Ash vs Evil Dead: The Complete First Season

Bruce Campbell returns to the role that made him a cult movie icon in this horror comedy series produced by Campbell and Sam Raimi, the director of the original Evil Dead films. Ash vs Evil Dead picks up 30 years after the movies, with Campbell's Ash now a career underachiever still working as a box store clerk and using his stories as lines to pick up women. When Ash reads from the Book of the Dead (which he just happens to keep under the bed in his trailer home) during a seduction, he inadvertently unleashes demons into the world and is forced to go back into action to stop a new Hell on earth. Ash is a little paunchier, a little dumber, but just as bullheaded, and he has his old chainsaw (which he straps to the stump of his arm), as well as a pair of apprentice sidekicks (Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo) who he regales with stories and lessons in demon hunting in between comically violent, blood-and-guts-spattered battles with monsters. Lucy Lawless has a recurring role as a mystery woman who is also following a trail of supernatural deaths. Made for the Starz network, this show features the same mix of slapstick humor, over-the-top gore, and wild supernatural horror as the Evil Dead films. Presenting all 10 episodes from the 2015-16 debut season, extras include episode commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)