The Evil Dead franchise has spent more than four decades finding new ways to unleash demons with a very familiar book.
What began with a tiny independent horror movie in 1981 grew into a trilogy starring Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams, a television series that brought Ash back decades later, and three newer movies that shifted the focus to entirely different groups of characters. Along the way, the series moved from brutal horror into splatstick comedy and eventually back toward considerably nastier horror.
The continuity is almost as chaotic as the Deadites.
Evil Dead II looks like a remake of The Evil Dead for its opening minutes, but it actually continues the story. Army of Darkness takes Ash somewhere completely different. The 2013 Evil Dead was widely described as a remake when it arrived, although connections to the larger franchise make that description increasingly inadequate. Ash vs Evil Dead continues Ash’s story on television, while Evil Dead Rise and Evil Dead Burn demonstrate that terrible things can happen whenever someone finds another volume of the Naturom Demonto.
Fortunately, deciding how to watch everything is easier than untangling every detail of the mythology.
For a first-time viewer, release order remains the best approach because you can watch the franchise evolve from low-budget horror experiment to horror-comedy and then back toward straight horror.
Quick Answer: The Evil Dead Movies in Release Order
There are six theatrically released Evil Dead movies.
| Movie | Year |
|---|---|
| The Evil Dead | 1981 |
| Evil Dead II | 1987 |
| Army of Darkness | 1992 |
| Evil Dead | 2013 |
| Evil Dead Rise | 2023 |
| Evil Dead Burn | 2026 |
If you want Ash Williams’ complete screen story, Ash vs Evil Dead belongs after Army of Darkness. The television series ran for three seasons from 2015 through 2018 and brought back Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, and several familiar pieces of Evil Dead mythology.
The resulting viewing order is:
- The Evil Dead (1981)
- Evil Dead II (1987)
- Army of Darkness (1992)
- Evil Dead (2013)
- Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018)
- Evil Dead Rise (2023)
- Evil Dead Burn (2026)
You can move the 2013 movie after Ash vs Evil Dead if you want to watch Ash’s entire story without interruption. Neither approach creates a major continuity problem because the 2013 film follows different characters.
The Evil Dead Movies in Chronological Order
This is where things become complicated enough that a strict chronological list is less useful than it sounds.
The clearest continuous storyline belongs to Ash:
- The Evil Dead
- Evil Dead II
- Army of Darkness
- Ash vs Evil Dead
The first three essentially form one enormous, extremely unpleasant weekend for Ash. Army of Darkness spends most of its story in medieval England before returning him to his own time, while Ash vs Evil Dead picks up decades later.
Evil Dead (2013), Evil Dead Rise, and Evil Dead Burn take place in the modern era with new characters. All three contain connections to the broader mythology, but none requires you to know what Ash was doing at exactly the same point in his life.
Trying to assign every installment a precise position on one master timeline therefore creates more complexity than it solves. The franchise increasingly works as a collection of encounters with the same supernatural evil rather than one continuous adventure involving a single protagonist.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Sam Raimi’s original The Evil Dead is remarkably simple.
Five college students travel to an isolated cabin in the woods. They discover a strange book and a tape recording left behind by an archaeologist. Someone plays the recording, ancient words are spoken aloud, and the weekend deteriorates with extraordinary speed.
Bruce Campbell plays Ash Williams, although he is not yet the swaggering hero most people picture when they hear the character’s name. Ash spends much of the movie terrified and overwhelmed as his friends become possessed one after another.
The film is also far more straightforwardly horrific than the sequels. Raimi’s inventive camera work and occasional flashes of dark humor are already present, but The Evil Dead is primarily interested in making its isolated cabin feel like the worst place imaginable to spend a night.
Its tiny budget became part of its legend. Raimi, Campbell, producer Robert Tapert, and their collaborators stretched limited resources through elaborate practical effects, unusual camera techniques, and a willingness to put the cast through an exhausting production.
The movie also introduces the book that becomes central to the franchise. Although its name and mythology evolve across later installments, reading passages from it remains one of the most reliable ways to ensure that everyone nearby is about to have a very bad day.
Where to watch: Available to stream; sold on physical media and digitally.
Evil Dead II (1987)
The opening of Evil Dead II has caused decades of confusion.
The movie begins by showing Ash traveling to the cabin with his girlfriend Linda, discovering the recording, and unleashing the evil. Because Raimi recreates events resembling the first film with fewer characters and numerous differences, it is easy to assume Evil Dead II is a remake.
