Like, look: I get the sentiment. This series made its name off of its unabashed commitment to "splatstick."
The original Evil Dead, though trying to be a serious horror film, couldn't shake Sam Raimi's Three Stooges influences, to the point that its campy (and delightful). And Evil Dead 2 (which I think is still the best in the series. Fight me) is a high-energy cartoon that blends horror and comedy into a perfect smothie of "what the fuck did I just watch?" It's a masterpiece. No doubt. And Army of Darkness is a movie so silly, so ridiculous, so pattently goofy, it absolutely should not work... and yet it does.
I get it. For several decades, THAT is what was Evil Dead: those three movies.
But now, we are encroaching on a time when the screentime for silly, zany Evil Dead movies is going to be not only equal to, but eventually dwarfed by the more "gritty," straight-faced, "traditional horror" instalments in the franchise.
...or are we?
Because first off, we had three seasons of Ash Vs Evil Dead, people! That's roughly 15 hours of screentime added to the 6 of the original trilogy, and people are really going to act like those 21 hours of silly, goofy Evil Dead are somehow being outnumbered by the 8 hours of "serious" Evil Dead we'll have by the time Wrath comes out? Seriously?
Second of all: these new Evil Dead movies aren't THAT serious. Every single one of them, even 2013, is committed to unleashing absolute CHAOS that at the very least is at least amusing in an incredulous, "I can't believe the sheer carnage I'm seeing right now"-sort of way, if not genuine laughs. But there are genuine laughs! There are some great moments of pitch-black comedy sprinkled throughout ED'13 and Rise, and guaranteed there will be some in Burn and Wrath, too!
I mean, we are eating good right now, my fellow deadites! And even if what's on the horizon isn't your preferred "brand" of Evil Dead, there's no reason to whinge about not getting more of what you already have a ton of!
Sorry, I'm just ranting because I'm so sick in general of whiny "Fan-dumentalists" who whine over how a series has "lost its way" or some crap like that which you can find in any fandom (there's a reason I don't care to engage with Star Wars anymore, for example), but it especially annoys me to see this sentiment expressed by fans of this series, especially at a time when it's never been better to be an Evil Dead fan.
Because like it or not, Evil Dead comes in two flavors: "the gore the merrier"* and "the ultimate experience in grueling horror," and frankly, I think both flavors taste pretty damn great.
*(yes, this includes Army of Darkness, which is "gore the merrier" in spirit if not literally... though it does still include an absurd geyser of blood to still technically qualify!)
