This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Jesse McAnally: Hello, I'm Jesse McAnally.

[0:02] Andrew DeWolf: And I'm Andrew DeWolf.

[0:04] Jesse McAnally: And welcome to Musicals with Cheese, a podcast where I try to get Andrew to like musical theater. And today we have an extra special returning guest and it's been too long, please. Honestly, it is on me. It should have been much sooner. Please join me in welcoming the wonderful Allison Pregler from Movie Nights. Yay! Welcome back.

[0:41] Allison Pregler: Oh my gosh, you know, it has been a while, but I'm so glad we're coming back for this one. I was stoked to rewatch this. Good stuff.

[0:52] Jesse McAnally: I'm so excited because have you ever seen it live is the first question.

[0:56] Allison Pregler: I did. Yeah. I got a poster for it signed and everything. It wasn't with this cast, but I did go and see it.

[1:02] Jesse McAnally: No worries. I mean, that changes it because yeah, we're gonna have a couple different opinions today. I also saw it live and it is a different experience.

[1:12] Andrew DeWolf: Were you in the splatter zone?

[1:14] Allison Pregler: I was the second time I saw it twice in like one month.

[1:17] Jesse McAnally: Nice.

[1:18] Allison Pregler: Because I saw it once. I was like, well, the splatter zone is getting all the fun. And yeah, we saw it again. And it is more fun to be in the splatter zone.

[1:28] Andrew DeWolf: Were you in the splatter zone?

[1:29] Allison Pregler: I wasn't.

[1:31] Jesse McAnally: You gotta leave.

[1:33] Andrew DeWolf: Does it cost extra or?

[1:35] Allison Pregler: No, you just.

[1:36] Jesse McAnally: No, but you got to be prepared for it because you're going to get stained.

[1:40] Allison Pregler: And you have to come early. Like when we did it, like it wasn't like you pick your seats. It was well, first come first serve in the splatter zone gets filled the fastest.

[1:50] Andrew DeWolf: Oh, see, I wondered about that. If like maybe some productions maybe have like a, you know, you pay extra for the splatter zone or something. I don't know.

[1:58] Allison Pregler: So yeah, we had to. We just showed up on time the first time we sat on the sidelines and it was a great time. And then the second time we're like, we got to show up two hours early and we were still not first in line.

[2:09] Jesse McAnally: We were like fifth. In case you haven't picked up what we're throwing down this week, we are talking about Evil Dead, the musical.

[2:14] Andrew DeWolf: So now I must say goodbye. I'm sorry, Linda. But now you must die.

[2:30] Allison Pregler: Die, die, die, die, die, die, die.

[2:58] Jesse McAnally: So Evil Dead the musical is a musical with music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris, and George Reinblatt, with book and lyrics by George Reinblatt based on Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy. With the approval of both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, the show was first staged as a workshop in Toronto in August of 2003. The same team remounted the musical in Toronto that October for an additional three weeks. The show was presented in July 2004 at the 22nd Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, where it really, really did well, and so well that it moved to New York for an off-Broadway production that started previews on October 2nd, 2006, and the opening night was November 1st, 2006.

A little behind there for the Halloween folks, but who cares? It ran performing eight times a week at the New World stages until February 17th, 2007. It's a short run, but it was really effective and has a big cult audience and, as always, does very well in regional productions. The show was well-received, and Anita Gates from the New York Times hailed it as the next Rocky Horror. The plot of Evil Dead the musical is five college students go to an abandoned cabin in the woods and accidentally unleash an evil force that turns them all into demons. It's all up to Ash, a housewares employee, turned demon-killing hero, and his trusty chainsaw to save the day.

[4:25] Jesse McAnally: Now, I'm going to go in with the idea that all of us are fairly aware of the Evil Dead franchise.

[4:33] Allison Pregler: Fairly. I haven't seen the first one.

[4:35] Andrew DeWolf: What?!

[4:36] Allison Pregler: I've only seen two and, uh...

