Thirty years ago, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) came across an ancient Sumerian text called the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. This Book of the Dead opened a portal to the underworld, unleashing horrible demons and unspeakable evil on the world. For the past few decades Ash has been hiding out in Michigan. He puts on the facade of a young(er), happy, confident man, but his life has pretty much gone nowhere. Ash lives in a trailer, dyes his hair, wears a man girdle, and spends his days working as a stockboy at ValueShop. His nights are spent drinking in bars and hooking up with girls half his age for casual one night stands.

One evening Ash finds his judgment a bit alcohol-impaired, and he accidentally reads a passage from the Necronomicon in an attempt to impress the hot young woman in his trailer. As a result, he once again unleashes the Kandarian Demon, which not only sets out to destroy Ash but also unleashes its evil on the rest of the world. As more and more Deadites start to appear, Ash realizes he must quickly whip himself back into shape and become the kick-ass demon hunter he once was in order to stop the evil he has let loose. Ash’s ValueShop co-worker Pablo (Ray Santiago) sees Ash as a mentor and a role model, and begs to join him on his quest. Ash finally agrees, but it takes far less convincing to get Ash to welcome the hot new-hire, Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo), to the crew. Elsewhere, police woman Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones) sees her longtime partner murdered by some supernatural force, and her investigation yields a sketch that looks just like Ash. As she searches for the man in in her sketch, Amanda crosses paths with the mysterious Ruby, who is also seems to be hunting for Ash.

Ash vs Evil Dead is 50% horror, 50% comedy and 100% entertaining. One minute you’ll be sitting on the edge of your seat, knowing that something is about to jump out and scare you, and the next moment you’ll be laughing out loud. The series really succeeds on both accounts. There are some excellent scares that gave me a good jump at least once an episode. There is also a definite feeling of stakes to what’s going on—not every character is going to survive this evil that has been unleashed, and if something horrible happens, there’s not a magical reset button. However, the series also has many laugh-out-loud moments throughout—whether it’s the witty dialogue, the physical humor, or the ridiculously over-the-top blood and gore. I’m really glad this series originally airs on pay cable because it just wouldn’t be the same if they had to tone it down for broadcast TV!

Ash vs Evil Dead is perfectly built for binging. Each episode ends in a cliffhanger and the next one picks up immediately where the previous episode left off, so the season plays out like one continuous 5-hour action/horror/comedy movie. This series serves as a sequel to the original film trilogy (The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), Army of Darkness (1992)), and so and there are a lot of direct references and homages to those movies. As someone who has never seen these films I recognized moments that were nods to the movies (or heard about them in the audio commentaries), however I never felt confused or like I was missing out on something. The series does a great job of explaining things for new viewers, and all of these other references are just icing on the cake for the fans.

Ash is self-obsessed, narcissistic, cocky and self centered. He’s talkative and kind of an idiot, but he somehow manages to always get the job done. Bruce Campbell has been playing this role for decades, and it shows—his performance just feels so natural and like a piece of the actor himself. The supporting cast is also fantastic. My favorite character is probably Pablo. The dynamic between Pablo and Ash is so much fun. Pablo idolizes Ash and wants to be just like him. Ash pretends to be annoyed, but you know that he is lapping up this adoration and can’t get enough of it. Pablo is also infatuated with co-worker Kelly, and would give up his own life to save her, but she’s this tough woman who can easily hold her own. I really appreciated how the series explores and evolves these friendship over the course of the season, instead of just making them two-dimensional. The first season also has some amazing guest stars, my favorite of whom was Mimi Rogers—she is so perfectly creepy!

The Blu-ray looks and sounds excellent. The picture looks crisp and clear, and captures a lot of detail in both dark and light scenes. The practical effects look fantastic, but sometimes the CGI effects come off a bit cheesy—it varies from scene-to-scene. The audio track is quite impressive—all of the audio channels are well-utilized to bring the world to life add to the creepiness and atmosphere of what’s going on on screen. You can’t help but feel a bit uneasy as these creatures and demons are crawling on the walls and ceiling, and you hear the clicking and scratching of their movement to your side or behind you! The Blu-ray also includes entertaining and informative commentary tracks on all then episodes of the season, a 16-minute episode-by-episode breakdown and behind-the-scenes look at the season, and two other short-but-fun featurettes.