It isn’t, at least not once you get past the opening recap.
Rights issues prevented Raimi from simply using footage from The Evil Dead, so the sequel compresses and recreates the setup before continuing Ash’s story. The cleanest way to understand the two movies is to treat the beginning of Evil Dead II as a highly abbreviated retelling rather than evidence that the first movie never happened.
Once the new material begins, the tone changes dramatically.
Raimi pushes the physical comedy much further, while Campbell transforms Ash into the character audiences remember. His battle with his possessed hand, increasingly deranged reactions to the cabin, and eventual combination of a chainsaw and his severed wrist move the franchise into a mixture of horror and slapstick that became known as “splatstick.”
The movie also expands the mythology surrounding the book, here identified as the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, and introduces Professor Raymond Knowby and his research into the ancient text.
By the end, Ash has become far more capable of fighting Deadites. Unfortunately, he is also sucked through a portal and deposited in medieval England.
That leads directly into Army of Darkness.
Where to watch: Available to stream; sold on physical media and digitally.
Army of Darkness (1992)
If someone watched The Evil Dead and then jumped directly to Army of Darkness, they could reasonably wonder whether they had wandered into another franchise.
Ash is still there. So are the Deadites and the Necronomicon. Almost everything else has changed.
Stranded in medieval England, Ash initially wants nothing more than to retrieve the book and return home. His inability to follow relatively simple instructions results in the creation of an evil version of himself and an army of the dead, forcing him to help defend the people he has spent much of the movie insulting.
By this point, Campbell’s transformation of Ash is complete. The frightened college student from the original movie has become an arrogant, frequently incompetent action hero who happens to be extremely good at killing monsters when circumstances force him to do it.
Army of Darkness embraces fantasy, slapstick, stop-motion effects, sword fights, skeleton armies, and increasingly elaborate physical comedy. The horror elements remain, but nobody could reasonably describe it as the same kind of horror movie Raimi made in 1981.
The movie has also circulated with multiple endings. The U.S. theatrical version returns Ash to his job at S-Mart, while the original ending has him oversleep after taking too many drops of a potion and waking in a post-apocalyptic future.
For the continuity followed by Ash vs Evil Dead, the important point is simply that Ash eventually returned to the present.
Where to watch: Available to stream; sold on physical media and digitally.
Is Evil Dead (2013) a Remake?
Calling the 2013 Evil Dead a remake is understandable, but it does not tell the whole story.
Fede Álvarez’s movie returns to an isolated cabin with five young people who discover a dangerous book and unleash demonic forces. Those similarities deliberately echo Raimi’s original film, and the project was widely presented as a new version of Evil Dead for a different generation.
The characters and circumstances, however, are new.
Jane Levy plays Mia Allen, who has been brought to the cabin by her brother David and their friends while attempting to overcome heroin addiction. That setup gives the group a believable reason to dismiss Mia’s increasingly desperate warnings after the supernatural activity begins.
The movie also abandons much of the comedy that had gradually taken over the original trilogy. Álvarez returns the series to vicious horror, with practical gore and increasingly brutal set pieces designed to make the cabin feel dangerous again.
More importantly for continuity, nothing in the movie requires it to replace Ash’s adventures. The cabin is not explicitly presented as Ash’s cabin, and the supernatural mythology is broad enough to allow both stories to exist.
Then the credits complicate matters further.
Bruce Campbell appears briefly as Ash after the credits and delivers a familiar “Groovy.” It is a joke, but later comments from the filmmakers and subsequent franchise developments encouraged the idea that the 2013 movie could exist somewhere within the larger Evil Dead world rather than replacing it.
For viewing purposes, the distinction is easy: treat Evil Dead as a standalone story involving another encounter with the evil associated with these books. You do not need it to understand Ash’s story, but you also do not need to erase the original trilogy for it to work.
Where to watch: Available to stream; sold on physical media and digitally.
Where Does Ash vs Evil Dead Fit?
Ash vs Evil Dead is the actual continuation of Ash Williams’ story.
The Starz series premiered in 2015, more than two decades after Army of Darkness, with Bruce Campbell returning as an older Ash who has spent years avoiding responsibility. He is still working a dead-end retail job, living in a trailer, and telling increasingly embellished stories about his encounters with evil.
Then he accidentally unleashes the Deadites again while trying to impress a woman.
It may be the most Ash Williams way imaginable to restart the franchise.
