There are some who say that, if you have seen one horror movie, you have seen them all. I am convinced that those narrow-minded moviegoers have never seen the films of Sam Raimi – the artist behind some of the greatest horror movies ever made, let alone some of the genre’s most visually dazzling and, sometimes, quite funny entries.
Of course, what makes the filmmaker such an esteemed figure of the art today is not just the way he applied his unique vision to scaring audiences, but the way he branched out to nearly every other genre you could think of with dazzling results. See for yourself by reliving (or discovering) the best Sam Raimi movies (many of which also count as some of the best Bruce Campbell movies) on streaming.
The Evil Dead Movies (1981-2023)
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Jane Levy, Lily Sullivan
What they are about: An unassuming young vacationer, a recovering addict, a concert roadie visiting her family, and others encounter the insidious, possessive entities awakened by a mysterious book called the Necronomicon.
Why they are some of Sam Raimi’s best movies: Raimi became an indie horror hero with The Evil Dead; perfected the horror-comedy movie with 1987’s Evil Dead II; and brought his cartoonishly macabre vision to the fantasy adventure genre with 1992’s Army of Darkness, which was later followed up by Fede Alvarez's brutal 2013 reboot and Lee Cronin's standalone sequel Evil Dead Rise – both of which he also produced.
How to watch the Evil Dead Movies
| Title | Stream | Rent/Buy | Blu-ray/DVD |
| The Evil Dead (1981) | Row 1 - Cell 1 | Rent or buy The Evil Dead on Amazon | Buy The Evil Dead on Blu-ray on Amazon |
| Evil Dead II (1987) | Stream Evil Dead II on Amazon Prime for free | Row 2 - Cell 2 | Buy Evil Dead II on Blu-ray on Amazon |
| Army of Darkness (1992) | Row 3 - Cell 1 | Rent or buy Army of Darkness on Amazon | Buy Army of Darkness on Blu-ray on Amazon |
| Evil Dead (2013) | Row 4 - Cell 1 | Rent or buy Evil Dead on Amazon | Buy Evil Dead on Blu-ray on Amazon |
| Evil Dead Rise (2023) | Stream Evil Dead Rise on Max | Rent or buy Evil Dead Rise on Amazon | Buy Evil Dead Rise on Blu-ray on Amazon |
Crimewave (1985)
Starring: Reed Birney, Brion James, Paul L. James, Bruce Campbell
What it's about: As he awaits his execution while sitting on an electric chair, a plucky, average man wrongfully accused of murder recalls his wacky and explosive experiences with the real culprits: a pair of lunatic exterminators on a deadly, aimless rampage.
Why it is one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: With co-writers Joel and Ethan Coen, Raimi goes in an entirely different direction that would become his signature style with Crimewave – an electrifying, manic noir send-up that often feels like a cartoon captured in live-action and also stars Bruce Campbell.
How to watch Crimewave
Intruder (1989)
Director: Scott Spiegel
Starring: Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell
What it's about: On what they discover will be one of their last overnight shifts, the stock crew at a small grocery store learns there is an uninvited guest among them who is determined to make it everyone’s last night alive.
Why it is one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: While he had no creative involvement with this cult favorite ‘80s slasher, Raimi does have a starring role as a meat department worker named Randy in the cult favorite slasher, Intruder.
How to watch Intruder
Darkman (1990)
Starring: Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand
What it's about: After an incident leaves him grotesquely burned and unrecognizable, a brilliant scientist invents a revolutionary synthetic skin that can temporarily disguise himself as anyone to exact revenge on his enemies and reconnect with his wife.
Why it is one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: Long before he was chosen to helm the Spider-Man movies (more on those later), Raimi made his superhero movie debut with a film not based on any pre-existing comic books called Darkman – a highly unique sci-fi action thriller in both concept and style... that also features Bruce Campbell in a brief appearance at the end.
How to watch Darkman
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman, Bruce Campbell
What it's about: A bright-eyed but naive business school graduate is suddenly promoted from mail room attendant of a major manufacturing company to president – unaware that it is all part of a stock market scam – in 1950s New York City.
Why it is one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: While he did not direct this fast-paced screwball comedy, Raimi collaborated with his friends Joel and Ethan Coen on the script for (and also cameos in) The Hudsucker Proxy.