What’s Included:
Episodes: (4:51:40)

• All 10 episodes of the first season:
  Disc 1: “El Jefe”, “Bait”, “Books From Beyond”, “Brujo”, “The Host”
  Disc 2: “The Killer of Killers”, “Fire in the Hole”, “Ashes To Ashes”, “Bound in Flesh”, “The Dark One”
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 7.1, Spanish Dolby Surround 2.0, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Extras:

• Audio Commentaries
  Audio commentaries are provided on every episode! In the pilot commentary, the EPs primarily talk about how the series came about, casting the characters, and all of the various ideas they had for an Evil Dead 4 film. The actor commentaries that follow provide more of a discussion about what’s actually happening on screen. The participants have great chemistry, making these a really fun listen. There are lots of interesting and entertaining behind-the-scenes stories and insights. I just wish there had been a Play All with Commentary menu choice instead of making the viewer launch each episode with commentary separately. (There is a Play All option for the episodes, but you cannot access the commentary by cycling through the audio tracks during playback.)
  • 101 “El Jefe” (40:46)
    audio commentary with creator/executive producer/director Sam Raimi, co-executive producer Ivan Raimi, executive producer Rob Tapert and executive producer/actor Bruce Campbell
  • 102 “Bait” (27:42)
    audio commentary with executive producer Rob Tapert, executive producer/actor Bruce Campbell and actors Dana DeLorenzo and Ray Santiago
  • 103 “Books From Beyond” (27:55)
    audio commentary with executive producer/actor Bruce Campbell and actors Dana DeLorenzo and Ray Santiago
  • 104 “Brujo” (28:08)
    audio commentary with executive producer/actor Bruce Campbell and actors Dana DeLorenzo and Ray Santiago
  • 105 “The Host” (26:19)
    audio commentary with executive producer/actor Bruce Campbell and actors Dana DeLorenzo and Ray Santiago
  • 106 “The Killer of Killers” (25:45)
    audio commentary with actors Dana DeLorenzo, Jill Marie Jones and Ray Santiago
  • 107 “Fire in the Hole” (25:29)
    audio commentary with actors Dana DeLorenzo, Jill Marie Jones and Ray Santiago
  • 108 “Ashes To Ashes” (26:46)
    audio commentary with executive producer/actor Bruce Campbell and actors Dana DeLorenzo, Jill Marie Jones and Ray Santiago
  • 109 “Bound in Flesh” (27:52)
    audio commentary with executive producer/actor Bruce Campbell and actors Dana DeLorenzo, Lucy Lawless and Ray Santiago
  • 110 “The Dark One” (34:53)
    audio commentary with executive producer/actor Bruce Campbell and actors Dana DeLorenzo, Lucy Lawless and Ray Santiago
• Ash Inside the World (15:59)
  Executive Producer/Showrunner Craig DiGregorio gives viewers a look behind-the-scenes of the series. He talks about the tone of the series and, episode by episode, breaks down some of the major moments and looks at the practical effects, the creatures, the blood and gore, the props, the sets, and more. Also includes interviews with prosthetic technician Mark Knight, executive producer/director/writer Sam Raimi and production designer Nick Bassett.
• How To Kill A Deadite (2:31)
  Bruce Campbell (“Ash Williams”) and some Comic-Con fans describe the various tools that can be used to kill a Deadite.
  
  
• Best of Ash (1:27)
  Trailer for the season featuring a compilation of fun Ash moments.

Final Thoughts:

Ash vs Evil Dead is a highly-entertaining series that is sure to be a hit both with longtime fans of the Evil Dead franchise as well action/horror/comedy fans who have never seen the films. The series combines thrilling edge-of-your-seat horror with hilarious comedy and over-the-top blood and gore to provide a fun, unique viewing experience. The cast is excellent, the characters are provided with witty, well-written dialogue, and the story has lots of surprising twists and turns. The Blu-ray looks great, sounds phenomenal, and the discs contain a solid selection of bonus material. If you’re looking for a fun binge, this series and this Blu-ray release come Highly Recommended!