The series introduces Pablo Simon Bolivar, played by Ray Santiago, and Kelly Maxwell, played by Dana DeLorenzo, who gradually become Ash’s partners in fighting the supernatural. Lucy Lawless joins the franchise as Ruby Knowby, whose connection to the Necronomicon becomes increasingly important.
Over three seasons, the series greatly expands the mythology while retaining the mixture of graphic horror and ridiculous comedy established by Evil Dead II. It also gives Campbell considerably more time to explore Ash than the movies ever could.
There is one continuity wrinkle involving Army of Darkness. Rights issues initially prevented the television series from making direct use of certain material from the third film, although the show clearly treats Ash’s broader history as having happened. Later seasons were able to acknowledge more of it.
If your goal is to follow Ash from beginning to end, watch Ash vs Evil Dead immediately after Army of Darkness.
The series ends on a cliffhanger, so anyone expecting three seasons to provide a neat conclusion to Ash’s adventures should adjust those expectations accordingly.
Where to watch: Available to stream; sold on physical media and digitally.
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Evil Dead Rise makes one major change before the horror even begins: it gets out of the cabin.
Most of Lee Cronin’s movie takes place in a Los Angeles apartment building, where Beth visits her sister Ellie and Ellie’s three children. An earthquake reveals a hidden chamber beneath the building, and the discovery of an old book and phonograph records begins another outbreak of demonic possession.
The urban setting allows the movie to demonstrate how flexible the basic Evil Dead premise can be. The franchise does not require Ash, a particular cabin, or even the exact same book. What matters is that somebody discovers something that should have remained buried and then makes the catastrophic decision to read or play the words associated with it.
Evil Dead Rise also provides one of the clearest clues about how the modern movies can coexist with the earlier installments.
The records found with the book refer to three volumes of the Naturom Demonto. That creates room for different books to appear throughout the franchise and offers a straightforward explanation for why supernatural outbreaks can occur in different places without requiring every movie to revolve around Ash’s copy.
Cronin also connects the movie thematically to everything that came before it. The violence is brutal, household objects become weapons, bodily possession tears families apart, and a chainsaw eventually finds its way into the proceedings.
You do not need to watch any previous Evil Dead movie before Rise. Its story and characters stand on their own, making it one of the easiest entry points for someone primarily interested in modern horror.
Where to watch: Available to stream; sold on physical media and digitally.
Evil Dead Burn (2026)
Evil Dead Burn continues the franchise’s move away from Ash Williams by telling another standalone story about ordinary people who encounter the Deadites in a new setting.
Directed by Sébastien Vaniček, the movie follows Alice, played by Souheila Yacoub, after the death of her husband. She travels to the secluded home of her in-laws to gather with his family, only for the reunion to collapse into supernatural horror as members of the household are transformed into Deadites.
The setup fits comfortably within the direction established by Evil Dead (2013) and Evil Dead Rise. Rather than trying to recreate Ash’s particular story, the newer films use the mythology as a framework for separate outbreaks involving different characters, locations, and emotional circumstances.
Burn also reinforces how far the franchise has moved from the idea that Evil Dead requires one specific cabin or protagonist. The connective tissue is the Deadites and the ancient evil behind them, while each filmmaker is free to build a different kind of horror story around those elements.
For viewing purposes, Evil Dead Burn belongs after Evil Dead Rise in release order. You do not need to watch Ash’s adventures before it, but seeing the earlier modern films helps demonstrate how the franchise has gradually expanded beyond the story of one man and one cursed book.
Where to watch: Available digitally and in theaters; sold on physical media beginning Sept. 22, 2026.
Are All the Evil Dead Movies in the Same Universe?
The franchise has increasingly encouraged viewers to think of its stories as parts of a larger mythology rather than a sequence in which every installment directly continues the previous one.
Ash’s continuity is the clearest. The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, and Ash vs Evil Dead follow the same character across different periods of his life.
The 2013 movie, Evil Dead Rise, and Evil Dead Burn introduce different characters encountering similar supernatural forces. None requires the original trilogy to be erased, and Rise‘s reference to multiple volumes of the Naturom Demonto makes it easier to understand how separate outbreaks could occur.
That does not mean every continuity detail across more than four decades fits perfectly. The mythology and even the appearance of the book have changed as different filmmakers expanded the franchise. Evil Dead has generally been more interested in finding inventive ways to terrorize its characters than maintaining an elaborate rulebook.
