This weekend is a major event for genre movie fans, as legendary filmmaker Sam Raimi returns to theaters with Send Help. The film marks Raimi’s first R-rated release since The Gift twenty-six years ago. A towering figure in the horror community, Raimi made his debut with The Evil Dead, a movie that has stood the test of time as a genre classic. While some horror directors make a big splash with their first film only to taper off in later years, that was never the see for Raimi. Evil Dead II is widely regarded as one of the rare sequels that improves on the original, while its follow-up, Army of Darkness, remains a fan favorite (even if it’s significantly tamer than the others).
What’s always set Raimi apart, though, is that he never allowed himself to be defined solely as a horror director. As early as 1990, he was already branching out into larger-scale action filmmaking with Darkman, a movie that now feels like a clear precursor to his biggest successes: the Spider-Man trilogy, which arguably helped define the modern superhero movie. Even so, Raimi continued to experiment and take creative risks throughout his career. Several of his films remain underrated, including the kinetic Western The Quick and the Dead, starring Sharon Stone and featuring early, star-making performances from Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio. His 1998 thriller A Simple Plan may be one of the most criminally overlooked films of the decade—it’s essentially the best Coen Bros. movie the duo never made.
With that in mind, we want to know: what is the best Sam Raimi movie? This poll feels like it could turn into a two-way battle between Raimi’s horror fans, who may gravitate toward the first two Evil Dead films, and superhero fans, who will likely champion one of the first two Spider-Man movies. Take the poll below and let us know what you think.
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