Sam Raimi is a legendary production director, producer, screenwriter, actor and editor. A video camera has been and remains his best friend since childhood.
Rapid take-off
The project, which brought worldwide fame and popularity to Raimi - "The Evil Dead", in which he performed in three guises: director, screenwriter and co-producer. At the time the film was made, director Sam Raimi barely celebrated his 21st birthday, and the project was originally conceived as a pleasant pastime, entertainment of a group of like-minded people: Bruce Campbell, Robert Tupper and Sam himself. The budget of the picture barely reached $ 350,000. This youth comedy horror brought the creators fabulous profits, almost 60 times paying off at the box office across the planet. The story of college students who discovered on their own head in an abandoned forest house the presence of demons from the other world, acquired the status of a cult. Sam Raimi unexpectedly for himself became a legendary personality among fans of the horror genre and even among film critics from different continents. Thanks to his work, a lot of publications appeared in the press, singing praises of class B films, stylistic delights of a provincial, and therefore low-budget, semi-amateur movie.
Pattern
Such a resounding success naturally provoked the author to release the sequel The Evil Dead 2 (1987) and the third part, Army of Darkness (1992), which, together with the original picture, made up one of the most innovative movie franchises in terms of the horror genre. Sam Raimi in his subsequent projects retained his original, recognizable style, as stated in the first work. The second film was already shot for a rather significant amount (in contrast to the first) - $ 3,500,000. And film critics did not cease to be surprised at the director’s technical methods, special effects and other tricks. Five years after the release of the sequel, Sam Raimi for $ 13 million removes the Army of Darkness - the third part of the franchise. The author allowed himself some liberties, moving away from the classical canons of the horror genre into a postmodern vaudeville, the director creates a unique black comedy that is almost not scary, but definitely laughs.
On the verge of horror
On the same fine line of comedy and horror, the director's next work, “The Man of Darkness” (1990), balanced. Sam Raimi immerses the viewer in an entertaining, adventurous, spectacular and visually super-effective atmosphere. Stylish fantastic action thriller about the adventures of a mysterious inhabitant with a disfigured face motivates the appearance of two more sequels. After that, Sam Raimi, whose films are predominantly in the genre of horror, succumbed to the fashionable tendency to create mystical thrillers and shot a film about the gift of clairvoyance under the corresponding name "Gift". In the role of central characters, the director invited the stars of world cinema: C. Reeves, C. Blanchett and H. Swank.
The year 2013 was marked by the author’s return to the famous franchise “The Evil Dead”, the movie “The Evil Dead: The Black Book” is a rental, a remake of the original first film. In this project, the director’s chair is occupied by Federico Alvarez, and Sam Raimi, whose films inspired filmmakers to create a remake, is the co-author of the script and the producer.
Incredible audience resonance
The megaproject of the long-awaited and coveted by fans around the world of the adaptation of the Spider-Man comic book series has become the loudest and most profitable for Raimi. "Spider-Man" by Sam Raimi is a sort of "fairy tale for adults", which had a rather solid budget - $ 139 million, while the tape paid for itself six times in the world. This is the paradox. The fact is that the film was not recognized by film professionals, while it was more than welcomed by connoisseurs and fans of this comic strip, however, as well as by inexperienced viewers in this matter. Two subsequent parts of the trilogy became no less popular and in demand. But adherents of the filmmaker’s early work still give the palm of his hand soaring the camera above the surface of the earth in The Evil Dead compared to the dizzying flights of Spider-Man from the roof of one skyscraper to another in a teenage blockbuster.
As a producer
Throughout his creative career, Raimi has more than once figured as the producer of all kinds of television series. A significant place in them is occupied by the so-called pseudo-historical soap operas, for example, the adventures of Hercules and Xena, the warrior queen, well-known to the domestic audience. Given the fact that lately there has been a trend in secondary Hollywood and the studios have taken up the reanimation of old, proven movie hits of the 90s, it is possible that the series “Xena - the Queen of Warriors” will return soon. Sam Raimi does not deny the approval of the ubiquitous paparazzi that he will work on the project with Robert Tapert, but maintains the intrigue - it is not yet known whether the actress Lucy Lawless, who plays the role of Xena of the 90s, will return to the project.
Actor
The filmography of the Raimi actor has more than 25 positions. Of course, Sam did not play the role of the main characters, rather a friendly cameo in his or in the produced films and episodic roles in the films of his colleagues in the horror workshop, for example: Stryker War, Maniac Policeman, Miller's Crossroads, and Innocent Blood ", Mini-series" Radiance. " Curiously, Raimi ordered not to indicate his name in the credits of the following films, although he played in them the roles of secondary colorful characters: "Take me to Hell", "Spider-Man 2" and in the trilogy "The Evil Dead".