10 Horror Movies That Actually Benefitted From Bad Acting
9. The Evil Dead
1981's The Evil Dead launched Sam Raimi's career and is a genre-defining film. Though the movie itself is enjoyable for its low-budget scares, the acting is the weakest here, especially compared to its sequels.
While this might be considered blasphemy to die-hard fans, Bruce Campbell is just not very good in this film. As Ashley Williams rather than Ash, the actor is not yet the cool and confident hero he'd be known for and fails to make an impression despite being one of the rare 'final boys' in horror.
Yet his amateurish performance, along with the rest of the cast, adds to The Evil Dead's B-movie charm. Their hokey acting manages to compliment the film's low-budget scares and proved what Sam Raimi could do with the genre despite having limited means.
At the same time, Bruce Campbell would come into his own by the time we got Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, where we would witness the fully formed Ash Williams. This improved performance would set a template for the character's subsequent appearances in Army of Darkness, the 2013 remake, and the underrated Ash vs. Evil Dead.