It’s quite rare when bone-chilling horror and comedy combine to make you shake with laughter. However, somehow, the Evil Dead franchise has managed to do so for more than three decades. From evil clones to chainsaw hands, the acclaimed Evil Dead franchise does not shy away from being experimental. The films follow Ash Williams, portrayed by Bruce Campbell, and his group of friends as they accidentally awaken the dead by reading aloud from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis -- an ancient Sumerian text written in human blood.

The franchise has grown, with the 21st century seeing two films in the form of 2013's Evil Dead and 2023's Evil Dead Rise and a television series released between them titled Ash vs. The Evil Dead. The series continues to delight, horrify, and amuse audiences all these years later. Without further ado, here are some of the best moments from the Evil Dead franchise.

Update October 28, 2023: This article has been updated with more great moments from the Evil Dead franchise, including from the newly released Evl Dead Rise.

11 Evil Dead (2013): Natalie and the Nail Gun

Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) shooting a nail gun in Evil Dead (2013)
Sony Pictures Releasing

Evil Dead, the 2013 reboot, served as both a remake and re-imagining of 1981's The Evil Dead. Disconnected from the events of the first film, we follow a group of five friends coming together to help a woman named Mia (Jane Levy) overcome withdrawal symptoms associated with her drug addiction. The group quickly discovers that the cabin is more decrepit than they first realized, and upon discovering the presence of the Necronomicon, they find themselves under attack by a malevolent force. Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), after cutting off her arm in a desperate attempt to avoid being possessed, returns from the shadows to assault her remaining friends with a deadly nail gun.

2013's Evil Dead trends more into overt horror than horror-comedy, with few, if any, laughs to be found throughout. After paying tribute to Evil Dead II by amputating her arm, Natalie's assault with the nail gun is easily one of the most brutal scenes in the franchise. The most disturbing thing is that there's no sense of sadistic glee as she attacks her friends: her expressions and posture are uncomfortably cold and distant as if she's being pulled along with invisible strings. A subsequent beating with a crowbar, followed by an amputation via a shotgun blast, only escalates the tension as our group of five keeps getting whittled down.

10 Evil Dead Rise: The Peephole

Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) looking through a peephole in Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Warner Bros. Pictures

Evil Dead Rise is a truly special film in the Evil Dead franchise. Coming a decade after the 2013 reboot, Evil Dead Rise takes us beyond the cabin in the woods to a cramped apartment in the middle of Los Angeles. A family of three, helmed by Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), is visited by Ellie's sister, Beth (Lily Sullivan). After some time spent reminiscing and having fun, a sudden earthquake unearths a bundle of bizarre artifacts, with one of them being the Necronomicon. After the book's contents are revealed, the Deadites rise once more to take on our innocent protagonists.

Being set in an apartment, Evil Dead Rise racks up a significantly higher kill count when compared to other films in the franchise. Once everything hits the fan, a possessed Ellie is locked outside of her home and left to ravage those wandering the hallways, all while we peer at her through a claustrophobic peephole. It's a horrifying sight drenched in sickly blue lighting and gobs of blood. From this perspective, it makes the supernatural terror of the Deadites feel all the more real, with an unnaturally stiff camera making their superstrength look even more intimidating. This type of cinematography would return for a later scene in which Ellie calmly approaches the viewer, pleading that a "hug from mommy" will make everything better. The peephole was a surprising creative choice, and it further differentiates Evil Dead Rise from its predecessors.

9 Evil Dead (2013): Mia Fights the Abomination

The Abomination (Jane Levy) crawling towards the camera in Evil Dead (2013)
Sony Pictures Releasing

The conclusion of the 2013 Evil Dead remake threw more than a few twists into the Evil Dead formula. For starters, we're led to believe that Mia -- who had been possessed for a majority of the film -- would ultimately end up dead at the hands of her friends, with her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), acting as our film's impromptu Ash Williams. David and Ash are even dressed similarly. However, after a live burial turns frees her body from the Deadites, Mia is resuscitated shortly after David bites the dust. David's death leads to a horrifying scenario: bloody rain starts pouring from the sky, and a doppelganger of Mia known as the "Abomination" starts to give chase.

