Some B movies go nowhere, and others become cult classics. People love this latter category of film. People go out of their way to see them in special screenings and to collect memorabilia. What makes these films resonate is a question worth examining. Not only do they have to have a certain je ne sais quoi about them, whether that is amazing effects, the cast having a great time, or them being perfectly of their place and time, but something causes them to connect with audiences profoundly.

Sam Raimi’s trilogy of Evil Dead movies are, all three of them, this type of movie. The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness are all definitive cult classics with a wide fanbase. Hail to the Deadites, this new documentary about the fandom surrounding this trilogy, presents an opportunity to answer why and how these movies resonate.

It’s a pity then that it does not do that.

Continue reading “Fantasia Review: ‘Hail to the Deadites’ is an opportunity missed”