'Evil Dead' name was so stupid': Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi revealed he was initially not on board for 1981's The Evil Dead title.

During an interview with Empire, the filmmaker said, “The original title of the [original] movie was ‘The Book Of The Dead’,” Raimi said. “But film-sales agent Irvin Shapiro sat Rob, Bruce and I down and said, ‘We’re changing the title, boys.

Advertising space in the newspaper is paid for by the inch, kid. We’re not going to have a five-word title. ‘Dead’ can stay. You can have one other word. You can call it ‘101% Dead’, or ‘Evil Dead’.’”

The 63-year-old explained he hated both options but eventually opted out of the title via the elimination process.

“I thought, ‘But those are the worst two titles I’ve ever heard in my life! ‘Evil Dead’ sucks! How can something be evil and dead?’ I just thought it was so stupid,” he said.“‘101% Dead’? I thought, ‘I’ll die first.’ So I chose the lesser of the two horrible titles. But now I’ve started to like it. It’s pretty good.”

Evil Dead Rise will hit the theaters on Friday, April 23.