Author Archive for: WFBurnau

10. According to actor Kevin Conway, director Tobe Hooper was a huge “Coke-head” during production of this film. Hooper allegedly consumed a minimum of 12 cans of Coca-Cola a day.
9.  The animatronic fat lady laughing at the end of the film is a reference to the phrase “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings”.
8.  Some of the props in Joey’s bedroom were owned by Shari Lewis of “Lamb Chop” fame (such as the winking ventriloquist dummy) and were obtainable because co-executive producer Mace Neufeld was a friend of hers
7.  Author Dean R. Koontz later expanded and embellished his novelization of this film into another fully-fledged novel.
6.  During production, director Tobe Hooper acquired a number of antique, clockwork and mechanical old toys which had been used as props in this movie.
5.  Director Tobe Hooper wanted Andrew Laszlo for his cinematographer on this show because he liked Laszlo’s lighting of Walter Hill’s The Warriors
4.  The original plan was to have makeup effects artist Rob Bottin play the monster, before director Tobe Hooper caught a performance by mime Wayne Doba, who subsequently landed the role
3.  The girls in the tent were local strippers from Miami, Florida.
2.  Director Tobe Hooper was bitten by a brown recluse spider during filming.
1.  Steven Spielberg asked Tobe Hooper to direct E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial  but he turned it down because he was busy on this movie. However Hooper and Spielberg would work together on Poltergeist
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Anticipation. Expectation. Disappointment. These three sensations  are the most common feelings in any form of fandom, especially as decades roll by and fans wait patiently (or impatiently) for the next installment, the next chapter, the next missive from a beloved series or artist.  When the silence is broken and the delay ends, the prodigal hype threatens to ruin the experience. Some works are able to overcome the hype, conquer the jaded, and fulfill fan’s hopes (like Brian Wilson’s legendary lost album Smile); some works are swallowed up by their own overwhelming burden of history and their fan’s projection of their own wants, desires, and nostalgia onto the phenomenon  (the Star Wars prequels).  One such long promised work has been the fourth film in the Evil Dead series (not counting Fede Alvarez’s masterful 2013 remake/re-imaging). The reuniting of director Sam Raimi, actor Bruce Campbell, and producer Rob Tapert to continue the story of Ashley William’s war against the Deadites has been promised and teased for over twenty years.  As the cult status of The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness have grown exponentially, Raimi, Tapert, and Campbell have worked together on a variety of projects over the last two decades, but all anyone wanted to know was when Evil Dead 4 would come out.  Finally, after countless rumors and speculation seemed to doom the project from ever becoming reality, Raimi and co. threw their fans a curve ball. Instead of a film, the cable channel Starz announced that the continuing adventures of our beloved Deadite fighter would be the subject of a new TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead. The show would premiere on Halloween and the publicity machine went into overdrive. As the premiere date got closer, Evil Dead fans were cautiously optimistic but also had some apprehensions. Would the TV medium be able to do justice to the Three Stooges meets The Exorcist surrealistic anarchy of the films? Could Sam Raimi bring back his manic directing style, a style that really hasn’t been evidenced in the last twenty years? Did Bruce Campbell still have the idiotic arrogance and the ultra-cool, ultra-quotable heroics last seen in 1992? read more read more

10. Filmed in the actual town of Salem
9.  Actors considered for some roles were Richard O’Brien (he was not available) and Hammer girl Caroline Munro. Goldie Hawn was considered for the role of Margaret Morgan.
8.  Footage was shot with Daniel Roebuck as a serial killer being interviewed on TV, but Zombie decided to go with clips from old movies featuring characters in masks instead.

7.  Rob Zombie described the film as “If Ken Russell directed “The Shining”.
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10. Director Frank Darabont did not originally plan to include the giant, 6-legged behemoth which walks over the car, even though this is one of the novella’s most popular scenes. Several CafeFX special effects technicians convinced him to put it in the film.

9. Frank Darabont originally wrote an opening scene showing the military scientist referenced to by Private Jessup accidentally opening the dimension portal that allows the creatures and the mist to enter our world. Over dinner, Andre Braugher questioned Darabont whether this scene was necessary. After thinking about it for a week, Darabont was convinced to scrap the scene, leaving the nature of the mist more ambiguous. read more read more