The 12 Funniest Moments In The Evil Dead Franchise
"Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun," Ash quips with a smoldering look only damsels besieged by the forces of evil could adore. Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) is, by all rights, a titan (or a king, if you will) in the horror industry. While he once ran scared out of his gourd from the Kandarian deadites that emerged from the ether to possess and slaughter his friends, the legendary chainsaw-wielding demon slayer eventually acquired the gumption to give evil a swift kick to the jewels. There's no denying that Ash is equally a buffoon as much as he is a badass. He's often riding so high on his own successes in the fight against evil that he fancies himself a swashbuckling hero and champion among men. Cheesy one-liners, vanity, and hopelessly ignorant commentary are par for the course with this loveable oaf.
While the "Evil Dead" franchise has markedly pivoted from Ash's story with the reboot in 2013 and 2023's "Evil Dead Rise," Ashley Williams will always be an iconic figure of the series. And, it seems, it is only through Ash that we are entertained with some of the best horror comedy hijinks to ensue on screen. The 2013 reboot and the upcoming film are far and away horror-centric, abandoning the slapstick shtick (say that three times fast) of the Ash saga. There's plenty of humor to be had in Sam Raimi's world of hellish ghouls and frights. Whether it's the cheeky banter the deadites taunt our hero with, or the disastrous and awful scenarios Ash concocts to fight the hordes of Hell, there's always something causing us to slap our knees in delight. Let's take a look at some of the funniest moments to occur throughout the "Evil Dead" franchise.
A farewell to arms
In the sequel film "Evil Dead 2," Ash is once again assaulted by the swirling forces of evil in the remote cabin. With no one left to kill aside from Ash, the deadites decide to play games with the hero and taunt him a little. The results are spectacular. After the head of Ash's possessed girlfriend, Linda (Denise Bixler), bites his hand, the appendage begins to sour. Eventually, Ash's hand has a mind of its own. It's hard not to laugh as the possessed hand plays a game of "stop hitting yourself" with Ash. This scene must've been equally as fun for Campbell to enact on camera.
After the hand bests the hero, knocking him unconscious, it attempts to drag him across the floor in order to grab a cleaver. Unexpectedly, Ash plunges a knife into his demonic right hand. While wincing in pain, he still cracks a maniacal smile saying, "That's right, who's laughing now?"
Eventually, Ash resorts to the only option he sees left on the table; separating himself from the abusive appendage ... with a chainsaw. After cutting off the hand, he traps it under a metal pale and weighs it down with a stack of books. In yet another humorous plug, the top book is titled "A Farewell to Arms." I don't think the pun is lost on any of us. The hand quickly escapes, however, and skitters into a mouse trap. Ash laughs at the hand's pain, but once it frees itself it flips him the bird. This entire engagement is one spectacle simply too good not to enjoy.
Assault of the tiny Ashes
Speaking of small pests causing chaos and trouble for our deadite-slaying hero, we can't forget about Ash's tussle with several tiny versions of himself. In "Army of Darkness," Ash rides off into the wilderness to locate the Necronomicon and claim its power for the people of Kandar in order to vanquish the deadite armies. All Ash cares about is finding a way home. So, one could say he started this journey with a stick up his rear begrudging the idea that he is the "chosen" one that must complete this labor fraught with peril. His agitation only fames the flames of hilarity as he attempts to best the deadites that get in his way. At one point, he finds an apparent safe haven, but after breaking a mirror, the shelter becomes compromised. Little reflections of Ash in the shards of glass emerge into the physical world to mess with the big man.
The first order of business? Three micro Ashes grab a fork and drive it into an unsuspecting Ash's posterior. The mini-Ash crew then proceeds to trip the big man with a broom causing him to hit his head on a pipe and faceplant onto a hot stove. Of course, they all laugh maniacally with their tiny voices further fueling Ash's anger. Blinded by his frustration, he slips knocking himself unconscious. He awakens to find himself tied down while one of the small Ashes dives into his mouth. Hilariously, Ash decides to drink a kettle of boiling water to burn the little guy alive. While he struggles through the beverage, we can hear the tiny guy scream inside his stomach. One could imagine this scenario being horror fuel. But it's really one gut-busting laugh-a-thon.