[4:38] Jesse McAnally: I mean, two is kind of the first one again, you know?

[4:41] Allison Pregler: Yeah, that's what I've heard. I haven't actually seen the first one, and Jess is like, oh, that's my favorite one, so...

[4:47] Jesse McAnally: It is my favorite one by, like, a lot.

[4:49] Allison Pregler: The first one's, like, more visceral. It's got more creamed corn in it, you know? And it's, like, more of, like... I can see the production nightmare behind making it, like, you can see the seams. And that's why it's, like, watching my friend's indie film less than the polish of Evil Dead 2. But, Allison, what's your history with the Evil Dead franchise?

[5:08] Allison Pregler: Oh, uh, Evil Dead 2 is my favorite movie, so I'm fairly well-versed in it.

[5:13] Jesse McAnally: If you had to pick a number of times you've seen it, what would it be?

[5:16] Allison Pregler: Oh, I don't know. I couldn't tell you.

[5:18] Andrew DeWolf: A lot.

[5:20] Allison Pregler: There was, like, a period I just kept watching it, like, before school.

[5:24] Jesse McAnally: Oh my god.

[5:25] Allison Pregler: My mom got so annoyed.

[5:27] Andrew DeWolf: That's a lot.

[5:29] Allison Pregler: Yeah.

[5:30] Jesse McAnally: Wait, wait, do you remember the first time, though?

[5:32] Allison Pregler: Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, so I got... So, watching horror stuff, I kind of eased into it, like, as a kid, because I was really scared. So, I was scared of, like, when animals attack. I would see those specials on TV, and I'd be like, oh, bears can come through my window and get me. So, like, the first R-rated movie I saw was, like, The Craft, you know? Baby's first horror type of thing, you know? But I saw Army of Darkness first, and I think that's the case with a lot of people, because that's the most marketable one. It was on TV a lot, and yeah. And one of my friends was big into horror movies. She just grew up on them, and so, I wanted to see the Evil Dead movies. So, I went, and she had them on DVD.

We watched the, like, Book of the Dead version, you know, that are, like, packaged with all the foam that falls apart. And, like, when you got them new, it just would stink up the room for days. We watched that, and she didn't have the second one. I wanted to see the second one, so we went to the rental store, got it, watched it that night. She didn't really want to watch it, though. So, I was watching it by myself.

[6:36] Andrew DeWolf: Who is this weird friend you have that's like, yeah, I'm game for Evil Dead 1, but, Evil Dead 2, I'm not game for it.

[6:41] Allison Pregler: I think she just wanted to rent something else, and I was like, no, Evil Dead 2, I need to see how this ends, you know? I need to see the middle of it.

[6:47] Jesse McAnally: Come on, Alice. Insider house rules.

[6:49] Allison Pregler: Yeah. I loved it, though. The first one really scared me at the time. I mean, now it's, like, you do see the seams in it, but there's something very visceral about it. The second one wasn't as scary, but it still has, like, scary stuff to it. It had, like, a good balance of the horror and the humor. This was, I don't know, maybe, like, I feel like I was older than 11, but under 15. Somewhere in there is when I first saw them.

[7:17] Jesse McAnally: I mean, so your ranking, I'm guessing, is 2, 1, 3?

[7:21] Allison Pregler: Yeah, yeah.

[7:22] Jesse McAnally: And how do you feel about the more recent ones? The Evil Dead Rise, the Evil Dead Burns, the Evil Dead 2013?

[7:27] Allison Pregler: Oh, they're all right. I mean, the vibe is different. They're well, not the most recent one, because I haven't seen it, but the one before that I thought was pretty well crafted. The 2013 remake, I didn't really like that much, but there's elements that are all right. But they do try to just go very, like, it makes you cringe at it. Like, not cringey, but, you know, like, they want to make you feel like, oh, that's painful, rather than, like, laugh so much. I really like the humor vibe of the originals. And I didn't, I don't know, they don't have that.

