Fantasia 2020 Review: Hail to the Deadites, A Flawed But Sweet Fan Letter to Evil Dead

By Leila Latif

Inspired by the franchise’s devoted following, Hail to the Deadites (2020) is a documentary about the die-hard fans of the Evil Dead films. The filmmaker interviews actors and crew of the original movies as well as collectors, fans, lookalikes, and cosplayers. 

The documentary is endearingly low budget and rough around the edges; no actual footage of The Evil Dead (1981) appears, with fan tribute videos, re-enactments, and Claymation standing in for the real deal. The interviews also seem to have been picked up on the fly; some stood in corridors, and others in hotel lobbies with people checking in in the background, while others were conducted over poor connections on zoom. 

This documentary, and the Evil Dead films for that matter, would not work without Bruce Campbell. He appears in what are the sole well-lit interviews, looking resplendent in a powder blue suit and a mahogany tan and white shirt, unbuttoned to reveal a gloriously hirsute chest. Even when poking fun at many socially awkward fans’ inability to make eye contact he remains irresistible. The film conveys what is so special about this man and the specific and often bizarre acting choices that make his character Ash so iconic and inspirational to his fans. As much as the fandom adore him, it is clearly reciprocated; some of the kind gestures he makes in the documentary belie a sort of loving symbiosis between them.

It’s emotionally manipulative at times, but it works. One can’t help but be moved when people describe; why it means so much to them, how it’s inspired them, how it’s gotten them through the toughest times in their lives, how they’ve sought out obscure memorabilia, or had wonderful encounters with Sam Raimi or Bruce Campbell. A young cosplayer is happier receiving five dollars from Bruce Campbell than most people are on their wedding day. The powerful part of the film comes when a fan talks about how he named his gravely ill newborn Ash, as he would fight his illness with everything he had. And how that was true, as he fought for fifteen whole minutes after they switched off the life support machine.

This is not to say this is a great, or even particularly good documentary. Production values aside, the structure is all over the place, and it never really builds to anything or expands upon any of its ideas. Scenes of people listing memorabilia aren’t as interesting as the film thinks and a lot of the fan’s stories are similar and bleed into one. There isn’t much analysis of what made the particular films work or their place within broader culture outside of the fandom, either. Worst of all, the insidious elements of the film, and the filmmaking process are breezed over without any reflection. In one scene, we see the actresses from the Evil Dead franchise doing a panel where they discuss the infamous tree raping scene. This is a scene that Sam Raimi openly regrets and attributes to his own immaturity. Here, we see the actresses expressing how they weren’t informed in advance about nudity or rape scenes, how horrifying that was to them and their families, and then it is never mentioned again. It determinedly keeps a wide birth from any toxic elements and steadfastly frames the deadites as an adorable bunch of dorks.

This lack of judgement towards its subject matter leaves us with an enjoyable but shallow look at genre fandom. Still, this documentary remains worth a watch, if only to enjoy the gleeful spirit of this community, and the strong bonds that form between its members.

Hail to the Deadites was reviewed as part of our coverage of Fantasia 2020.

Leila Latif is a Sudanese writer based in London. She has written about films, race, food and their intersections for The Guardian, Little White Lies, The BFI, Eater and Sight & Sound. She is a horror film junkie who will defend Scream 4, The Evil Dead Remake and season 6 of Buffy with her dying breath.

We've been going independently for years now, and so far have self-financed every single project. In order to do more work, and continue supporting amazing filmmakers in the genre space, we've launched a Patreon.

If you are able to support us and the work we do on Patreon, we'd truly and deeply appreciate it.