Legendary screen actor Bruce Campbell has shared the origins of the Evil Dead poster, and who the “Deadite hand” is.
In a post to Twitter, the Evil Dead and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. star shared the hand featured in the iconic poster was his own. Campbell posted: “This pic was taken in a chilly Ferndale, Michigan warehouse studio, early 80s, by old pal Mike Ditz because we had no publicity shots for our first flick, Evil Dead.
“It’s the basis for the poster, with my hand clutching model Bridget Hoffman’s neck. The poster image was then altered to remove the cross, give her some ‘cleavage,’ drop a shoulder strap (to make it sexier?) and turn my arm into a deadite. Ahhh, movies.” Fans were delighted to see the origins of the iconic poster used for the Sam Raimi film, which spawned two movie sequels and a television series, Ash vs. Evil Dead, which ran for three seasons.
One fan replied: “That’s so fire.” Another wrote: “I knew it was your hand grabbing her neck.” A third added: “I’ve loved these promo pics (including the shots of you with her straight up), I had 0 clue it was actually your hand in this shot, and the ed1 poster by extension.”
Other fans who have read Campbell’s autobiography, If Chins Could Kill, suggested those interested in the poster read the book. One user wrote: “If Chins Could Kill had a lot of inside info about the making of Evil Dead, it’s more a guerrilla style way of making a film.
“Camera inventions, cost-saving techniques and fundraising, above all, a bunch of friends doing what they loved! Pretty cool!” Raimi and Campbell would go on to have successful careers in movie and television following the release of Evil Dead.
Raimi would direct the Tobey Maguire-starring Spider-Man trilogy, while Campbell would feature in films from The Coen Brothers, as well as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Sky High, and The Majestic.
Other fans of the poster have praised Campbell for sharing the location of the poster photo shoot. One wrote: “No idea this was in Ferndale! Ferndale/Royal Oak/Berkley is alive and thriving to this day with our film community. Looks like you, Sam, and Mike got it all started for us over here!”
Another suggested some differences could be seen between the poster and the original photograph. They wrote: “Seemed to make the arm coming out of the grave a bit longer as well lightend up the background, got rid of the straw on the ground and the dead bush on the right.”