The final battle between Mia and the Abomination is an unexpected but intense finale to an already intense film. Instead of being a demonic zombie, the Abomination is just as crafty and cunning as the other Deadites, leaving Mia outmatched for most of the brawl. The drastic change in lighting, complete with deep crimson reds and heavy shadows, conveys the near-apocalyptic scenario that's about to unfold. It's a fitting twist on what could've been a beat-for-beat remake of a horror classic. The brawl is even capped off with the return of the chainsaw, which would also return in Evil Dead Rise's dramatic conclusion.

8 Evil Dead Rise: One Big Happy Family

Beth (Lily Sullivan) wielding a chainsaw in Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Warner Bros.

Speaking of which, Evil Dead Rise flipped the script once more when it came to its bloody conclusion. Once a good number of the apartment's residents have been successfully turned into Deadites, the horde corners Beth and her daughter, Kassie (Nell Fisher), in the middle of a damaged elevator. But, instead of giving chase normally, the bodies of those possessed start to meld and form into a single cohesive whole. Enter the "Marauder": a screaming, writhing mass of limbs, torsos, and heads. As the chase continues into a parking garage, a particularly bloody finale sees Beth taking on the Marauder with the help of a chainsaw and, inexplicably enough, an industrial wood chipper.

The Marauder is one of the most powerful Deadites in Evil Dead's short history, being a physical embodiment of Ellie's "big happy family." Whereas most Deadites typically take the form of bipedal monsters, the Marauder sets the stage for future Evil Dead films to experiment with unconventional creature designs. It certainly facilitates some creative kills, at least. The Marauder itself perishes when it is forcefully rammed through the wood chipper via Beth's chainsaw, with Ellie's head getting one last crass insult out before getting turned into fleshy mulch. It's unsettling, it's thematically appropriate, and it's one of the best monsters the series has seen yet.

7 Army Of Darkness: Miniature Army of Ashes

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) looking into a broken mirror in Army of Darkness (1992)
Dino De Laurentiis Communications

The third installment in the franchise, Army of Darkness, follows Ash as he’s transported back to medieval times to recover the Necronomicon. Depending on who you ask, this time-traveling action film is up there as one of the best films in the franchise. With his deadly chainsaw as his only ally, Ash faces a variety of foes, from a medieval lord to evil clones of himself. Army of Darkness is painted in the same tones as the previous installments in the franchise, but the humor is dialed up to the max. A particularly memorable scene is when Ash is chased into the first floor of a windmill by the Kandarian Demon, an invisible spirit whose incredible speed often flings him around like a ragdoll. Ash runs into a mirror, shattering it in the process. His reflections in shattered pieces of the mirror come to life as miniature Ashes.

The scene that follows is pure slapstick comedy as Ash is tormented by miniature versions of himself. The miniature Ashes stab his bum with a fork, dump a bucket of ice on his head, and even tie him down in a very Gulliver’s Travels fashion, all the while he chases them around as comedic music plays in the background. The audience can’t help but laugh along with the miniatures at Ash’s misfortune. Ash even trades back some punishment by impaling one of the miniatures with a fork before attempting to squash another with his boot. It's an encapsulation of the comedic shift in tone that Army of Darkness brought to the franchise, made even more silly by a surprising lack of blood.

6 The Evil Dead (1981): We’re Gonna Get You

Linda (Betsy Baker) in The Evil Dead (1981)
New Line Cinema

The Evil Dead not only gave Raimi the bulk of his notoriety as a filmmaker, but it’s the one that started it all. It’s the foundation on which Raimi built an empire of sequels, TV series, comic books, and video games. In fact, it's probably one of the best horror movies of all time. In The Evil Dead, Ash encounters the Necronomicon and the evil it brings for the first time. Amidst the gory mayhem, one scene that’s hard to forget is when Linda (Betsy Baker), Ash’s girlfriend, gets possessed by a demon and mocks Ash. At the moment, Ash is at the end of his sanity, questioning his fate, as his screaming is interrupted by a laughing, possessed Linda. She starts singing in an almost childlike manner: “We’re gonna get you."