[8:03] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, they really have not leaned into the humor and kind of leaned into, like, we're just gonna try to make Evil Dead 1 again. And I like Evil Dead 1 as what it is. Do the wacky stuff.

[8:15] Allison Pregler: It's too serious.

[8:16] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, like, it's not trying to be that.

[8:18] Allison Pregler: Yeah. Although, I mean, I do think that the musical did a good job of honing in on what was funny about the first one, even kind of unintentionally.

[8:28] Jesse McAnally: I agree. I really appreciate. So for context, the Evil Dead the musical merges Evil Dead 1 and 2 into one coherent story. So it feels much more, it's very effective as far as a three act structure where I don't think either Evil Dead movies are really aiming to be a three act structure.

[8:47] Allison Pregler: Yeah, they made it into a cohesive thing. There's like a little bit of Army of Darkness in there, but you know, they kept it to the first two.

[8:54] Jesse McAnally: They reference it a lot.

[8:55] Allison Pregler: They do, yeah. And they've added stuff from that into it, such as the S-Mart backstory, which I don't believe was part of the first two, unless I'm forgetting something.

[9:02] Jesse McAnally: It may be in the first one. I don't think it's in the second one.

[9:04] Allison Pregler: No, I don't think they ever reference it until the third one.

[9:07] Jesse McAnally: No, I mean, the Grand Rapids, Michigan line is like one of those things I heard as a child before, like even knowing what Evil Dead was, the boomstick thing. Like so much of Evil Dead and the lore of Sam Raimi is like in the Michigan culture. So it is very interesting to have like those landmarks come up before even seeing this movie.

[9:33] Allison Pregler: I had seen the musical shortly after seeing the films, like for the first time, which is a shame on me, if I'm being really honest, because I saw them fairly late. And it was kind of my fiancee, then girlfriend, who was just like, let's watch these, like, let's just fill in all of our horror movie gaps. And she's like, Evil Dead's supposed to be funny. And then Evil Dead was not funny. It's Evil Dead 2, that is funny. But it really does stick with you.

[10:01] Jesse McAnally: I guess not the question is, why did you go see this? But where did you see this, Allison, the musical, I mean?

[10:06] Allison Pregler: Oh, it was in Phoenix.

[10:08] Jesse McAnally: So I was still living in Arizona at the time. I wasn't living in Phoenix at the time, but it was near enough that we went to go see a production of it. And I don't remember if it was exactly up to the standards of the one that we watched here. But I feel like this experience is pretty similar.

[10:22] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, it's representative, but in both the positives and the negatives.

[10:27] Allison Pregler: I saw this at like under a bar theater in downtown Detroit that no longer exists, rip in peace. It was the final production. And I'll be like, they market it like this is the final time we're doing this. We've been doing it for like years. Like, goodbye, we're destroying this theater because like of all the blood in it. Like, we just cannot put this on. So it was like a real goodbye kind of vibe. And the first time I saw it, it was just like, oh, no, is this going to be bad? Like the first I want to say 15, 20 minutes. I was like, oh, no, is this going to be really hard to watch? And then then the blood effects come in and the audience just reaction and the energy of the room just changes. And then you're just on for the ride so much that I literally got to go see it again. And I don't think any bootleg can really recreate an energy in the room like that.

[11:20] Allison Pregler: No, I really don't.

[11:21] Jesse McAnally: So I only got to see the bootleg because I'm lame and I live in a place where they don't do stuff like this. Um, but anyways, uh, I couldn't even tell when the blood effects happened. Like, I understand, like, where they would make sense to happen. But like, I couldn't see them like splattering the audience or anything. I was upset.

[11:39] Andrew DeWolf: I was hoping you could kind of see them leaning toward the splatter zone.

[11:42] Allison Pregler: They had a lot of bits where they would do that or where they were clearly, you know, going over the edge to like to get them in the audience.

