Sam Raimi Never Thought Fans Would Love The Imperfections Of The Evil Dead Films

Aside from the lore surrounding Raimi and his films, there’s the simple fact that continuity errors are one of the favorite pastimes of the avid movie watcher. Sure, there’s a dark side to spotting mistakes — in addition to the filmmakers potentially being embarrassed about them, there can be an arrogance to those who eagerly point out errors, with people acting as if they’re better than the filmmakers. That path leads straight to CinemaSins, folks, and nobody wants that.

Instead, spotting goofs feels a lot like what Raimi described: they’re “part of the experience and the beauty of the thing.” Goofs are always going to turn up, no matter how many Script Supervisors are hired to monitor them, and rather than detracting from the film they can often add to the enjoyment. In some cases, like with the moment from “Aliens” where actor Lance Henriksen’s body can be seen beneath a hole in the floor, such mistakes reinforce the power of craft and technique — as director James Cameron points out in his commentary for “Aliens,” the mistake is forgiven because the audience is looking where they are “supposed to look.”

Although the goof and other imperfections remain “fixed” in the most recent 4K Ultra HD and streaming versions of “The Evil Dead,” perhaps Raimi’s comments might mean he changes his mind about performing such fixes in the future, and maybe even reinstates the old gaffes in a future release of “The Evil Dead.” The goofs are dead; long live the goofs!