American filmmaker, Sam Raimi, is a master of horror, comedy and action, best known for directing the Spider-Man trilogy and the Evil Dead franchise. Born in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1959, his filmmaking journey began at an early age, an active member of a circle of amateur actors and directors in the Detroit area by his teens.

Forging friendships that would become lifelong partnerships with his brother Ted and Bruce Campbell, Raimi was well on his way to writing, producing and directing his first feature film, The Evil Dead. A breakthrough debut, he went on to cement his cult status in horror with Evil Dead II and then Army of Darkness. Known for his unhinged visuals, wild energy and wacky sense of humour, it’s worth taking a look at some of his best movies.

Evil Dead II

Evil Dead II is quintessential Sam Raimi, left to his own devices and completely in his element. The movie functions as a remake of The Evil Dead, centred on five friends who visit a lone cabin in the woods. Unleashing untold demonic forces by accident, the friends succumb to possession, transforming into bloodlust monsters with Ash and his chainsaw hand their last gasp hope.

Armed with a full tilt performance from Bruce Campbell as Ash, this Evil Dead II is hilarious, gory and surprisingly touching. The standalone sequel features Raimi’s signature visual style. Passion runs in the veins of this nutty horror movie as evidenced by the painstaking detail of the visual effects, which were created before the days of CGI.

Spider-Man 2

What’s amazing about The Amazing Spider-Man is just how many reboots of the character we’ve had in the space of two decades. To get the ball rolling, it was Sam Raimi would led Tobey Maguire to his indelible connection with Peter Parker. Not quite as definite as playing into the Bond franchise for Maguire, this Spider-Man represented Raimi’s biggest franchise outing yet.

After a strong opening to establish the superhero in the days before Christopher Nolan’s dark and gritty reimagining energised this world, Spider-Man 2 signaled a much darker psychological take. Struggling to come to terms with the apparent loss of his superpowers, Peter Parker struggles to find a balance between his double life and disparate worlds.

A fine dramatic actor, Maguire leans into a nuanced performance as Spidey faces off against the likes of Willem Dafoe as The Green Goblin and Alfred Molina as Doc Ock. His own worst enemy, this character-driven superhero actioner finds Parker in his most vulnerable place, forced to summon up self-belief and rely on his human fragility. Raimi effectively captures the character’s essence whilst creating an epic world for this dark high-flying fantasy adventure to play out.

Drag Me to Hell

Sam Raimi is known for his uncanny ability to blend comedy and horror to create a concoction that’s as funny as it is scary. This is essentially the life blood of Drag Me to Hell, a dark comedy and suspensful horror that rekindles Evil Dead levels of comic, creative and disturbing visuals. A gem for horror genre fans, it recaptures many classic elements from his breakout horror trilogy with fast-paced wild visuals and a sinister brand of horror comedy.

Spearheaded by Alison Lohman in a star-making performance as Christine Brown, she plays a loan officer who’s cursed by a gypsy woman after denying her a loan. Trying to break the curse, Christine must endure a stream of strange and terrifying events to get closer to finding normalcy and reality once again.

Raimi generates enough terror to keep his audience on the edge of their seats with enough unsettling shock value to recall The Evil Dead. A remarkable comeback… Drag Me to Hell is an all-rounder horror comedy powered by terrific performances, inspired direction and a riveting story.

Army of Darkness

After unleashing two Evil Dead cabin-in-the-woods horrors, Sam Raimi was ready to break free of the woods. Instead of creating an entirely new film, Raimi continues Ash’s misadventure by throwing him back in time. Possibly motivated or inspired by the runaway success of the Back to the Future franchise, which was rounding up a trilogy… he went one step further back in time by going medieval. The result is campy and hilarious as hapless store clerk Ash and his Oldsmobile are flung back to 1300 A.D. where he must battle an army of the dead.

Equipping Ash with a shotgun… sorry boomstick, this standalone horror comedy adventure makes a refreshing detour from The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. Retaining the energetic spirit and stylish edge of the former films, Army of Darkness is its own beast, leaning more into the comedy with yet another wonderful performance from the larger-than-life Bruce Campbell.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Picking up after Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange, Sam Raimi and composer Danny Elfman resurrect or reinvent the franchise as Doctor Strange travels across multiverses to battle multiple threats with the help of a mysterious teenage girl. Raimi fans won’t be surprised by the new direction for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which gets fast and loose with its genre play, delving into Raimi’s wacky horror comedy dimension.

A wild reworking after an impressive origin story for Doctor Strange, perhaps the franchise was always going to lean into the realm of horror as signalled by the hiring of Sinister director, Scott Derrickson. Topple is probably a better word as Raimi unleashes his wild imagination upon Doctor Strange’s many worlds, making a dramatic and eye-popping genre shift and shedding Marvel’s bulletproof shimmer in the process.

Reprising his role, Benedict Cumberbatch and his goatee are a smash hit once again, able to balance the nutty genre mix quite dexterously without breaking a sweat. Together with Rachel McAdams, Xochitl Gomez and a memorable performance from Elizabeth Olsen, Doctor Strange 2 delivers with a much darker feel.