[11:49] Jesse McAnally: I was hoping I could see like a splash or something.

[11:52] Allison Pregler: But it definitely helps to like kind of know the beats of the movies, too, because, you know, like he's supposed to get a face full of blood there, because otherwise, yeah, you probably don't can't see exactly what's happening.

[12:04] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, I will say this. The mentioning of the blood splatters did trigger a memory for me of a man being creepy toward women in the like while seeing this show where.

[12:16] Allison Pregler: Yeah.

[12:17] Jesse McAnally: In the front row of the non splatter zone, there was a very big burly man who had obviously been there before several times. And there's a moment in act two where the daughter character knows she's about to get splattered with blood and there's like tension about it. And then she kind of enjoys it like sexually. And he was just getting his phone ready for it and recording very like it's just like that is like I don't know. That's the problem with local theater is you can't keep the creeps out.

[12:48] Allison Pregler: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, obviously, there's a lot of sexual stuff to the play. And especially regarding the women. But it's like, I don't know. Sometimes people don't they don't know the difference between acting in a play and in the play. Actors can be in on the jokes and owning their sexuality and not be objectified by an audience member if they are. Fuck them. I'm never going to see them again.

[13:13] Jesse McAnally: And then that I don't know, I got big issues sometimes with recording local theater. I think bootlegs of professional theater. Good for society. Recording of nonprofessional theater. Icky and creepy.

[13:21] Allison Pregler: Yeah.

[13:25] Jesse McAnally: I mean, especially if he's just waiting for that one moment. He ought to know good.

[13:29] Allison Pregler: Yeah, yeah. He knew what he was doing.

[13:34] Jesse McAnally: I mean, there are some controversial elements of the Evil Dead movie, specifically Evil Dead 1. There is a pretty radical sexual assault scene that I really appreciate that this just kind of glances over mostly in the musical.

[13:48] Allison Pregler: Oh, there's no way that they would be go graphic with that in the play where the trees assault a character very graphically. And I think that was something that they sort of regretted.

[14:02] Jesse McAnally: That's where they lost a lot of people in the first movie.

[14:05] Allison Pregler: Is that the part where she goes out and then the trees like?

[14:09] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, yeah.

[14:11] Allison Pregler: It's implied, but I don't I mean, you also could. You don't see anything there, though. It's just yeah. You could even just gather she was beat up by the trees. You don't even have to like. I don't think they ever actually say in the play that it was an assault in that version. They do change some story elements, even like just for practical reasons. They can't dismember people because it's hard to pull off that effect. So it like they have some bits that they do like in the shadows or like behind the counter and stuff, but they have to change some of the deaths in the movie.

[14:40] Allison Pregler: Shelly, for instance, she's completely dismembered in the movie, but they just shoot her through a door because they can't dismember the actress. And I just love how kind of shitty the effects look. Like, they are doing the stage version of bad VFX on film, like just the head under a table kind of stuff, and another actor who doesn't even look like the previous actor acting as their body. That's true to the movie, though. Especially the first one. They had, I don't know how many Shellys just kept showing up because they'd have to get people just to double for her, to cover her in milk and stuff, and be like, I don't know, I guess it's Shelly, just put some demon makeup on her. It's the same character. And that part of it's really fun, though, you know?

[15:27] Jesse McAnally: Oh, yeah. That's part of the joy.

[15:30] Allison Pregler: And I'm impressed how they make Ash a more consistent character because he is basically the nerdy final girl in the original Evil Dead, and then he is Bruce Campbell incarnate in Evil Dead 2. I feel like they attempted to make sort of an arc with it in the play versus the movies, which just sort of, I don't know, they made him a little bit cooler starting with 2. I mean, he loses it through the course of the movie, but he starts out in this kind of like a little wiener boy, and then he starts getting snarkier as the play goes along because he's dealing with all this demon stuff until eventually he morphs into the Army of Darkness version of him. So, they tried to kind of have an arc there.

