Bruce Campbell on Wednesday went full Ash Williams after the British Board of Film Classification shared a story about its rating history for his iconic horror film, The Evil Dead.
The 1981 gore-fest written and directed by Sam Raimi — which spawned a beloved franchise — was banned in some countries, such as on home video for a period in England, and initially slapped with an X (later NC-17) in America.
Looking back at the film rating in England, the BBFC shared a piece along with a tweet reading, “In 1982, we saw Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead for classification in the height of the ‘video nasties’ scare of the 1980s. It’s had an interesting classification history since then, but it’s now classified 18 uncut.”
Related Stories
Campbell fired back a shot from his verbal boomstick.
“Let’s be clear: Your system back then was draconian and myopic. Thankfully, your multi-year ‘ban’ only stoked interest in the film and made it #1 on video in the U.K. when it was finally released. Thanks for nothin’,” wrote Campbell.
The BBFC’s Evil Dead feature concluded with, “In 2000, the uncut version of the film was finally resubmitted to the BBFC. The BBFC recognised that standards had changed since 1990 (and certainly since 1982) and that modern audiences were more accustomed to the excesses of horror films. Compared to films like Scream, The Evil Dead now looked rather tame. The BBFC therefore agreed, in line with the views of the public that the BBFC should only intervene when material was illegal or harmful, that The Evil Dead could now be classified 18 without cuts.”
The Evil Dead would make Campbell and Raimi household names (and horror icons) and lead to a number of film and TV projects under the moniker, along with a boatload of merchandise.
Let’s be clear. Your system back then was draconian and myopic. Thankfully, your multi-year “ban” only stoked interest in the film and made it #1 on video in the UK when it was finally released. Thanks for nothin.’ https://t.co/5w2BkW4Oru
— Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) August 18, 2021