The important connective tissue is the existence of ancient books capable of unleashing demonic forces, the Deadites themselves, and the unfortunate tendency of human beings to read passages aloud despite overwhelming evidence that they should stop doing that.
What Is the Best Order to Watch Evil Dead for the First Time?
For a first viewing, release order remains the best choice:
- The Evil Dead (1981)
- Evil Dead II (1987)
- Army of Darkness (1992)
- Evil Dead (2013)
- Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018)
- Evil Dead Rise (2023)
- Evil Dead Burn (2026)
That order lets you experience the franchise’s evolution naturally. You begin with Raimi’s raw independent horror movie, watch him gradually transform the series into increasingly elaborate horror-comedy, see Álvarez return it to brutal horror, revisit Ash decades later, and then watch Cronin and Vaniček demonstrate that Evil Dead can continue indefinitely without depending on its original hero.
If you’re primarily interested in Ash Williams, use the shorter Ash order:
- The Evil Dead
- Evil Dead II
- Army of Darkness
- Ash vs Evil Dead
That gives you the most coherent character arc, although “coherent” remains a relative term when discussing a man who replaces his hand with a chainsaw and spends part of his life fighting medieval skeletons.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Evil Dead Movies
How many Evil Dead movies are there?
There are six theatrically released movies as of 2026: The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, Evil Dead (2013), Evil Dead Rise, and Evil Dead Burn. The franchise also includes three seasons of Ash vs Evil Dead.
Is Evil Dead II a remake of The Evil Dead?
No. The opening recreates and compresses events from the first movie because the filmmakers could not simply reuse its footage, which makes it look like a remake. Once that recap ends, Evil Dead II continues Ash’s story.
Is Army of Darkness an Evil Dead movie?
Yes. Army of Darkness is the third movie in Ash Williams’ story and continues directly from the ending of Evil Dead II, despite dropping “Evil Dead” from its title.
Is Evil Dead (2013) a remake or sequel?
It was conceived using the basic setup of the original movie and was commonly described as a remake, but it uses different characters and does not require the original films to be removed from continuity. It is most useful to treat it as a standalone story within the broader Evil Dead mythology.
Do I need to watch Ash vs Evil Dead?
Not before watching Evil Dead (2013), Evil Dead Rise, or Evil Dead Burn. If you want the complete story of Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams, however, Ash vs Evil Dead is essential because it directly continues his adventures after the original trilogy.
Is Ash in Evil Dead Rise?
Ash Williams does not appear as a character in Evil Dead Rise. Bruce Campbell does have a very brief vocal cameo buried within one of the recordings, but the movie follows an entirely new group of characters.
Is Ash in Evil Dead Burn?
No. Evil Dead Burn follows a new group of characters and does not feature Ash Williams as part of the story.
Do I need to watch the other Evil Dead movies before Evil Dead Rise or Evil Dead Burn?
No. Both movies tell standalone stories and provide the information needed to understand their supernatural threats. Familiarity with the earlier films adds context to the larger mythology, but neither movie requires viewers to know Ash’s story.
Why does the Book of the Dead look different in different movies?
The franchise’s mythology has evolved across different productions, and Evil Dead Rise helps reconcile some of those differences by establishing the existence of three volumes of the Naturom Demonto. That allows different books to be associated with different supernatural outbreaks.
Final Thoughts on Watching the Evil Dead Movies in Order
The Evil Dead series becomes considerably easier to navigate once you stop expecting every installment to behave like another chapter of a conventional movie franchise.
Ash’s story forms the backbone of the original continuity, running from The Evil Dead through Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, and eventually Ash vs Evil Dead. The 2013 movie, Evil Dead Rise, and Evil Dead Burn demonstrate that the franchise can move to new characters and locations while retaining the books, Deadites, extreme violence, and deeply questionable decisions that have defined it since 1981.
Release order remains the best way to experience everything because the changing tone is part of the fun. Few franchises could begin with the relentless horror of The Evil Dead, reach a medieval skeleton army eleven years later, return with one of the nastier studio horror movies of 2013, and then continue finding new families and communities to terrorize decades later.
The continuity may occasionally require some flexibility, but the most important rule has remained remarkably consistent for more than forty years: if you find an ancient book bound in something that looks suspiciously like human skin, leave it alone.
More Movie Franchise Guides
If you’re ready to untangle a few more timelines, reboots, and sequels, these guides can help.
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