[16:14] Andrew DeWolf: It's still a bit abrupt, I think, in the musical. Like, there's like a point where you kind of realize, oh, he's like a badass now.

[16:23] Allison Pregler: It's like, how long has it been? Like two hours?

[16:25] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, I do like, they do keep making comments like, is this appropriate? Like, my fiance just got killed like 20 minutes ago, and then your girlfriend like 10 minutes before that. Oh, well, we can't grieve forever, make out.

[16:39] Allison Pregler: Well, that leads me to, because we're talking about this, it is not a one-to-one, like, adaptation. It is not, it is very much a parody of both Evil Dead 1 and 2 and a little bit of Army of Darkness. Is it funny on its own, I guess is the question, without the context of the Evil Dead films?

[16:56] Jesse McAnally: I mean, that's something to ask Andrew, right? He knows the least of us of the movies.

[17:00] Andrew DeWolf: I guess I think I still would even have too much context, having seen Army of Darkness and Evil Dead 2, so...

[17:06] Allison Pregler: I mean, did you find this funny? Like, was there parts that you found actually...

[17:10] Andrew DeWolf: I think it was mostly funny. I think I was looking at it and I was like, this seems like a very average show, but I could see how if you're in the audience getting splashed with blood, this would be really, really, really fun. But I'm like, as a bootleg, just watching it, it's like, the songs are kind of okay, the plot is kind of, you know, it's Evil Dead.

[17:34] Allison Pregler: See, that's the thing that I bumped on, is I was not a real big fan of the songs of this musical, even when watching it.

[17:39] Jesse McAnally: They're really the weak point, I would say. Like, if I had to pinpoint, like, what's weak about the show, the songs are kind of the, it's like, there's not really like a super standout number, I don't think.

[17:52] Allison Pregler: I like the songs, but there are some dated references in it. I think that's probably what makes some of them kind of weak, because they'll be like, it's funny if we mention The View. Is it funny that you mentioned The View? Like, Henry Winkler? Is that working? I don't know. There's quite a few references that were topical when the play was written, but they're dated in a different way, because the events of the movies have been updated to current 2007, but it's still 2007, so.

[18:25] Andrew DeWolf: We're going to reference Spider-Man 3.

[18:28] Allison Pregler: Spider-Man!

[18:29] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, Spider-Man. Although, I mean, I think that's still, like, kind of a funny, just because it's, obviously, it's Sam Raimi, but.

[18:37] Allison Pregler: I gotta say, like, I was looking in onto the writers a bit, and really, the only thing that, none of them have a Wikipedia page, and the only one that does, he's not done another musical except for a predictable holiday rom-com, the musical, which didn't seem to get much attention. And he's just been a staff writer for roasts. The roast of Justin Bieber, the roast of James Franco, the roast of Rob Lowe, and all those fire clubs thing. He's just, like, the main writer for insulting celebrities.

[19:08] Jesse McAnally: You know, it kind of makes sense, because there was quite a few celebrity digs in here. They did seem to fall back on balls jokes a lot, which feels very roast-like, you know?

[19:19] Allison Pregler: Cheryl's character, in particular, she had a lot of roasts in her.

[19:22] Jesse McAnally: It's an interesting start, though. You go from Evil Dead, the musical, to comedy roasts.

[19:28] Allison Pregler: And, apparently, he was a punch-up writer for everyone's favorite Italian film, Little Italy, starring Adam Eberts and Hayden Richardson.

[19:34] Andrew DeWolf: What? Okay.

[19:40] Allison Pregler: It's not oregano!

[19:43] Jesse McAnally: He must have—if there were more ball jokes in Little Italy than I remember, he probably added them.

[19:51] Allison Pregler: How the great have fallen. It's a very bro-y musical, which is not usually my go-to, but the stagecraft is much more what I'm impressed by than the writing. There are a few, like, standout songs for me, like ones I do actually return to, but most of it is just, like, we're building up to a swear. We're building up to a swear, guys.

