Sam Raimi, 53, is best
known for his two film trilogies: The
Evil Dead and Spider-Man,
but for his fans his filmmaking style also stands out. Raimi employs many
stylistically iconic trademarks like Dutch angles, whip pans, kinetic camera
movement, references to The Three
Stooges, and even tries to include his yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 in
all his films (to name a few). In March his new film Oz the Great and Powerful is
set for release. It sees Raimi reteaming with frequent collaborators composer Danny Elfman (who he has worked
with six times) and cinematographer Peter Deming (who he has worked
with four times). It stars James
Franco (who also starred in the Spider-Man Trilogy), Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Zach Braff. The film is a
prequel to the classic The
Wizard of Oz. The trailer for Oz the Great and Powerful: Here.
Early Career:
Raimi got his start making Super
8 films with his friends (including Bruce Campbell – who
has appeared in most of Raimi’s work) and brothers (Ivan and Ted Raimi – both also
continue to be frequent collaborators) in high school. He then attended
Michigan State University with long-time friend and producing partner Robert Tapert (his
roommate). With Tapert and Campbell, Raimi made his first two short films Within the Woods and It’s Murder! Their successes
directly lead to his feature debut The Evil Dead (see paragraph below).
Raimi also developed a good
friendship with writer-directors the Coen Brothers (who
helped edit and raise money for The Evil Dead). The brothers, Campbell, Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand, and
Raimi all shared an apartment together. For his second feature, Raimi directed Crimewave (intended as a
live-action comic book), which he co-wrote with the Coen Brothers. Originally,
he wanted Campbell to star, but the film’s producers wanted someone else so
Campbell was left with a small supporting role. Raimi was unhappy with the end
result and complained about the producers interfering too much in the making of
the film. Early in their careers, Raimi and the Coen Brothers worked together
frequently (the brothers employing a few of Raimi’s directing trademarks in
their own films): Raimi helped them raise money for their first film Blood Simple., he has a funny
cameo in Miller’s
Crossing, and he co-wrote and directed the second-unit on The
Hudsucker Proxy (and he also has a cameo). Joel Coen and Raimi also have a
cameo in John Landis’s
Spies Like Us (and
Landis has cameos in Raimi’s Darkman
and Spider-Man
2).
As a precursor to entering
Hollywood, Raimi wanted to make a film adaptation of The Shadow, but was
denied. So, he created his own similar original character and made Darkman.
Again, Raimi wanted Campbell in the lead, and again the film’s producers
objected. Liam
Neeson was eventually cast opposite McDormand, but Campbell still has a
cameo in the film (this is also the first film Elfman worked with Raimi on).
The Evil Dead
Trilogy:
With the shorts It’s Murder! and
Within the Woods under his belt, writer-director Raimi, producer Tapert, and star
Campbell were able to secure financing for The Evil Dead, which went into
production in 1979. Principal photography took place in Tennessee, after Raimi
could not find a cabin in Michigan. The making of the film was an arduous
experience for all involved, and ran out of money halfway through. Raimi,
Tapert, Campbell vowed to do whatever it took to raise the remaining money
needed to finish the film (taking out high interest loans, borrowing money from
friends and family, cold calling local businesses for donations, and even
putting up family land as collateral). The film finally came out in 1981 and
was rated X, being banned in a few countries. However, he became a cult hit
launching Raimi’s career.
For Evil Dead II,
Raimi never intended in remaking The Evil Dead, but some fans think that it is
a remake because Raimi had to reshoot the backstory that opens the film
depicting events from the first film, as he was denied the rights to use
footage from it. While The Evil Dead was intended as a straight horror film (in
the vein of Wes Craven’s
early work), Evil Dead II saw Raimi’s silly sense of humor and love of the
Three Stooges become a major factor in the film, as much of it is filled with
slapstick comedy. It is both scary/gory and hilarious (and my personal favorite
of the trilogy – it is also Raimi’s first collaboration with Peter Deming).
The third film in the series Army of
Darkness is pretty much a straight fantasy comedy with most of the horror
elements left behind. It also has a much more epic scale (and even has famous
names appear in the credits like Embeth Davidtz and
Bridget Fonda,
though both were just starting their careers at the time). Campbell is great in
the film, completely playing up Ash as sort a boorish brute who only cares
about himself. He also has many very funny moments. The film features work from
composer Joseph LoDuca (who
scored the whole trilogy, and has worked on most of the Raimi/Tapert produced
TV series), composer Elfman contributes a piece of music as well, and cinematographer
Bill Pope shot it (he would
work again with Raimi shooting Spider-Man 2 and 3). It was a box office flop,
but is now also considered a cult classic finding a life on video.