Impressing a girl while high
We've all been there. At one point or another, we all desperately wanted to impress a crush or a smokin' hot date. In Ash's case, however, he takes things a little too far. Nearly three decades after his clash with evil in the cabin, and during Medieval times, we find the hapless hero living life as a middle-aged slouch. He's moved on from S-Mart to the next big box store he can find and has continued working a minimum-wage gig. That doesn't stop him from propping up his own ego and trying out cringy pick-up lines on the ladies. At the start of the Starz original series "Ash vs Evil Dead," he takes a date back to his rust-bucket RV, busts out the reefer, and shows her the Necronomicon while high as a kite. Then, while under the influence, he reads from the ancient text unleashing evil once again. Let this be a lesson, kids: Don't ever handle mystical texts while high or inebriated.
The irony of the situation is that this is what kickstarts Ash's entire journey toward slaying evil and putting the dark powers of the underworld back into Pandora's box, so-to-speak. Thankfully, his penchant for reckless behavior leads to our entertainment. Without this singular comedic moment, there would be no "Ash vs Evil Dead."
Klaatu Barada Neckite! Nectar? Nickel
Let's be honest, Ash isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Sure, he has a fighting spirit which gets him far, but his successes are sometimes just plain old dumb luck. He has a habit of not thinking things through entirely. Before he embarks on his journey to claim the book of the dead, the wise man (Ian Abercrombie) tells him that he must recite three words exactly in order to suppress the forces of evil as he takes hold of the book. The words are "Klaatu Barada Nikto." Ash repeats the words. When the wise man asks him to say them a third time so he remembers them, he tells the man angrily, "I got it, I got it! I know your damn words, alright?"
However, it may have been the one repetition he needed to remember that last word. After finding the Necronomicon and warding off two fake, but bedeviled Necronomicons, Ash utters the words, "Klaatu Barada, N... necktie, nectar, nickel. Noodle. It's an 'N' word. It's definitely an 'N' word," he says stumped. After looking around to make sure there are no witnesses to his possible blunder, he states the first two words and then feigns a cough while mumbling the third. It's a long shot, but hey, it might work right? No dice. After grabbing the book, the powers that be begin to cause the land to quake and evil Ash resurrects as an undead monstrosity. Basically, Ash unleashed further devastation on the people of Kandar due to his ineptitude. But hey, the third act wouldn't be any fun without an undead army for the heroes to fight, now would it?
Ash's bright idea to summon Eligos
Sit back and imagine, you just unleashed evil because you were high and you read from the book of the dead. You came to this realization when a little evil doll attacks you in the loading area of the store that employs you. You then embark on a journey to put evil back in the bottle alongside your two comrades, Kelly (Kelly Maxwell) and Pablo (Ray Santiago). So, what's your first idea? How about summoning a demon and asking him how to defeat his own kind? Wait, that's not the course of action you'd take? Well, that's definitely what good ol' Ashley J. Williams would do. And so, he did. He tracks down a man who can translate and search the Necronomicon for a demon to summon. According to Ash, the gentleman was supposed to find a weak demon. Upon his search, he finds Eligos who the bookkeeper believes to be a "minor" demon. He says the demon "preys on the spiritually and emotionally weak."
Once summoned, the demon demonstrates that he is far from "minor." Ash even remarks that he looks far scarier than his "profile picture." Of course, nothing goes as planned. After all, why would the demon tell Ash how to suppress his own kind even if he's contained within a summoning circle? Well, the excrement really hits the fan when the circle is broken and the demon escapes and jumps into Kelly's body. Of course, Ash and Pablo think the creature is vanquished when Kelly hits it with the Necronomicon. As luck would have it, that's most assuredly not the case and leads to plenty of more fun down the road. However, let's just take a minute to enjoy the absurdity of Ash's plan.
This is my boom stick!
Ash has been through a lot. In, perhaps, the most pivotal period of his life, he lost his sister and girlfriend to the deadites. He was then subsequently pulled into a vortex that landed him in Kandar during Medieval times. So, when he's taken as a prisoner by Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) for possibly being a perceived ally of Henry the Red (Richard Grove), Ash is rightfully irritated. Arthur dooms the hero to die in a pit containing deadites that kill victims tossed into their domain violently. However, the wise man believes Ash to be the savior that is prophesied in the Necronomicon. He delivers Ash his chainsaw and firearm, which enables Ash to destroy the deadites and fight his way out of the pit.
