Happy 61st Birthday, Sam Raimi! Born today in 1959 as Samuel Marshall Raimi, this highly inventive American actor, screenwriter producer and director's inventive camera techniques and wry humor breathed life into the horror genre.
Born in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, Raimi was a son to a Conservative Jewish family. He was the fourth of five children.
Years later, Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father brought a movie camera home one day. He began to make Super 8 movies with his friend Bruce Campbell, of whom he had met in 1978.
While in college, Raimi teamed up with Campell and his brother's roommate. This was American film and television producer, writer and director Robert Tapert.
This was to shoot the thirty-two-minute 1978 American horror/slasher short film 'Within the Woods'. The short had a budget of $1,600.
'Within the Woods' eventually raised $375,000, as well as his previous debut feature. This was the seventy-minute 1977 American horror film 'It's Murder!'.
During that time, Raimi also shot the seven-minute 1978 American horror short film 'Clockwork'. It had starred American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor Scott Spiegel.
He had previously appeared in 'It's Murder!' and 'Within the Woods'. This was along with American actress Cheryl Guttridge in the former.
Raimi had drawn inspiration from his earlier short film 'Within the Wood's, deciding to produce a "prototype" horror film for 'Clockwork' to help build the interest of potential investors.
The following year, Raimi co-founded the American film production and television company Renaissance Pictures in 1979.
Through family, friends, and a network of investors over the next two years, Raimi was able to finance production of which he is best known for writing and directing. The was the 1981 American supernatural horror/fantasy film 'The Evil Dead'.
Upon release, the film eventually became a cult hit and effectively launched Raimi's career.
On a budget of $350,000–$400,000. 'The Evil Dead' grossed $2.4 million in the United States and eventually $29.4 million worldwide.
The low-budget horror film attracted the interest of American producer, film importer and distributor Irvin Shapiro. He had helped to screen 'The Evil Dead' the following year at the 35th Cannes Film Festival in May 1982.
Several critics complimented the film for its unexpected use of black comedy, which elevated the film above its genre's potential trappings.
English journalist, film critic and fiction writer Kim Newman, British jazz writer, magazine editor and former record company executive Richard Cook and English Professor of Film and Television and principal editor of the Journal of British Cinema and Television Julian Petley gave positive reviews as well.
All three critics compared the film to the surrealistic work of French filmmaker Georges Franju ('Eyes Without a Face') and French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic Jean Cocteau ('Beauty and the Beast', 'Orpheus').
Each noted the cinephilic references to the latter filmmaker's 1950 French black and white fantasy/drama film 'Orpheus'.
American media critic and scholar Lynn Schofield Clark, Ph.D. in her 2003 book From Angels to Aliens compared 'The Evil Dead' to better-known horror films such as William Friedkin's ('The French Connection') 'The Exorcist'.
She also compared it to American director and producer of film and television Richard Donner's 1976 American supernatural horror mystery/cult film 'The Omen', citing 'The Evil Dead' as a key supernatural thriller.
Even Stephen King called 'The Evil Dead' "The most ferociously original horror film of 1982." His rave review of the film helped convince New Line Cinema to serve as its distributor.
Empire stated that the film's "reputation was deserved", writing that 'The Evil Dead' was impressive considering its low budget and the cast's inexperience.
They commented that the film successfully blended the "bizarre" combination of 'Night of the Living Dead', 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' and The Three Stooges.
Six years later, Raimi returned to the horror genre with the seminal 1987 American comedy/horror splatter/cult film 'Evil Dead II' (also known in publicity materials as 'Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn).
The film added slapstick humor to the over the top horror, showcasing Raimi's love of the Three Stooges, hence his use of fake Shemps. This refers to someone who appears in a film as a replacement for another actor or person.
American film critic, film historian and author Leonard Maltin originally rated 'The Evil Dead II' with two stars, but later increased the rating to three stars.
Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, describing it as "a fairly sophisticated satire, that makes you want to get up and shuffle."
He also praised the film's sense of surrealism, comedic timing, and "grubby, low-budget intensity."
Ebert wrote that "if you know it's all special effects, and if you've seen a lot of other movies and have a sense of humor, you might have a great time at Evil Dead 2."
Although Raimi's 1990 American superhero action/horror film 'Darkman' returned a valuable, he was still able to secure funding for the 1992 American horror/fantasy film 'Evil Dead III'.
The film was later retitled 'Army of Darkness'. The title had come from an idea by Shapiro during the production of Evil Dead II.
Unfortunately, 'Army of Darkness' turned away almost totally from horror in favor of fantasy and comedy elements.
The final film in the "Evil Dead" trilogy was a box office disappointment, grossing $25.5 million on an $11 million budget.
