Fantasia 2020 review: ‘Hail to the Deadites’ is a love letter to ‘Evil Dead’ fandom

The first virtual edition of Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival is just around the corner! In the coming days, we’ll be presenting capsule reviews of a number of films screening at the festival, filmmaker interviews, and much more. All of our 2020 Fantasia coverage can be found here. For the full schedule and tickets, head to the Fantasia screening site. 

Horror fans thrive on community, from packed convention halls filled with like-minded friends and strangers to film festivals where they can discover their next great obsession. With all large physical gatherings still on hold in most parts of the world, Steve Villeneuve’s Hail to the Deadites is an exciting reminder of the power of fandom and how it can build up a worldwide community based off nothing more than the love of Bruce Campbell and the Evil Dead franchise.

Hail to the Deadites features Quebec’s own Steve Villeneuve traveling around the world to horror conventions to speak to Evil Dead superfans, known as “deadites.” The documentary showcases their merchandise and prop collections, their intricate fan tattoos, and examines what it is about Sam Raimi’s initial trilogy that still resonates with fans decades later. As many fans in the doc point out, there is actually quite an array of genres and styles within the Evil Dead series —  the films veer from outright horror to fantasy-slapstick over the three films, and each has its own superfans, creating a widely diverse following.

Villeneuve sits down with Bruce Campbell himself to discuss the rabid fandom, and also focuses on SFX creator Tom Sullivan, who designed the gory skin-draped Necronomicon used in the series (fans revere Sullivan so much that he’s even asked to officiate a wedding in the film). The Evil Dead fandom also thrives behind the camera; the film is filled with fan-shot recreations of the films, and songs dedicated to everyone’s favorite demon-slayer.

While we all await the time when we can safely pack a convention hall again, it’s a blast to live vicariously through Villeneuve as he travels the horror convention circuit meeting up with fellow fans from around the globe. The end result is a loving look at the unifying world of fandom, and a must-see for fans of the series. Groovy!

Hail to the Deadites is available to screen on-demand throughout the virtual edition of this year’s Fantasia Festival, from August 20 – September 2nd. Tickets are available here.