Sam Raimi Movies to Watch If You Liked ‘Doctor Strange 2’
If you had a great time with Doctor Strange 2, check out these other movies from director Sam Raimi.
Raimi has been making movies across genres (he’s even made a romance about baseball) for over forty years. He’s had a recognizable style and gory sense of humor from the start.
The Evil Dead (1981)
The Evil Dead was an indie made for $350k. It got the attention of Stephen King at the 1980’s Cannes Film Festival, which got the movie a wide distribution deal. The rest is history. It has a simple premise: four college kids take a vacation in a cabin where they find an audiotape that releases a legion of demons and spirits. The effects, sound, and camera work were unlike anything that had been released before that point.
The living dead elements rely heavily on prosthetic makeup effects and stop-motion animation. The movie’s low budget made the director get creative with the camera, turning it into the villain and using it to amp up the tension. You’ll see the start of Sam Raimi’s signature horror style here; the same one you see in Doctor Strange 2.
via New Line Cinema
Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987)
Ash (Bruce Campbell) returns for another round. This time he goes to a cabin with his girlfriend for a weekend, and she unleashes a new set of demons that invade the cabin, the woods, and her. Evil Dead II is constantly in motion – be it the possessed items in the cabin, the actors, or the camera. It’s the ultimate low-budget horror comedy. If you’re going to watch one of Sam Raimi’s movies, this needs to be it.
Darkman (1990)
Darkman is Sam Raimi’s first big-budget movie. It’s a mix of pulp, comic book hero, and horror – a new telling of Frankenstein’s monster. It stars Liam Neeson as Dr. Peyton Westlake, who is developing artificial skin for burn victims. When his DA girlfriend finds evidence about a bunch of gangsters, they try to get to her by blowing him and his lab up. He doesn’t die, though. Instead, he becomes impervious to pain and gains superhuman strength. Westlake uses the tech that he’s created to make masks of his enemies and kill them one by one.
Army Of Darkness (1992)
The Evil Dead gets a new name. Ash leaves the S-Mart and goes back in time with his boomstick to fight a witch and an army of the dead. It’s goofy, it’s gory, and it’s a good time. It stands alone, so you can watch it without the other two in the trilogy if you’d like.
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Yes, Sam Raimi made a western. He uses the most of his budget with creative camera work and a packed cast to create a movie centered on duels. The town of Redemption is known for its quick-draw contest led by Sheriff John Herod. The movie’s action takes place during the tournament with Sharon Stone’s Lady With No Name, Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Kid, a preacher named Cort (Russell Crowe), and other colorful characters.
via TriStar Pictures
A Simple Plan (1998)
Three friends find a downed plane in rural Minnesota that contains a duffle bag of cash. Millions in drug money. They make a plan to keep the cash, but things spiral out of control when mistakes are made. It’s an everyday people thrust into extraordinary circumstances movie that’s got just the right cast. Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Brent Briscoe, and Bridget Fonda get torn apart as they try to keep their secret.
Spider-Man 1 & 2 (2004)
The first two in a tetralogy that fell apart. These two movies helped bring comic book movies back from the 1990s. Raimi got what the stories and characters are about, and how to adapt them to the screen without making them a joke. Though they can feel a little corny now, they still stand as two of the better superhero movies ever made.
via Sony Pictures
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Made after the failure of Spider-Man 3 and the cancelation of Spider-Man 4, this tightly edited horror is a celebration of what the director made his name on. Drag Me to Hell is a near-perfect mix of scares, gore, and humor. It takes the weird creatures and gore from Evil Dead and turns it up to 20 with a mix of CG and practical effects. There are flies, demonic goats, goo, corpses, and general gross. And under it all is a story about the dangers of compromising your values for money.
