A few more details about the continuation of the Bruce Campbell/Sam Raimi/Rob Tapert Evil Dead franchise in TV form via US cable network Starz, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, arrived online in January. Now we know one new person who will be sharing the screen with the horror comedy’s most famous chin: Jill Marie Jones.
She’s set as disgraced Michigan state trooper Amanda Fisher, who is bitter and resentful after the grisly murder of her partner. She pinpoints Campbell’s Ash as the prime suspect, but soon learns that he and his deadite-bashing buddies (to be played by Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo) might be humanity’s only bulwark against the rising tide of the Evil Dead.
“We’re going to give people a little of the old fashioned slapstick: horror and comedy,” Campbell said last month. “The beauty of Starz is there’s no content issues. Let’s face it: fans want the carnage and the mayhem. So we intend to give them quite the explosion of viscera. Most of it directed at me, unfortunately.”
He won’t be wrong, as Raimi wrote the first episode with brother Ivan alongside showrunner Craig DiGregorio and Tom Spezialy and will direct that initial outing – we all know how he likes to torture his friend. The gore chunks will be flying in New Zealand this spring, with 10 half-hour episodes due on Starz later in the year.