What's next? No ghosts in Ghostbusters?

Proving yet again that modern filmgoers don’t want original stories but warmed-up leftovers, the remake of The Evil Dead is still going forward, with short film director Fede Alvarez taking the helm and the script being rewritten by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody. But the news that has sort of shocked the internet is that the hero of the original film won’t be part of it. Ash, the rogue slacker-turned-hero of the original trilogy, won’t be in the new film. According to Bruce Campbell – who played Ash in those cult classics – reported via Twitter that there is “No Ash character currently”, and that “ED remake is a re-telling”, adding “All bets are off & all involved love the new approach.”

The original film, written and directed by Sam Raimi, told the story of five friends in their early twenties going out into the middle of the woods to party at an old cabin. As they investigate the cellar they find an old book and some tapes which contain information about the book – the Necronomicon, a book bound in human flesh and written in blood – and recitations of the spells within. Those spells raise demons that possess and kill the friends one by one (while Ash was also supposed to have died, a sequel was eventually made, with his fate being changed to that of lone survivor, and hero of the trilogy).

The remake, being produced by Raimi and his partner Robert Tapert through their company Ghost House, will feature a cameo by original star Campbell, but one has to ask the question: How do you do this story without Ash? Certainly new versions of films have omitted characters from their original counterparts. Friday the 13th started off not only with all new characters, but added a completely new setting, taking much of the action away from the surrounding s of Camp Crystal Lake. And while Nancy was retained as a character in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, all of the supporting characters were changed. But Ash is much more of an iconic figure, so much so that it seems on par with making those other two movies without Jason Voorhees or Freddy Kruger respectively.

As always, I have low expectations for any remake of such a cult favorite, and have been disappointed by many of them. I can only hope that the backing of the original team might give it a little more credibility. But I won’t hold my breath.

/Film

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