Campy movie gets game version

Proving once again that being able to act has nothing to do with movie fame, I give you Bruce Campbell.

Joining the likes of Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and a much longer list of household names who do a disservice to the label actor, Campbell has created a career based on a chainsaw and a bunch of cheesy horror flicks; the Evil Dead.

“Ashley “Ash” Williams (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend and three pals hike into the woods to a cabin for a fun night away. There they find an old book, the Necronomicon, whose text reawakens the dead when it’s read aloud. The friends inadvertently release a flood of evil and must fight for their lives or become one of the evil dead. Ash watches his friends become possessed, and must make a difficult decision before daybreak to save his own life,” explains Wikipedia of the 1981 release of the Evil Dead.

This is a rather ‘campy’ movie, where the horror is thin, making it more a spoof that serious flick.

But Campbell and the movie franchise found a near cult following, and that means more flicks followed. In Hollywood the sequel, even of cheesy flicks is of course the rule.

“The protagonist, Ashley J. “Ash” Williams (Bruce Campbell) is the only character to appear in every installment of the original trilogy (Linda, Ash’s girlfriend makes an appearance in all 3 films, but her only appearance in Army of Darkness is during the prologue). The original trilogy includes The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992), all written and directed by Raimi, produced by Robert G. Tapert, and starring Campbell,” continued Wikipedia.

The franchise has since expanded into other formats, including video games, comic books, a musical, and a television series. And since this is a space dedicated to games, yes Evil Dead can be taken to your gaming table.

Evil Dead 2 from designer Taylor Smith and publisher Space Goat Productions Inc. in fact is set to crawl out a graveyard very soon.

“Hoping for a fun night in a woodsy cabin? Think again! The Evil Dead 2™ Official Board Game pits two-to-six players against an arcane evil-spewing portal—and each other. Players cooperate to gather pages of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis to seal the portal before everyone gets a bad case of being dead...or worse. Our ragtag band are all susceptible to being overtaken by the evil forces (some more than others.) If a player turns Deadite, it’s their goal to corrupt or kill the surviving humans and unleash evil upon the rest of the world. Meanwhile, those humans can attempt to save their cursed companions at a cost or take them out and hope they stay dead. Gather up a group for a groovy Deadite-killin’ good time,” relates the pre-release ruleset I had the good fortune to get a look at.

The good news off the hop is that the game allows solitaire play, never a bad thing is an era where getting the gaming group together is more difficult that someone justifying supporting Donald Trump for president in the US.

At the other end of the spectrum the game will support six, which means it’s a good ‘buds getting together’ game option.

The game will be a success. It is going through Kickstarter as I write this, although it will wind up the day before publication. The goal was to raise $70,000. The game will eclipsed $500,000 and 5,000 supporters. (Remember my pointing out the movies are cult classics for many).

The rules seem straight forward, the theme of the movies reflected well, and the miniature, are serviceable by photos, if not outstanding.

My initial thoughts on the game are that it would be great to play, once or twice at least.

Less obvious is whether the game can offer enough that it would get regular interest at a gaming table.

Here in Canada the game on Kickstarter.com, for the deluxe version at least, has players looking at chewing through more than $100 (the game is $80 US), and there will be shipping.

We often discuss at the gaming table where four of us are regulars, any game has value for even a single night’s play if it costs about the same as  us heading to a movie. This one is double a 3D movie for four, so it would need to have some replay value, which is likely automatic for an Evil Dead fan, if not a fan, then the scales may tip away from this one.