospheric French drama that has won widespread acclaim. It’s set in an alpine village where some people who were long presumed dead have inexplicably come back to life.
They don’t return as ghastly, flesh-eating ghouls but as the people they used to be — minus their memories. Their sudden reappearance forces their rattled friends and family to grapple with all sorts of emotional complications.
In Season 1, “The Returned” distinguished itself by substituting mood and atmosphere for blood and gore. The result was a taut, psychologically driven series so well crafted that not even the subtitles could scare us off.
Here’s hoping that the slow-burn mystery still has a lot to offer over its eight new episodes.
CHANNEL SURFING: Also returning just in time for Halloween is “Grimm,” which kicks off its fifth season on Friday (9 p.m., NBC). … Thursday brings an odd crossover stunt you have to see to believe, between “Bones” (8 p.m., Fox) and “Sleepy Hollow” (9 p.m., Fox). … Also on Thursday is another airing of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (8 p.m., ABC).
Contact Chuck Barney at cbarney@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/chuckbarney and Facebook.com/bayareanewsgroup.chuckbarney.
‘ASH VS. EVIL DEAD’
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When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Starz
