Evil Dead: The Game's Dana DeLorenzo Recalls Her Early Video Game Memories - Exclusive
Dana DeLorenzo is a beloved name in director Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" universe, a status the actor deservedly earned after making the role of Deadite slayer Kelly Maxwell her own during the Starz horror-comedy series "Ash vs Evil Dead" from 2015 to 2018.
Joining Ray Santiago's Pablo Simon Bolivar as the faithful sidekicks to "Evil Dead" anti-hero Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell), DeLorenzo endured hundreds of gallons of fake blood throughout the series as Kelly took down Deadite after Deadite with no mercy, punctuating her kills of the otherworldly demons with the delivery of F-bombs. Better yet, DeLorenzo was given the occasional assignment of becoming the possessed version of Kelly as she, Ash, and Pablo sought to quash the curses brought to life from the pages of the Necronomicon.
While the end of "Ash vs Evil Dead" seemed to be the last chapter in the Book of the Dead that DeLorenzo, Santiago, Campbell, and company would get to experience over three seasons, a bloody beacon eventually loomed on the horizon. That's because Boss Team Games and Saber Interactive worked feverishly to bring "Evil Dead: The Game" to the faithful fans of the "Evil Dead" trilogy of films and TV series, and it appropriately became a reality on Friday the 13th of May 2022.
As much a fan of the "Evil Dead" experience as she is a part of it, DeLorenzo was giddy to return to the quintessential cabin in the woods as it now exists in the video game realm. DeLorenzo was naturally excited to take part in "Evil Dead: The Game" not only because it gave her the opportunity once again to play Kelly, but that it was also happening in a medium she loved dearly as a kid.
DeLorenzo says one video game got her marching around like she was 'possessed'
In an exclusive interview with Looper, Dana DeLorenzo said her memories of playing video games came flooding back when she first heard rumblings about what would become "Evil Dead: The Game."
"My head exploded with joy that they were even talking about a video game because I grew up in the '90s," DeLorenzo recalled. "I had an old-school Nintendo, NES, when it came out, with the all-thumbs controller."
Her fondest memory came one morning that was, in some way, a foreshadowing of the Deadites she would encounter in "Ash vs Evil Dead" later in life. "I think the happiest Christmas Day — or maybe it's just that we have it on video — I was 9 and I got 'Super Mario Bros. 3,'" DeLorenzo remembered. "I basically, ironically, turned possessed because you see me in this very grainy VHS tape go incessantly, running around screaming, 'Mario 3! Mario 3! Mario 3! I got Mario 3!'
"I was so excited," she added, laughing. "It was the happiest day of my life. I grew up playing Nintendo and then I believe Sega came out ... I had a younger brother so we would play together, and then I stopped playing."
DeLorenzo noted that she gave up video games for a while because her brother got skilled enough to defeat his big sister. With "Evil Dead: The Game" finally here, though, the actor said she's ready for a serious rematch.
"Suddenly I wasn't the cool one who was the better one at games, and I gave up," DeLorenzo said of the time she temporarily hung up the controller. "But now, I'm ready to re-enter my video game years and reclaim what is mine."
"Evil Dead: The Game" is now available in stores and online.