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As the manager ofDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , now is an first-class time to reflect onSam Raimi ’s filmography , ranking his feature - length movie from worst to best . It ’s comfortable to drop just how seismic an impact the whole kit of Sam Raimi have had on forward-looking film . His original low - budget horror titles were weigh so shocking , that they were initially blackball in the United Kingdom following the Video Nasties scandals . Today , Raimi ’s horror films are darling cultus classics .
Sam Raimi can also safely claim to be a pioneer of the forward-looking superhero blockbuster thanks to his work on the originalSpider - Mancinematic trilogy . Outside of his own movies , he ’s produced various hit television serial such asHercules : The Legendary Journeysand its twirl - offXena : Warrior Princess , he ’s collaborated frequently with the Coen Brothers , and he helped to make Bruce Campbell a star . His movies have grossed more worldwide than those of Clint Eastwood , M. Night Shyamalan , and Joss Whedon .
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It ’s been a while since Sam Raimi was in the spotlight . A serial of hotly - hype projects fell through , and he ’s mostly stuck to television , directing and producing Starz’sAsh Vs . Evil Dead . However , he ’s returned to the director ’s chair , as he replace Scott Derrickson in Marvel’sDoctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness . It ’s doubtless a gamey - profile replication for a director who has determine his fair share of multi - million dollar hits , and it ’s also a major putsch for Marvel Studios , apply how much of a debt they owe to Raimi for constitute their study possible in the first place . Raimi ’s decades - longsighted career has certainly had its highs and lows . The following list is Sam Raimi ’s motion-picture show ranked from worst to good .
16. Oz the Great and Powerful
Everything about 2013’sOz the Great and Powerfulfeels like a phenomenal miss on the part of both Raimi and Disney . L. Frank Baum ’s Oz novelsare timeless pieces of children ’s entertainment , chock full of creativity and softly seditious melodic theme , and some exceptional female fictional character . It makes sentience why Disney would require to put their own stamp on the Oz traditional knowledge ( the record are in the public domain , but the iconic 1939 movie from MGM is not ) , but nothing about this picture show feels necessary or in particular interesting .
It ’s hard to judder the notion that Raimi had no investment in the reservoir fabric , as everything is organise so unconditionally . The effects wait cheap and do n’t kick up the sonorousness of Oz , leading human James Franco is practically sleepwalk through his performance , and the unexampled origin story for the Wicked Witch of the West , turning her into a scorned woman , is incredibly insulting . This was a cinema made for branding reasons , and it reeks of cynicism at every twist . Sam Raimi feel like a cracking choicefor an Oz movie , but it seems as though his own disinterest and the studio ’s micromanagement brought any good ideas for an adaptation to a check .
15. For Love of the Game
As Raimi tried to step away from his horror route , he made some foreign career pick . Still , few are as genuinely incomprehensible as his conclusion to make an inspirational sports dramatic event starring Kevin Costner . For Love of the Gamefeels like a pigment - by - numbers film — one where every moment is extremely predictable and derivative of lashings of sound motion-picture show , like Costner ’s ownField of Dreams . The cast of characters is telling , and this motion-picture show did infix Raimi to future J. Jonah Jameson role player J.K. Simmons , but it ’s a lifeless and sorely saccharine dramatic event that strive for pathos , but save tranquilizers . bad of all , it ’s utterly tedious , the bad thinga Sam Raimi moviecan be .
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14. It’s Murder!
Every bright young manager has to initiate somewhere . It ’s Murder!is Raimi ’s introduction , shot on Super 8 while he was still at college and co - starring Bruce Campbell and Raimi ’s brother Ted . As the title suggests , the motion-picture show centers on a execution and the detective assay to solve the case while avoiding his demise . It ’s intelligibly the body of work of a first - timer who ’s figure out their dash and what to do as they go along , and it ’s charming for what it is . you’re able to see how the Sam Raimi of 1977 evolved into the Sam Raimi who madeEvil DeadandSpider - Man , but that would take a few years .