[20:13] Andrew DeWolf: What the fuck was that? That was pretty good. It's a pretty good punchline song.

[20:20] Allison Pregler: Do the Necronomicon, the dance number. It's really funny, because, like, most productions of this don't have a band, because it's very difficult to have a band when you're splurting blood all over the audience. They gotta also have a lot of stuff, like, under and around the stage for a lot of the effects, where you couldn't hide a band. So, it's like, they mention, like, let's give a moment to mention the band, and everyone's just like, there's not a band here. Everyone's just very confused.

[20:47] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, they just had a guy, like a conductor, come out of the trap door, and I'm like, he's not part of the band. There's not a band there.

[20:55] Allison Pregler: I guess, is there another comparison musical that this could be like? This feels like a, people often throw Rocky Horror, but everyone compares anything that's, like, dark and slightly comedic to Rocky Horror. This feels like a musical of one. There's nothing to compare it to.

[21:12] Jesse McAnally: I mean, I guess it's a little Rocky Horror-esque in that they have, they, there's a little bit of audience participation. I mean, they're not, like, saying anything, but, like, I don't know, they got, like, the cult kind of thing. But, I don't know, Rocky Horror is very different, I think. It's really not the same.

[21:28] Allison Pregler: If anything, this is probably more comparable to, like, some of those parody musicals. Like, I haven't seen those, but, like, The Office, the musical, or something like that.

[21:37] Andrew DeWolf: Khan, the musical.

[21:39] Allison Pregler: Khan, the musical, that's a good one. Another very bro-y musical.

[21:45] Jesse McAnally: But, the thing is, like, I know we're biased, but I think Khan has significantly better songs than this one does.

[21:52] Andrew DeWolf: You're just, you're just blowing smoke up Brent's ass, that's okay.

[21:55] Jesse McAnally: Fuck Brent.

[21:58] Allison Pregler: I'm kidding. Um, I, yeah, I, I'm very curious as to how local productions put this on, especially, like, I've seen high schools put it on, and I, I'm not sure I'd, that wouldn't be what I'd recommend doing.

[22:15] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, I don't know about a high school. Like, there's so much, like, even just language, even if you didn't care about the violence, I don't know if high school, that's crazy to me.

[22:23] Allison Pregler: I'm curious how they do the, the set effects, because I, I don't know, I was mildly impressed with them getting the whole set to move. I'm sure it's very simple how they did that, but.

[22:31] Jesse McAnally: Just little sticks.

[22:32] Allison Pregler: I know, but it's like, it was fun.

[22:34] Jesse McAnally: That's what they did in the movie, just sticks and wires.

[22:37] Allison Pregler: They got the sock.

[22:37] Jesse McAnally: A bucket on a string, yeah.

[22:39] Allison Pregler: The sock puppet moose, or whatever.

[22:41] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, the moose is pretty good.

[22:44] Allison Pregler: I like trying to spot, um, which actors have been reused for what part, too. Because, you know, they have to cycle people through, you know, different characters, like, once they get killed off, or whatever, then they become, you know, someone else.

[22:56] Andrew DeWolf: Could you tell who the moose was?

[22:58] Allison Pregler: I don't know, um, Phelan was theorizing that it was the Scotty guy, but I don't know.

[23:04] Jesse McAnally: I'm not sure who was doing the moose. It had to be him or Ed, I feel, because the, uh, the guy who played Jake was, his voice is pretty distinctive. I don't know if he was the moose.

[23:13] Allison Pregler: Um, in the production I saw live, it was a very obvious pre-recorded, uh, voice.

[23:19] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, maybe that's what it is. Um, and it was a stagehand, uh, manipulating it, um, opposed to a proper actor doing it. Which, I don't know, I'm always, like, watching behind the scenes and seeing how people do things. Uh, I, the, in the blood formula I know for The Splatter, it is not, like, traditional film or stage blood. It is washable blood. It is this specific blend that is, like, meant to come out of clothing, so that all these actors can just throw their clothes in the wash and come back the next day and it'll look normal. And the audience is not going to get mad about you staining their clothes.