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Accompanied by eerie piano music, the scene is terrifying and comical at the same time. Betsy Baker does a spectacular job at portraying the possessed Linda, with her white eyes wide and a big menacing grin adding to her overall gnarly appearance. The scene is easily one of the most horrific moments in the first Evil Dead, compounded by the grim and bleak tone found throughout the rest of the film. A variant of this scene would reappear throughout nearly every entry in the Evil Dead franchise, especially in 2023's Evil Dead Rise.

5 Evil Dead II: The Evil Perspective

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) in Evil Dead ll (1987)
Renaissance Pictures

Evil Dead II is both a sequel to the original and a remake (or a “re-quel” if one were to quote 2022's Scream). The premise for the second installment is the same as the first, with Ash and company being stuck in a cabin in the woods. However, several significant changes and additions were made in order to expand upon Ash's character, turning him into the beloved, bloodied hero we know today. Ash and Linda (Denise Bixier) take a romantic vacation to an abandoned cabin in the woods, unaware that the dilapidated structure holds a horrifying secret. Demons are unleashed after he discovers a tape with passages recited from the Necronomicon on it, leading Ash to kill a possessed Linda before attempting to flee the property. However, with all escape routes blocked off, Ash is forced back into the cabin by the Kandarian Demon, followed by a temporary lapse in sanity from our bug-eyed hero.

Throughout the franchise, the audience never gets to see the Kandarian Demon itself. Raimi and his team devise clever tricks to show various manifestations of it. Sometimes, it's in the form of possessions, while at other times it involves CGI. Perhaps one of the more clever tricks is when the Kandarian Demon possesses the camera. Evil Dead II uses a droning effect to show the demon's speed through the woods and then the cabin, breaking through the back door as they attack Ash. It's an excellent source of tension, as we'll often cut between the perspective of the Demon barreling towards Ash's location and Ash himself being none the wiser. This type of cinematography would be a staple of the franchise going forward, albeit with some slight variation here and there.

4 Army Of Darkness: Good Ash vs Evil Ash

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) fighting Evil Ash in Army of Darkness (1992)
Dino De Laurentiis Communications

This scene follows right after Ash's battle with his tiny counterparts in Army of Darkness. During the chase between Ash and the miniature Ashes, the former ends up swallowing one of the latter. This results in a rather absurd scene where another Ash starts growing out of the original Ash’s shoulder. Eventually, the new Ash separates himself from the original Ash. The audience, along with Ash, is left baffled as the two stare at and mirror each other. When questioned by the original, the new Ash reveals that he’s Evil Ash while the other is Good Ash.

Bruce Campbell portrays two sides of the same coin as the confused Good Ash and the gleefully sadistic Evil Ash. It's an interesting showcase of Campbell's talents, as we rarely get a chance to see him play a more directly villainous role when compared to his previous efforts. Everything leading up to the two splitting apart is also appropriately hilarious, with a combination of practical effects and over-the-top acting amounting to one of Army of Darkness' best comedic moments. The ending of this particular scene cements Ash's status as an action hero when he defeats Evil Ash with his boomstick shortly before delivering a cocky catchphrase. Though he isn't as evil as Evil Ash, in his own words, he "ain't that good."

3 Ash vs Evil Dead: Ashes to Ashes

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) and Evil Ash in Ash vs Evil Dead (2015)
Starz

Ash vs Evil Dead, the one and only television series attached to the Evil Dead franchise so far, was a bold experiment. Could the gory mayhem and crude humor of the Evil Dead films work in a serialized format? Turns out it can, albeit with a few adjustments. Set after the events of the first three Evil Dead films, Ash Williams is now three decades older, trading a life of Deadite hunting for one of nomadic isolation. But he's not alone when he's called to action once more. With the help of Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo), the trio make their way to the cabin that started it all near the end of the first season, chronicled in the episode titled "Ashes to Ashes." But unbeknownst to them, the horrors Ash abandoned years prior may have stuck around for his return.

