TV rarely gets more intense and over-the-top as it did on Saturday night when Ash vs Evil Dead bid farewell to Season 1 with wacky hallucinations, Godfather references and disgusting monster babies. For fans hoping that creator Sam Raimi would once again use this franchise to reference the works of Wes Craven, particularly A Nightmare on Elm Street, disappointment was not in store. Just check out what’s hanging by the door when Ash first makes his way downstairs. (Minor episode spoilers are coming.)
Welcome to prime time, bitch! Yes, non-exact as it is, that glove is clearly meant to represent the iconic hand gear that ruined many an Elm Street teen’s life when worn by one Freddy Krueger in the Elm Street franchise. Even though the model is basically the same, it’s understandable that the lack of blades might make a horror newbie second guess this conspicuously singular glove might just be a random prop, there’s a history to Sam Raimi and Wes Craven referencing each other’s films. (Plus, the glove’s image is probably under one copyright law or another, thus limiting how close the resemblance could get.)
It all started when Raimi’s original Evil Dead film featured a poster of Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes, which was followed up by Craven adding footage from Evil Dead in the first A Nightmare on Elm Street film. Raimi then took it upon himself to use not just promotional material but an actual part of Freddy’s universe when the glove was seen hanging by the toolshed door in Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn.
Fans no doubt had their eyes glued to the screen once the cabin was introduced, hoping for an inside joke, and that effort definitely paid off here. The season finale was directed by Rick Jacobson, and not Raimi himself, but there had to have been a conversation prior to the episode being filmed where the decision was made to add this sweet Easter egg. The only thing that’s truly terrible about it is that Craven wasn’t around to witness it.
Ash and Freddy crossed paths several times, only it was limited to the comic books, with Jason Voorhees also hanging around. Although attempts were made to turn that crossover into a feature, it never happened because no one would allow Ash to kill the other two characters. As if Bruce Campbell is going to fall victim to a burned-up pervert and a dude who drowned as a kid.
Though Season 1 of Ash vs Evil Dead sadly came to its blood-covered completion with Ash grabbing the big end of the stick by the balls, we can look forward to evil taking over the world when Season 2 debuts on Starz later this year. Here’s hoping that new Elm Street reboot gets lost in the basement of development hell in the meantime.
