12 Things You Didn't Know About The Evil Dead Movies
6. It Was Originally Produced As A Business Decision
In fact, the business side of The Evil Dead was as important in the making of a cult classic as finding the iconic cabin or dolling most of the cast up in monstrous make-up. Before getting started on his first full-length production, Sam Raimi had already produced dozens of short Super 8 films featuring many actor friends that turned up in his horror movie.
As his later work and the slapstick moments that appeared more as the Evil Dead series progressed suggests, much of those early films were goofy Three Stooges-style comedies. And he finally got to make a proper full-length version of those with his little-seen second film, Crimewave, after The Evil Dead was such a success.
How did he get around to making a famously bloody horror film, then? Because horror films made money. Raimi, ever the canny businessman, looked through a list of the highest-grossing films the year before he was due to start work on his first feature, and more often than not found horror films at the top of the table.