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"Ashes to Ashes" is a tribute to longtime fans of Evil Dead and an important episode for Ash as a character. References galore can be found throughout the cabin: Linda's decapitated head, Ash's possessed hand, and even a modern-day revival of Evil Ash can all be found throughout the episode. Instead of just showing the greatest hits of the franchise, however, these elements are used to address Ash's trauma. The first season is about Ash's reluctance to fight the Deadites again, spurned by his age and his desire to get away from it all for good. Having him directly confront his past is a blunt, but efficient means of getting his confidence back. It would serve as an excellent example of how Evil Dead could work as a series, as well as being a perfect way to give us some welcome fan service.

2 Evil Dead II: Hush, Little Henrietta

Henrietta (Ted Raimi) in Evil Dead II (1987)
Renaissance Pictures

As Evil Dead II progresses, it is unveiled that the tape Ash and his friends stumbled upon belonged to Professor Raymond Knowby (John Peaks), an archeologist researching the Necronomicon. Accompanied by the Professor’s daughter Annie (Sarah Berry), Ash discovers the professor’s wife is buried in the cabin's basement and is now a monstrous Deadite. Just as Annie is about to get attacked by Henrietta, Ash whistles and beckons her toward him. Armed with a chainsaw, Ash fights against her. Just as Henrietta is about to attack Ash, the tension comes to a pause as Annie starts singing a lullaby, effectively distracting the Deadite. The tension breaks as Ash slams his chainsaw into Henrietta, chopping off her arms and head.

The battle against Henrietta is indicative of the differences between the original Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. For one thing, it's a showcase of Evil Dead II's impressive budget. Whereas the original budget of The Evil Dead was just short of 400,000 USD, Evil Dead II's budget eclipses it almost by a factor of ten. This allowed the brawl with Henrietta to be a lot more elaborate with its practical effects when compared to its predecessor, with Henrietta herself utilizing extensive full-body makeup and even stop-motion animation for her distended head. It allowed Evil Dead as a whole to venture beyond just being a gory possession story into something much more ambitious, which would be fully realized in Army of Darkness a few years later.

1 Evil Dead II: Groovy

Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) uttering his famous catchphrase in Evil Dead II (1987)
Renaissance Pictures

The majority of fans of the Evil Dead franchise will agree that Evil Dead II has some of the best moments in the whole franchise. In an absurd turn of events, Ash’s hand gets possessed. Struggling against his own hand that keeps attacking him, Ash stabs his hand with a knife. The following scene is hard to forget as Ash uses a chainsaw to see his hand off. He screams as the camera zooms in on his face, and blood splatters all over. He ends up trapping the still-possessed, whimpering hand under a bucket with a pile of books on top. Of course, any mention of this scene is incomplete without the mention of the iconic chainsaw arm scene shortly after. Eventually, Ash fortifies himself to face the Deadites head-on. We get a montage of Ash and Annie as the two modify a chainsaw, and once complete, Ash attaches the chainsaw to his arm. Armed with his revved chainsaw in one hand, and his boomstick in the other, Ash delivers one of his iconic quotes: “Groovy.''

This iconic scene in Evil Dead II is the turning point for Ash Williams. The loss of Ash's hand, which is already a stellar scene for its hilarity and horror, directly leads to the visage of Ash as we know him today. It marks a turning point in the film where Ash is no longer a hapless person trying their best to survive. Instead, he starts a chainsaw without the use of his hands, cuts the barrel of his shotgun down significantly, and even twirls it around as a cool flourish before holstering it on his back. The catchphrase finishes his full-on transition into an action hero.

It, along with the general tone of Evil Dead II, would act as a hilariously horrifying stopgap between the sheer terror of The Evil Dead and the slapstick comedy of Army of Darkness, making the gradual transition between genres feel more natural as a result. Without this iconic scene, chances are we wouldn't have Ash Williams as we know him today.