Hollywood Films (A
Mixed-Bag):
In 1995 Raimi released his first
Hollywood film for TriStar Pictures, a western called The Quick and the Dead. The
film has a star-studded cast with Sharon Stone (a
big star in the 1990s), Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and
Leonardo
DiCaprio (the latter two were somewhat early in their Hollywood careers, but
still known actors). However despite its stars, the film is very campy (much
like Raimi’s earlier work) and failed to connect with audiences. It is among
his weakest films – though it does have a few good moments and ideas.
Next Raimi made a great crime
drama/thriller with A Simple
Plan (probably his best film that no one has seen). The film was critically
acclaimed (Roger
Ebert even gave it a perfect score), but no one went to see it. Bill Paxton (whose
father has a cameo in the Spider-Man Trilogy), Billy Bob Thornton,
and Bridget Fonda star in a tale about three small-town friends that discover a
large sum of money – however the money breeds mistrust and distain between them
with tragic consequences. It is a great little gem and well worth checking out.
Raimi also got advice from the Coen Brothers on how to shoot in the snow (the
Coens having just made Fargo).
For his third consecutive film,
Raimi made another box office flop with For Love of the Game, which
stars Kevin Costner
and Kelly Preston.
The romantic sports drama is about an a washed up star baseball pitcher and the
girl he loves, shown through flashbacks of his career and relationship with her
as he pitches what could be his last game. While it is also considered a
critical failure as well, the film deserves a second look. The baseball stuff
in the film is brilliant. It is clear that Raimi understands the game and has a
love for it. The romantic stuff, on the other hand, is a little clichéd.
Personally, I like the film (but mostly due to its baseball stuff – if it had
only been a movie about Billy Chapel’s career, it would have been really good).
With The Gift, Raimi had his first
Hollywood success (though, this is due to the film’s low budget and
international appeal, as critically it played to mixed reviews). The film is
probably best remembered for its cast, as it stars Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, and Hilary Swank. It
is a decent crime drama. Raimi would next be hired by Sony to direct
Spider-Man, which is all the more shocking considering his output to date in
Hollywood.
After finishing his Spider-Man
Trilogy, Raimi decided to return to his horror roots writing Drag Me to Hell with his
brother Ivan and directing. The film very much feels like an Evil Dead film
(specifically Evil Dead II as it mixes horror and strange slapstick comedy). It
has some very thrilling moments (like the scene where star Alison Lohman is
assaulted in her car) and a great score from Christopher Young (who also
scored Spider-Man 3, after
Elfman left the series due to creative differences with Raimi). It is a fun
horror film, especially for Raimi fans that do not mind his campy style.
The Spider-Man
Trilogy:
Raimi very much wanted to make a
super hero movie. He has been a lifelong comic book fan (with reportedly over
25,000 comics in his collection). First he tried with The Shadow, then he
actively campaigned to direct Batman Forever after
Warner Bros. decided not to bring Tim Burton back, but Joel Schumacher
was chosen instead (and we all know how that worked out). Thus, when Sony was
ready to move forward with Spider-Man, Raimi again vigorously crusaded for the
job. He was not Sony’s first (or even second) choice, but eventually won the
job due to his love and enthusiasm for the characters and comics. Raimi also
benefited from the growing trend in Hollywood to give fantasy/adventure genre
films to cult cinema auteurs (like Peter
Jackson being hired to direct The
Lord of the Rings and Bryan Singer to direct
X-Men), a movement that
Warner Bros. started hiring Burton to direct Batman.
Suddenly, Raimi was at the helm
of a film with a budget of $139,000 when the biggest budget he had ever worked
with was $50,000 on For Love of the Game (and most of that went to Costner’s
salary). However, he proved himself to be very capable, directing a very fun
action/adventure film setting a new standard for comic book films. Spider-Man
stars Tobey Maguire,
Kirsten Dunst,
James Franco, and Willem
Dafoe (playing Green Goblin).
