The Evil Dead returns to theatres in 4K with reimagined score

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Grindhouse Releasing has announced that they are bringing director Sam Raimi's feature debut, the horror classic THE EVIL DEAD, back to the big screen, and they've given "the ultimate experience in grueling horror" a couple tweaks for this new release. 

Grindhouse Releasing owner Bob Murawski – who has worked with Raimi several times over the years as an editor on his films – teamed with the filmmaker to restore THE EVIL DEAD from the original 16mm camera negatives for a "stunning" new 4K transfer. Marti Humphrey and Jussi Tegelman were tasked with creating a new 5.1 surround mix… And the 4K version will also feature a "reimagined score".

I was surprised to hear that THE EVIL DEAD has been re-scored for this release, as this movie wasn't a situation like George A. Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, which has a score of library tracks. THE EVIL DEAD had an original score that was composed by Joseph LoDuca, who came back to provide the music for EVIL DEAD II, ARMY OF DARKNESS, and the Ash vs. Evil Dead television series. But it's LoDuca himself who has provided the "reimagined score" for this 4K release, and franchise star Bruce Campbell explains why: 

Mixing the sound for EVIL DEAD in the early 80’s, we were forced to shove everything into one monaural box. As a result, Joe LoDuca’s great score had to compete unfairly with Kandarian Demons, gore sound effects and lots of screaming. With this new release, Joe can finally have his dynamic composition mixed, balanced and featured properly – for perhaps the first time ever!"

Murawski adds: 

With this fantastic new score, Joe LoDuca proves that he’s the Bartok of blood, the Shostakovich of shock, the Mahler of the macabre. The new music, new sound mix and new 4K restoration have elevated EVIL DEAD from the scary to the sublime."

Now let's see what LoDuca himself has to say about this new music: 

EVIL DEAD was my first film commission. As fate would have it, this is the movie that has the most enduring impact on generations of fans. Every few years I get a request to release the score.

The EVIL DEAD trilogy launched my career composing for films and television. I still get asked to write for horror/thrillers. I love doing it, because the genre has no rules when it comes to music, save the objective of building tension and sustaining dread. Today’s audience is more savvy, so I have to constantly re-examine what is scary. Keeps me on my toes.

Producers always want the popcorn to fly, and I am often afforded large orchestras to insure that happens. Yet I never seem to be able to sell the idea that intimacy conjures a bubbling cauldron of fear just as potent. With limited resources, I scored EVIL DEAD for a string quintet augmented by piano, hand percussion, a synthesizer and a bit of guitar – anything I could get my hands on.

So when I was last approached to reissue the score, I asked myself this question: Knowing what I now know, how would I write for that ensemble today?

I am happy that I did.

So sit back in a darkened room and listen to the soundtrack to what Stephen King once called “a black rainbow of horror”.

Welcome to my nightmare: reimagined.

Theatre owners who are interested in showing this version of THE EVIL DEAD can contact Grindhouse's theatrical sales director David Szulkin at [email protected].

THE EVIL DEAD is one of my favorite movies and will always have a special place in my heart because it scared the hell out of me when I first saw it at just 9 years old. Memories of that viewing have stuck with me over the decades. If a theatre near me shows this 4K release, I'll be checking it out for sure. I'm very interested to hear LoDuca's reimagined score.