The release of Evil Dead Burn is exciting, but the Evil Dead’s criminally underrated small-screen franchise spinoff is already streaming for free online on Roku. Despite sometimes taking massive breaks of over a decade between instalments, the Evil Dead franchise has quietly emerged as the most consistently critically acclaimed horror series of all time since The Evil Dead’s original release in 1981.
After Scream 7’s critical failure, the shared success of the original movie, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, 2013’s Evil Dead reboot, 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, and 2026’s Evil Dead Burn is all the more impressive. Compared to the A Nightmare on Elm Street Movies, the Friday the 13th franchise, the Halloween films, The Conjuring Universe, the Child’s Play series, or the Candyman franchise, all of the Evil Dead movies are uniquely skilled at winning over viewers and reviewers alike. However, the show’s lone TV spinoff, the four-season series Ash vs Evil Dead, remains sorely underrated.
Debuting in 2015, Ash vs Evil Dead was a Starz series that boasted a pilot episode directed by The Evil Dead’s legendary original creator, Sam Raimi. Astoundingly, the show managed to maintain the high standard set by Raimi’s first episode with a killer story that saw Bruce Campbell’s aging series protagonist, the eternal slacker Ash Williams, face off against Deadites with the help of his colleagues from a hardware store.
Earning a 98% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Ash vs Evil Dead recaptured the gory anarchy of the original movies and featured moments of genuine menace amid all its goofy character comedy and cartoonish, gross-out violence. Ash’s chemistry with his younger colleagues Pablo and Kelly was a consistent source of laughs, while the show’s tongue-in-cheek tone and high production values ensured that Ash vs Evil Dead felt as much a part of the Evil Dead cinematic universe as any of the movies.
Fortunately, viewers can now watch Ash vs Evil Dead season 1 for free on Roku and see what had critics raving when the show debuted 11 years ago. Sadly, Ash vs Evil Dead’s run was cut short after the cliffhanger ending of season 3, meaning viewers never received closure for Ash’s franchise story. That said, this is arguably thematically fitting, since the franchise was never known for giving Ash an easy time or a comforting happy ending.
As outlined above, all of the Evil Dead movies are superb, with even the comparatively underwhelming Evil Dead Burn earning a superb 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, since Ash vs Evil Dead is less well known than the horror franchise’s blockbuster theatrical outings, the Starz show can’t help but feel underrated in comparison to the movies in the same series.
Although Ash vs Evil Dead’s inconclusive ending meant the series ran into the same trap as earlier acclaimed horror TV shows like Penny Dreadful and the Twin Peaks-esque dark fantasy classic Carnivale, the small-screen spinoff of the demonic horror series remains a must-watch. Binging season 1 of Ash vs Evil Dead feels like discovering a secret five-hour Evil Dead movie, and it is hard to imagine a more welcome treat for fans of the franchise.