After accomplishing a feat seen as impossible by the medieval townsfolk, Ash has their attention. He takes this moment to establish some alpha dominance over Lord Arthur. Ash plays the ol' "your shoes are untied" trick on Arthur and lays him out with an uppercut when he glances down. Ash then looks around the crowd saying, "Aright. Who wants some? Who's next, huh? How 'bout it? Who wants some!? Who wants to have a little?" He then glances back at Arthur's squire and points to him saying, "You. You want some more? Huh? You want a little?" The man shakes his head nervously. Ash then sets Henry free and Arthur challenges Ash again. But Ash puts the kibosh on that when he blows Arthur's sword to bits with his shotgun. "Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up. See this? This is my boom stick!" It's a pretty succinct way to describe firearms to people of the distant past, wouldn't you say?
The conjoined Ash twins
It's a total wonder that Ash hasn't actually been horrifically maimed (missing hand aside) or killed in his battle with evil. He's been possessed multiple times yet everyone else who has experienced possession was killed in the process. Only he has been able to overcome it. Furthermore, he has taken quite a beating from the acolytes of the underworld. After all, consuming a micro-sized version of yourself can't be good for one's overall gut health. But in "Army of Darkness," the tiny Ash seems to do more than give the hero an upset stomach. Rather quickly, Ash sprouts an eye on his shoulder. As he runs out into the cold of night, he has a second head, and another body seems to be emerging from his own.
This situation makes for the perfect slapstick affair as Ash battles an evil version of himself that is also attached to him. Since each Ash has command of only one arm at the moment, they attempt to headbutt each other or poke each other's eyes. Eventually, the evil twin detaches from Ash and begins to taunt him further by dancing, mocking, and punching him. But at this point, Ash has had enough. He quickly whips the barrel of his shotgun to the nose of the irritating rascal and blows him to kingdom come.
The dark side of a cadaver
In the second season of "Ash vs Evil Dead," Ash, Pablo, and Kelly team up with Ruby to stop her children and Baal from their evil plans. In order to accomplish this feat, however, the crew must once again get their hands on the Necronomicon. Ruby was the last one to have the book in her possession. She tells Ash that she hid it from her children. The best hiding place she could muster was the inside of a random cadaver at the town morgue. So Ash and Kelly gear up to go find the book. The bad luck just keeps on coming, though, as evil has also clearly found the book. One of the cadavers comes a live and kills the mortician.
As soon as the duo arrives, Kelly keeps watch while Ash searches for the book. Once inside, he begins cutting open bodies and finally finds the one containing the book. However, the intestines of the body won't let the Necronomicon go. They also develop sharp teeth and attack Ash, attempting to keep him from the book. The guts eventually get a hold of Ash around the neck and start reeling him back toward the body. He realizes he's about to have his head pulled up the dark side of a dead body. "Not the butt!" he yells as wet fecal matter starts draining from the cadaver. As disgustingly horrific as the scenario is, it's morbidly hilarious. Ash runs around the room attempting to pull the cadaver off his head totally grossed out by the fact that he's wearing a cadaver's sphincter as a necklace. It might be shocking, but it's hard not to laugh at Ash's bad luck.
I got a bone to pick with you!
"Army of Darkness" culminates in a duel between Ash and his evil mirror image. You know, the same twin that grew from his own body. Ash may have dispatched and buried the nuisance, but Ash's blunder claiming the Necronomicon using the wrong words infused the buried evil Ash with power. He emerges from his shallow grave and raises an army to assault Castle Kandar. Ash helps Arthur's men prepare for combat. But only Ash knows what it's like to truly go up against the face of evil and come out on the other side.