How to watch The Hudsucker Proxy
- Stream The Hudsucker Proxy on Plex
- Rent or buy The Hudsucker Proxy on Amazon
- Buy The Hudsucker Proxy on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Quick And The Dead (1995)
Starring: Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio
What it's about: A mysterious and beautiful sharp-shooter rides into a poor town ruled by a cruel, wealthy tyrant and participates in its gun-dueling tournament to take him down.
Why it’s one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: After tackling horror, slapstick crime noir, and superhero movies, Raimi made one of the best Western movies of its time with the visually unique and cheekily humorous The Quick and the Dead.
How to watch The Quick and the Dead
- Stream The Quick And The Dead on Hulu
- Rent or buy The Quick and the Dead on Amazon
- Buy The Quick And The Dead on Blu-ray on Amazon
A Simple Plan (1998)
Starring: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Brent Briscoe
What it's about: A family man, his brother, and their friend conspire to keep a case filled with millions of dollars they found for themselves, until complications cause them to turn against each other.
Why it is one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: One of Raimi's more earnest and grounded films is the spine-tingling suspense thriller A Simple Plan, which earned Academy Award nominations for Thornton's performance and Scott B. Smith’s screenplay that he adapted from his own best-selling novel.
How to watch A Simple Plan
- Stream A Simple Plan on Pluto TV
- Rent or buy A Simple Plan on Amazon
- Buy A Simple Plan on DVD on Amazon
For Love Of The Game (1999)
Starring: Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston
What it's about: During his final baseball game, a Detroit Lions pitcher reminisces about the most pivotal moments of his athletic career and of his relationship with his girlfriend, whom he may also be losing.
Why it is one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: Raimi tries his hand at both sports movies (or baseball movies, more accurately) and romantic dramas with For Love of the Game – an inspiring and structurally unique story based on the novel by Michael Shaara.
How to watch For Love of the Game
The Gift (2000)
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes
What it's about: A widowed fortune teller with real extrasensory abilities is asked to help with the investigation of a missing young woman, only to suspect that her own life is in danger.
Why it is one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: In what could be described as a return to his horror roots, director Raimi crafts yet another visually stunning, narratively gripping, star-studded winner out of The Gift – one of the best Cate Blanchett movies, which Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson wrote.
How to watch The Gift
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy (2002-2007)
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst
What they are about: A young man (played by Tobey Maguire) is given extraordinary abilities by a radioactive arachnid’s bite, which helps him protect New York City from various villainous individuals.
Why they are some of Sam Raimi’s best movies: In his first big return to superhero movies, Raimi brought Marvel Comics’ iconic webslinger to the big screen in his own dazzling fashion with his influential trilogy of Spider-Man movies – each of which features a brief, but hilariously memorable cameo by Bruce Campbell.
How to watch Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver
What it's about: A young loan officer turns down a mortgage extension request from an elderly woman, who then puts a damning curse on
Why it’s one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: In his big return to the horror genre, director Raimi puts Lohman through the same kind of splatterific taunting he subjected Bruce Campbell to in the Evil Dead movies with Drag Me To Hell – a grotesquely frightening, playfully hilarious, and pretty brutal thriller he co-wrote with his brother, Ivan, that deserves a sequel to some.
How to watch Drag Me to Hell
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022)
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Xochitl Gomez
A powerful sorcerer is tasked with protecting a teenage girl with the ability to travel to other dimensions.
Why it’s one of Sam Raimi’s best movies: There could have been no better choice for Raimi’s return to comic book movies and his MCU debut than the aptly titled Multiverse movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which utilizes his signature macabre style to dazzling effect and features a funny cameo by Bruce Campbell.
How to watch Doctor Sleep in the Multiverse of Madness
- Stream Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on Disney+
- Rent or by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on Amazon
- Buy Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on Blu-ray on Amazon
As of July 2024, Sam Raimi is set to direct Send Help, which is his first horror movie in more than a decade, if you do not count his Doctor Strange sequel. Speaking of upcoming horror movies, he has enlisted two filmmakers – Sebastian Vanechak and Francis Galluppi – to continue the Evil Dead movies and has also detailed how he would make Spider-Man 4 if given the opportunity. Could that opportunity be swinging around anytime soon? We will just have to wait and see.
