El Jefe

I know I'm in the minority saying this, but I never really liked the humorous direction that Sam Raimi took with Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness: I wanted more gruelling horror, not slapstick. Unsurprisingly, I avoided Ash vs The Evil Dead for a while after hearing it was even more zany than the films. However, having finally succumbed and watched Episode One of Season One, I have to admit that the funny stuff actually works very well within the TV format - Sam Raimi delivers one hell of an entertaining pilot, serving up some genuinely hilarious silliness, while not forgetting to deliver on the outrageous splatter.

Bruce Campbell returns as scourge of all deadites, Ash Williams, who has spent 30 years in hiding, now living on a trailer park. But after Ash gets stoned with a hooker and reads from the Necronomicon, evil finds him once again. Meanwhile, cop Amanda (Jill Marie Jones) has her own run in with some deadites, including her partner, who she is forced to shoot. Can Ash, with help from co-workers Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) triumph against the dark forces?

With some really cool effects (the deadites are great), including buckets of blood, this is a real crowd pleaser of a start to what I hope will be a consistently entertaining show.

There aren't many horror franchises in the genre that means as much to me as the "Evil Dead" franchise. Sam Raimi came up with something beautiful with his friends back in the days and made an iconic horror film with almost nothing to do it with. Now, it's turned into one of the most iconic horror franchises ever and was given a TV follow-up in 2015 titled "Ash vs. Evil Dead." As a fan, I was expecting great things and man did I get that. This premiere episode is everything I could have asked for and a glorious return of the great king Ash Williams.

I've always said that Bruce Campbell was never given his due. He proved with these films that he was an excellent comedic actor and that he could carry a film on his shoulders. He wasn't given that before now, where he's the lead of his own show and back in the role that made him a household name. And he hasn't skipped a beat. It feels like him and Sam Raimi are right back where they left off with this world and they're having a bunch of fun. Ash is definitely a different guy, having gone through thirty years of thinking he was free of this curse, only to make it all happen again by mistake. It's a hilarious way that he gets dragged into the circus again, and it seems like it would be completely in-character for him to do it like that all these years after the fact. And with Raimi behind the camera, it makes for some awesome action sequences, with a standout being a fight between Ash and a little doll with a boxcutter. Who comes up with stuff like that? The brilliant mind of Sam Raimi does. This episode works on its own as well as the beginning of a show, and for fans of the original film, it'll be a nice reunion, but for first timers, it will also work because of the interesting world and the eccentric characters, including the new additions to fit perfectly into this Raimi crazyness. I'm so excited to see what happens going forward.

"El Jefe" is not only a brilliant "welcome back" for fans, but a genuinely amazing opening to a show that also invites new people in. It features the Ash that we know and love and bloody action sequences that Raimi helms with the stylistic crazyness that he always has, making this such an enjoyable ride.

I've watched the three original movies and i loved them, I wasn't aware there was a series based on them. well, I'm glad I found out.

this is as good as the movies. it got the same energy, humour, & gore that make the movies classic. Bruce Campbell is charismatic as ever. the vfx is not bad. I'll surely watch the rest.

The games kept the tradition of Ash being a regular guy but out of his depth and fed up with the deadites, necronomicon, and anyone who wants it. This pilot scrubs all that, makes him FAR more insipid than he EVER was and really shows that no one involves, especially Cambell himself, really doesn't care about these characters or the world they once created. It goes downhill from here.

Evil Dead was one of those first scary movies I watched as a teenager back in the mid 90's. It was so scary I was afraid of the dark for a while. First two parts were kind of serious scary, so the third movie was such breath of the fresh air with it's twisted dark humour. I think watching this third part made me less scared of all the creeps in the night.

That is why I loved the direction this show went. It's scary/funny/silly. Without going to the extremes of violence. It is easy to see, that creators and cast had a real fun working together, creating the beasts and spilling the blood all over the place.

Ash is a cool guy. He might as well become a new great character on TV, cracking silly jokes and heads of the monsters. Hope we'll see development of other characters as well. For now we met Amanda - cop, struggling to keep her sanity. Pablo and Kelly - two now ex colleagues of Ash from the store. Both are pretty weak so far. But good and important in regards to waking up the inner hero in Ash. And mysterious Ruby. Who we have yet to figure out. Beautiful women in white.

First episode definitely made me excited about the rest of the season. It is a good 30 minute format. Hope the humour will be at the good level without going to silly. Feels like there is some really fresh and great potential here. With creating a new kind of superhero. Without him being too much of the serious Comic book's hero.