Sam Raimi thought the title ‘Evil Dead’ was “stupid” at first

Director Sam Raimi has explained how he thought the title for Evil Dead was “stupid” when the legendary film was first made.

In an interview with Empire, Raimi revealed that the title came from the film’s sales agent Irvin Shapiro.

“The original title of the [original] movie was The Book of the Dead,” Raimi said. “But Shapiro sat Rob [Tapert], Bruce [Campbell], and I down and said: ‘We’re changing the title, boys. Advertising space in the newspaper is paid for by the inch, kid. We’re not going to have a five-word title. ‘Dead’ can stay. You can have one other word. You can call it 101 Per Cent Dead or Evil Dead’. ”

Deciding between two options, Raimi leaned towards a more straightforward name, “101 Per Cent Dead?’ I thought, ‘I’ll die first,'” he said. But even Evil Dead didn’t sit well initially. “How can something be evil and dead?” he wondered. “I just thought it was so stupid.”

Throughout the years, Evil Dead became a household name as the franchise grew to include video games, comic books, numerous films, a television show, and even a musical.

Eventually, Raimi started to become fond of the name. “Now I’ve started to like it,” he said. “It’s pretty good.”

In other news, the Evil Dead franchise is gearing up to release Evil Dead Rise after they shared the official trailer earlier this year. The upcoming horror is expected to be a stand-alone addition to the iconic horror franchise, unrelated to both the original trilogy and the 2013 reboot.

Lead actor Bruce Campbell, who won’t be in the new film, told fans that this is the “scariest one yet.”

Diving in to comic books, Raimi also said that he would love to direct a Batman film in the future.

“I’ve always loved Batman,” Raimi told Empire in a new interview. “If I ever saw the Batsignal up in the air, I’d come running.”

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