However, on VHS, 'Army of Darkness' eventually became a cult classic.
The film was also known as 'Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness', and was marketed as such on home video release.
In the early 2010s, Raimi, along with Campbell and Tapert, produced the 2013 American supernatural horror/thriller film 'Evil Dead'. It was remake of Raimi's 'The Evil Dead'.
First-time feature Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Álvarez co-wrote and directed, and Uruguayan screenwriter, producer, lyricist, actor and director Brook Busey-Maurio (better known by the pen name Diablo Cody) was also brought in to revise/rewrite the script.
On a budget of $17 million, 'Evil Dead' grossed $97.5 mullion at the box office.
However, American journalist and film critic for The Chicago-Sun Times Richard Roeper rated the film one star out of four, criticizing the film's unoriginality, the characters' lack of intelligence, and the film's reliance on gore for what he felt were cheap scares.
He concluded his review by saying, "I love horror films that truly shock, scare and provoke.
But after 30 years of this stuff, I'm bored to death and sick to death of movies that seem to have one goal: How can we gross out the audience by torturing nearly every major character in the movie?"
Raimi confirmed plans to write 'Evil Dead 4' with his brother Ted; it was later specified that this film would be 'Army of Darkness 2'. Álvarez revealed that Raimi would direct the sequel to 'Army of Darkness'.
However, in an interview with American television personality, actress, and comedian Erin Darling, Campbell announced that 'Army of Darkness 2' is not happening.
He said, "It's all internet b.s. There's no reality whatsoever. These random comments slip out of either my mouth, or Sam Raimi's mouth, next thing you know, we're making a sequel."
Two years later, Raimi, Ivan Raimi and American television producer, director and screenwriter Tom Spezialy developed the American comedy horror television series Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018). This was for the Starz network filmed in New Zealand.
On April 20, 2018, it was announced that the series had been cancelled after three seasons due to rating decline.
However, Campbell stated at the time of the cancellation that Ash vs. Evil Dead has been the ride of a lifetime.
Following the news of the show's cancellation, fans of the series created petitions to renew Ash vs Evil Dead for a fourth or fifth season.
Campbell later tweeted "Big props to fans for the effort, but I’m retired as Ash. #timetofrysomeotherfish".
This was in response to an article published by the American horror genre website Bloody Disgusting that encouraged fans to campaign for the show's continuation on the Netflix platform,
Entertainment Weekly ranked 'The Evil Dead II' in at #19 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films".
Sight and Sound ranked it in at #34 on their 50 Funniest Films of All-Time list.
In 2008, Empire included 'Evil Dead II' on their list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. They ranked it in at #49.
The trademarks in Raimi's films include frequently casting Bruce Campbell, James Franco, J.K. Simmons, and his brother Ted Raimi.
Sam's other trademarks include using a distinctive shot where the camera follows a moving object (such as an arrow or a bullet) at high speed creating a first-person point-of-view from the object itself.
He uses a rapid dolly shot to bring a far-off object suddenly into the center of the frame or to pull back from the main focal object to show what is happening around the perimeter (sometimes called "push-pull").
Raimi also uses montage sequences with overlapping close-up shots to establish a set of similar actions over elapsing time and extreme closeups using a wide-angle lens.
In many of Raimi's films, the camera itself is part of the action on screen. One of Raimi's most famous sequences involves a point-of-view shot of Bruce Campbell being chased through a cabin by an unseen evil force.
According to his personal life, Raimi has been married to American actress Gillian Greene since 1993. They have five children together, three of them (Emma Rose, Lorne, and Henry) appearing as extras in 'Spider-Man 3' during the final battle sequence.
They also appeared as extras two years later in the 2009 American supernatural/horror film 'Drag Me to Hell'.
Raimi is the older brother of American actor, director, comedian and writer Ted Raimi and the younger brother of American Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) and screenwriter Ivan Raimi.
Sam's sister Andrea Raimi Rubin and another older brother, Sander Raimi, both passed at fifteen in an accidental drowning.
Sam has said that the trauma knitted the remaining family closer together and "color[ed] everything [he's done] for the rest of [his] life."
Raimi has donated to both Democratic and Republican politicians. In 2004, he donated to 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush's presidential campaign.
Among his credits, Raimi is also known for directing 'The Quick and the Dead' (1995) 'For the Love of the Game' (1999), 'Spider-Man' (2002), 'Spider-Man 2' (2004), 'Spider-Man 3' (2007), 'Drag Me to Hell' (2009), and 'Oz the Great and Powerful' (2013).
Nicknamed Sammy, Raimi has been active from 1977–present.
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