13. Crimewave
12. Spider-Man 3
There are innumerableSpider - human beings 3memes and arguments about it being one of the worst superhero movies ever made . Indeed , the film is n’t perfect , but it ’s not grief-stricken of economic value or attractive qualities . Raimi still manage to make room for his trademarkhumor inSpider - Man 3 , and some extremely satisfying slapstick mo . Plus he ’s always know how to execute a successful military action tantrum . wanderer - Man 3mostly suffers from a instance of too many cook , with Raimi being forced to include Venom as a decisive villain against his wishes , and the need to go bigger than the previous film leading to a severe example of bloat . Peter Parker becoming insufferable is nowhere near as awful as audiences have say it is in hindsight . It name sense in context , and Tobey Maguire makes for an excellent base - spirited Spidey — but it still feel like a case of too much plot and growing into an unstable anatomical structure .
11. The Gift
Co - written by Billy Bob Thornton , inspired by account of his own mother , The Giftsees Raimi accept on the supernatural thriller musical style with good - to - mixed result . In one of her more underrated operation , Cate Blanchett playsa psychical who is called in to help with a local disappearance imply the fiancée of a local school instructor . The plotting and performances are taut , featuring an all - asterisk cast that includes Keanu Reeves , Hilary Swank , and Katie Holmes . Everyone is working extra time to overcome the trite clichés of the genre . However , The Giftis at long last a tad too by - the - numbers for its own good .
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10. A Simple Plan
InA Simple Plan , Billy Bob Thornton , Bridget Fonda , and Bill Paxton play a triplet of rural Minnesota residents who discover a crashed planing machine with a bag containing 1000000 of dollar on plank . They decide to keep the money and not tell anyone what they bring out , but deceit and paranoia elicit their ultimate untying . CombiningFargowith a dashofShallow Graveand some Southern Gothic carry to the Midwest , this acute and often elegantly - done noir - style thriller contains some of the good Raimi film trait .
9. The Quick and the Dead
Raimi take one hell of a hazard in makingThe Quick and the Deadin 1995 . While the Western was n’t entirely utter by this point in meter , thanks to work likeUnforgiven , it was n’t exactly something that jr. hearing were heroic to see , even with a hot new rising principal by the name of Leonardo DiCaprio among the roll . This majestic court to Sergio Leone is credibly the most un - Raimi film in his back - catalogue — it is a tight - moving and highly watchable drama , that delves into pure showboating with its way and gorgeous cinematography . It ’s not dazzlingly original , and its initial release was believably smart by the fact that it came out whenthe Western was go down in popularity . However , The Quick and the Deadcertainly deserves a revisit .
8. Darkman
Spider - Man may have been a breakthrough for superhero moving-picture show , but 1990’sDarkmanwas a serious risk , with Raimi train a film in the genre that was n’t base on a pre - existent property . Liam Neeson plays a scientist who , after being blemish by a ruthless gangster , attempt to bring around himself and develop superhuman ability that he uses to fight crime . A greaterDick Tracyhomage than the live - action picture show that also came out in 1990,Darkmanis a no - holds - debar natural action thriller that attractively captures the style and graphic feel of the amusing Quran and pulp fable worlds . The motion picture did pretty well at the box office , but woefully never got a continuation — this was one story hearing happily would have see play out in an entire franchise .
7. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Director ofDoctor Strange , Scott Derrickson , stepped down fromDoctor Strange 2 in 2020 , allow the door subject for superhero veteran Sam Raimi to maltreat in and take over – and take over he did . Written by Michael Waldron and produced by Kevin Feige , Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesshas been in the industrial plant since 2016 . Benedict Cumberbatch signed on to repeat his office in 2018 , and the film was a go . This Sam Raimi pic did present some setbacks , however . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , motion-picture photography was delayed to 2021 . After a three - month hiatus , the moving-picture show resumed its yield schedule in March 2021 , andDoctor Strange 2was released to mixed review ( but an eighth - highest of all time open up weekend ) on May 6th , 2022 .
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Despite critics ' lukewarm reception , audience lick up the second chapter of theDoctor Strangefranchise , mainly due to Sam Raimi ’s surprisingly disturbing focussing . The franchise is , as its supporter suggests , exceedingly foreign , and there was arguably no one well to provide a unique genus Lens for the superhero story thanSpider - Mandirector Sam Raimi . While many lamented the pacing of the movie , which is why it ’s not higher on the list , Raimi ’s challenging style of focus saved the film from a more subpar reception . The director was able to take on , and explain , the MCU ’s confusing Multiverse to first - prison term viewers in a digestible way . The piece that Raimi be sick on people throughDoctor Strange 2worked incredibly well for the hero ’s perplexing story while adding his trademark twist humor to the mix .
