Documentary Review: ‘Hail To The Deadites’

Review by James Lindorf

For the past 23 years, the Fantasia International Film Festival has taken place in the heart of beautiful Montreal, the largest city in Canada’s Québec province. Fantasia, like many big-name festivals, SWSX, TIFF, and Tribeca, to name a few, will be hosting a virtual version of their festival this year. Fantasia’s 24th installment occurs on August 20th – September 2nd and will include both Live and On-Demand Screenings, live Q&As, and special events, like John Carpenter becoming Fantasia’s first recipient of their virtual Cheval Noir award. The process to purchase tickets can be found on their website. Some conversations and events can be seen on the Fantasia YouTube channel.

The Canadian film “Hail to the Deadites” makes its world premiere at Fantasia as part of their Documentaries from the Edge. The goal of the movie is to highlight the fandom of the Evil Dead series of films. Co-writer and director Steve Villeneuve is a fan and avid collector in his own right, but he wanted to find the biggest fans and figure out if there was a way to quantify what makes the series special to so many. The basis of the film is footage collected as Villeneuve travels around Canada and the United States from one horror convention to another, interviewing fans, cast members, and parts of the production team. There are a few interesting tidbits about the making of the films that not enough to pull in a more general audience.

This is a film by Deadites, about Deadites, made for Deadites. If you are not at least an above-average fan of the series, then this is not a movie for you. Villeneuve showcases the bast part of any fandom where people come together to share their passion, make friends, and occasionally fall in love. It does get monotonous at times as we move from one collector to the next and har the argument about which film is best over and over. They break it up with interviews with the cast, including Bruce Campbell, or by providing a brief look at the Evil Dead The Musical, which is a bloody good time.

The inclusion of Campbell is a significant get for such an independent feature. Campbell brings his trademark charisma to his interviews and panels, even judging an impromptu Ash cosplay competition. Bruce has lived both sides of fandom. When he was younger, he wrote a letter to Steve McQueen and, in his eagerness, simply addressed it to the city of Hollywood. Now he spends some time each year at conventions or book signings meeting the people who love him and his character. His honesty is also refreshing because it is clear that he cares about his fans, but he also isn’t going to lie to them and pretend they equally impacted his life if they didn’t.

After seven years of hard work, “Hail to the Deadites” is a hard-rocking good time as it celebrates the people who make the Evil Dead series special.