With Spider-Man 2, Raimi made the
quintessential comic book film (and in my opinion, the best comic book film
still to date). It has a flawless narrative structure as each scene builds into
the next and the characters have well defined and developed arcs. Novelist Michael Chabon was brought in by
Raimi to help craft the story, and it really pays off. Alfred Molina is
also very good as Dr. Octopus, giving a memorable villain performance. What also
works very well about the film is that Raimi allows his style to find its place
(the operating room scene where Octavius’s metal tentacles attack the doctors
is a fantastic example and scene) but balances it nicely so it does not take
over and make the tone campy. 2004 was a very good year for films, but the
level of storytelling on display in Spider-Man 2 is a notch above anything else
released that year. It is Raimi’s best work. However, with the utter
disappointment that was Spider-Man 3 (once the initial happiness of a new Spider-Man
film wore off – remember, it is still the most financially successful in the
franchise) has somewhat soured people’s memory of the trilogy and Spider-Man 2,
but taken alone it is a magnificent film (comic book movie or any other kind of
film).
As mentioned above, Spider-Man 3
is remembered as a disappointment (probably too harshly, as there is still a
lot of good stuff in it – Raimi’s campy side just had too big a role, among
other issues). The film is also a classic example of a studio not trusting
their director (a director who had just delivered too massive hits with the
first two films in the series), overreaching, and ruining a film. Sony/Marvel
wanted Venom in the film and Raimi did not. He had cast Ben Kingsley as the
Vulture and was well underway into production, but Sony/Marvel would have their
way no matter what and the script was reworked (even though production had already
begun!) to include Venom in addition to
Sandman (played by Thomas
Haden Church coming off his Oscar win for Sideways).
Topher Grace
was (mis)cast as Venom and Bryce Dallas Howard
as Gwen Stacy (a competing love interest). Screenwriter Alvin Sargent knew there was a
big issue, and tried to structure the film into two parts but could not get it
to work. The film was over-packed with villains and characters (two new villain
origin stories, Parker’s new relationship with Gwen, his continuing
relationship with Mary Jane, and his friendship/feud with Harry all needed to
find a place in the narrative) – a lesson apparently not learned by Sony/Marvel
as The Amazing
Spider-Man 2 sure seems like it has a lot of new characters and villains.
All things considered, the film is actually not half bad.
Feeling that he was not allowed
to make ‘his’ Spider-Man film due to Sony/Marvel’s gross interference on
Spider-Man 3, Raimi signed a deal to direct Spider-Man 4, but only if he was
creatively left alone, with the potential for a fifth and sixth part. Everyone
was onboard for another film, and production seemed to be ready to get underway
– there were even negotiations with John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway to play
characters. But, then Sony demanded that Raimi finish the film in a timeframe
that Raimi felt would hurt the overall quality of the film (due to scripting
issues). Thus, Sony fired Raimi, only to delay the film by a year, deciding
rather to reboot the franchise in 3D: giving us The Amazing Spider-Man (which
is the third best film in the combined Spider-Man franchises to date).
Despite the rocky finish, Raimi’s
Spider-Man Trilogy is still overall a critically acclaimed and hugely financially
successful franchise – only second to Christopher
Nolan’s The
Dark Knight Trilogy (in terms of comic book film series).
Producing Projects:
Sam Raimi and producing partner Robert
Tapert have also produced a number of films and TV projects. They started with
Raimi’s The Evil Dead, Cimewave, and Darkman (and its subsequent terrible
sequels – which Raimi did not direct). But, from there they branched out producing
the Jean-Claude Van
Damme 1990s action films Hard
Target and Timecop
(yeah, I know, super random).
However, on television, Raimi and
Tapert found a niche in cheaply made (filming in New Zealand to save production
costs – something Peter Jackson would later do with his big budget films)
adventure series. Their first hit was Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,
followed by the spin-off Xena:
Warrior Princess. While they are fairly cheesy, they are actually very
entertaining and were quite successful. More recently, they have produced two
new adventure series: Legend of
the Seeker (which is essentially the same as Hercules and Xena, but better –
I actually think it is one of better adventure series made) and the highly
stylized and graphic Spartacus
(which is also very good – their best TV series to date).
In the 2000s they started Ghost House
Pictures to make low-to-moderately budgeted horror films, the first of which
was The Grudge in 2004. Ghost
House Pictures has produced ten feature films to date.
Upcoming Projects:
Next on Ghost House Pictures’s
slate is the Raimi, Tapert, and Campbell produced Evil Dead remake. It is
co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez,
co-written by Diablo
Cody, and stars Jane
Levy, Jessica
Lucas, Shiloh
Fernandez, Lou
Taylor Pucci, and Elizabeth Blackmore.
It is supposed to be extreme, and the most terrifying film ever made (or so
says the marketing – the trailer
is pretty intense).
Raimi is also attached to produce a remake of Poltergeist (the
1982 film is a
horror classic) with Gil Kenan directing, but it is still early in the production cycle.
Career Highlights:
*Editor’s picks
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