6. Army of Darkness
malefic Dead IIends with one hell of a cliffhanger , andArmy of Darknessoffers a rollicking tale of what to do when you ’re a humble automaton hunter stuck in the Middle Ages . Bruce Campbell has the absolute fourth dimension of his lifeplaying the iconic Ash , who is somehow believable both as a butch hero and a ridiculous goofball parody of one . Raimi does seem to get overwhelmed by his own ambitiousness . Still , an increased budget and a few more age in the game mean thatArmy of Darknessis easily one of his most esthetically fascinating films and one of the most enjoyable midnight movie experiences one could trust to ask for .
5. Spider-Man
2002’sSpider - Manremains one of the most dear superhero films of all time , and with good reason . In many style , this motion picture should n’t have worked . After all , superhero movies were only just finding their terms in modern blockbuster movie theatre , the studio apartment was unsure that anyone could believably make a man swing through the streets of New York City , and Tobey Maguire was n’t an A - Lister and was mostly know forbeing Leonardo DiCaprio ’s BFF . Yet , Sam Raimi pull it off and then some . The prototype for the New superhero motion-picture show can be found here , from the dynamic action set - while , to the swells of Danny Elfman ’s score , to the iconic upside - down candy kiss in the pelting . The world knows all these trope so well now , but at the time , this was all new . Spider - Manstill has a singular freshness to it today because Raimi respects the source fabric , while still having enough violation to put his own postage on it . Spider - Manbecame the first film to pass the $ 100,000,000 mark in a individual weekend , and before long a new geological era of cinema was born .
4. The Evil Dead
It ’s hard to consider that1981’sThe malevolent Deadis only Raimi ’s 2nd flick as a director . It ’s a sharply confident piece of work that use its light budget to the best of its abilities and remains timeless in its ability to pall the hell out of its audience . Almost 40 years later , The Evil Deadis still gross , strange , exciting , and sharply lurid . Its simple story opens the doors to an redoubtable mood that ’s hard to shake , even as the activeness gets idiotic . multiplication of horror film producer owe everything toThe Evil Dead .
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3. Drag Me to Hell
After the critical dashing hopes ofSpider - Man 3,and all the tiredness due to studio apartment squabbling , Raimi resolve to return to his ancestor for his next movie , Drag Me To Hell . Raimi has never gotten enough credit for how good he is at old - schoolhorror clique , andDrag Me to Hellsees him turning up the book to delightfully deafening eyeshade . Alison Lohman , always a reprehensively underrated actress who never got the citation she deserved , excels in playing a an ambitious bank loan officer whose option to deny a mortgage file name extension to a strange sometime woman sees her curse by a dark spirit . make a unfeignedly scary movie is problematical enough , but doing so while keeping it genuinely queer is a whole other feat of accomplishment , and Raimi at his crest does it better than anyone else operate . This is a simple movie that want to make you jump then laugh . cart Me To Hellis a movie that knows precisely what it want to be , and it does that with aplomb .
2. Spider-Man 2
Spider - Manmay have changed the game for superhero movies , but the sequel is the existent pinnacle of Raimi’scomic book adaptation art . Everything is so fine - tuned here , and Raimi is firing on all cylinder as a director , having build on the first motion-picture show and become confident enough to make the subsequence a more Raimi - esque feature . The effects are better , Peter ’s arc is more satisfying , Alfred Molina as Doc Ock is easy one of the swell comic book villains in film from the preceding 30 years , and the emotional beats are just incredible here , as demonstrate in the prospect where Spidey is convey through the train carriage by lofty New Yorkers who have claimed him as one of their own . InSpider - Man 2 , the fantastical and the profoundly human combine with perfect balance . stacks of superhero movies have been made since this one , but the bar was still set madly high for a long time , thanks to Raimi , Spidey , and party .
1. Evil Dead 2
When people think of Raimi and what he does best , it’sEvil deadened 2that first comes to mind , and for good reasonableness . This blood - soaked horror with a blackly comedic middle care to be a glorious bad taste perception experience while subtly satirizing the entire concept of bad preference . The best parodies follow from people who love the thing they ’re mocking , and nobody jazz this make of horror more thanSam Raimi . While one could well call this a remaking of the first film , it ’s also decidedly one of the neat movie sequels , thanks to Bruce Campbell ’s endless charisma , the ceaseless splattering gore , and the uproarious combining of blood and slapstick . Groovy .
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