During the fight, evil Ash attempts to claim the Necronomicon. But Ash stops him with a spear to the back. The two then engage in a duel that'll put the Three Musketeers to shame. Come on, how often do they face undead opponents that could be stabbed and keep going uninterrupted? The filmmakers still don't forget the goofy nature of Ash and his quest. There are some funny moments during the duel. For instance, Ash uses a wooden staff that evil Ash promptly cuts down to size multiple times. Ash later takes a torch and shoves it in evil Ash's face. He then kicks the fiery deadite off the castle wall. Evil Ash climbs back up the wall, but his flesh has been burned away. Cheekily, he spouts, "I got a bone to pick with you!" They engage once again, but this time Ash punches the evil deadite's skull around his neck in a complete 360 degrees before launching him off a catapult. There's nothing totally serious about this climactic battle, which makes it an absolute joy to watch.
The tussle with Linda's dome
Sadly, Linda was never destined to survive the trip to the rural Tennessee cabin. Whether it's the original film or the newer introduction filmed for "Evil Dead II," she is taken by the Kandarian demons and possessed, leaving the hero no choice but to kill and bury her in a shallow grave. In "Evil Dead II," she takes things a bit further. The demonic corpse emerges from her grave to dance in the moonlight and taunt Ash.
Things take a turn for the worse when Linda's head clamps down on Ash's hand. This is where things get totally laughable. Ash groans in pain as he bashes Linda's head into the wall. He then realizes he can probably find something to pull her off his hand in the shed. He runs outside and trips over the garbage can. Then promptly gets up and smacks Linda's head into a tree before pummeling her even more on the ground. He finally gets the better of her when he clamps her head down in a vice in the outside shed. Still, the visual gags that play out during the sequence are enough to cause us all to laugh at Ash's misfortune.
Ashy Slashy
Perhaps, one of the smartest tricks evil ever attempted to play on Ash is the plan Baal (Joel Tobeck) concocts to try convincing Ash that his memories as a deadite slayer are all a delusion. Baal presents himself as a psychiatrist, Dr. Peacock. He tells Ash that he must rid himself of the delusion by rooting out the Necronomicon and banishing it from his mind. The "psychiatrist" states that he believes it's the source of his delusion. In all actuality, Baal needs the Necronomicon and this is his way of tricking Ash into locating the book. This deceit may have worked on most folks, but Ash is far too stubborn to believe the story that Dr. Peacock is selling.
In order to help move things along, Dr. Peacock gifts Ash with a puppet called Ashy Slashy. The puppet attaches itself to Ash's arm and talks to him. Ash says he's not controlling the puppet, but Dr. Peacock insists that he is and the puppet is a manifestation of the piece of his mind that is rooted in reality. Ash and the puppet provide plenty of humorous banter. At one point, Ash offers to get the demonic puppet "taken care of" if he helps him escape the hospital. He tells the puppet he can get a doll for Ashy Slashy to make love to. The puppet retorts, "I like where you're head's at almost as much as I like where your nub's at." Ash replies, "That's disgusting. But you know I can't be mad, because that's exactly what I would have said!" before sharing a hearty laugh with the puppet. Ashy Slashy is certainly played for laughs, and it works.
Taking a beating from Henrietta... again
No one can forget the scarring memories of Henrietta, Professor Raymond Knowby's possessed wife in the cellar of the cabin. This titanic deadite is relentless in her pursuit of souls and even transforms into a hideous monstrosity with an elongated neck. As far as the "Evil Dead" fandom is concerned, she's probably the most iconic deadite of the bunch.
Fans had the opportunity to see Henrietta once again at the tail end of the second season in "Ash vs Evil Dead." Ash and Kelly travel through time to prevent Ash's original experiences at the cabin. Here, however, he finds that Professor Knowby is hoping the demon will leave his wife and transfer into one of his young students that he's trapped in the cellar. Ash finds himself trapped down there with the girl when a possessed Henrietta comes calling. "No one escapes their destiny, Ash. Yours is to watch me suck out your soul!" Henrietta shouts. Ash returns with a zinger: "Make sure you suck both barrels." He promptly fires his trusty boom stick into her chest. This doesn't stop the deadite, however. She pulls the young girl through the stairs causing a fountain of blood to erupt from the dark. Ash and Henrietta's bout has several highlights including Henrietta attempting to poke out Ash's eyes, and squirting — uh, warm milk at him. Yeah, it's gross, but funny nonetheless. And there's no doubt that the moment left "Evil Dead" fans happy.