[23:57] Allison Pregler: I guess that makes sense. And I did not realize that existed, so, uh, for one of my film productions I actually reached out to one of the behind the scenes techs at our local Evil Dead to figure out that. And they just gave us a good jar of it to, like, use. So, yeah, it's very, it's very cool to, to put on.

[24:16] Jesse McAnally: I, there are concerns, like, not concerns, the, the creatives behind this were really hoping for a Broadway run. I think that's ridiculous to think this should have a Broadway run. I do think there was a surprising amount of acrobatics in this. There were some things that, that I think were, like, a little bit higher level than some parody things that I've seen. Although it is very comparable to something like that, because I've seen, you know, YouTube recordings of, of other parody type stuff. Um, that's in a similar vein, but I do feel like they put in an extraordinary, extraordinary amount of effort into some of this.

[24:52] Allison Pregler: Um, a lot of the, like, choreography, like, people are, like, jumping around doing flips. And I just feel like that's a lot for probably the local productions did not emulate that exactly.

[25:05] Jesse McAnally: I will say the gentleman I saw locally, um, he said, he said it destroyed his body, but watching him do the, the flip of himself with his hand.

[25:15] Andrew DeWolf: Oh, man.

[25:17] Jesse McAnally: You think, like, that's how they cast ashes if they can do the Bruce Campbell self flip?

[25:23] Allison Pregler: I maybe because he doesn't really need to sing too much. Like the, the, what is it? I'm not a killer is probably the most like he has to use his vocal prowess in the entire show. I don't think there's any, like, particularly difficult vocal parts in this show, if I remember correctly.

[25:40] Andrew DeWolf: Because you got these high, it was written by high school or not high school, college students that were just like, what can we say?

[25:47] Allison Pregler: Yeah, it makes sense that college students wrote it for sure. The bro we feel. And one of the big things that they did in their original Toronto production, Alison, I think, yeah, you're probably old enough to remember this. Um, and you, you might have been in Phoenix, so it might not affect you. There was a massive blackout in 2003 that hit most of the Northwest, um, area where basically for because of solar flares or something, a good chunk of the country had no power, including New York, which meant like these kids that were trying to put on this show had nothing. So they just acoustically performed it in front of audiences outside of the theater. And it still works. And honestly, what I wouldn't give to see that kind of version of the production in that desperation.

[26:30] Jesse McAnally: We didn't have iPhones to look at in 2003. We just wandered the streets and hope for a fun thing.

[26:36] Allison Pregler: That's, that's really cool. I feel like I've seen some, uh, Conan O'Brien bits from them trying to film during the blackout. Um, it, it feels like sort of a similar thing to like, uh, COVID era television, like how creative do people have to get with these circumstances? And like, they may not even be the best product, but they're endlessly fascinating.

[27:04] Jesse McAnally: It just felt interesting to me as a internet creator that these big budget people like are now at our level are like, and doing it worse. How are you doing? You have all these resources, Conan O'Brien or Stephen Colbert. How are you doing like these video calls so much worse than us?

[27:16] Andrew DeWolf: Oh, the COVID era stuff.

[27:17] Jesse McAnally: Yeah. Jimmy Fallon at his house, you know, like just no effort.

[27:24] Allison Pregler: And Pete, those went on television. It's really like humbling, isn't it?

[27:30] Jesse McAnally: Oh, that, that time was so, so fascinating.

[27:34] Allison Pregler: It is weird to think about it in the past, because in the moment, it felt like it was going to be forever.

[27:40] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[27:41] Jesse McAnally: Yeah. I mean, like, you know, the pandemic still happening really, but I mean, that, that era of, you know, there was no vaccine and all of that is one of the most surreal things not to go on to another musical, but briefly when they did the Grinch musical live, that was the big return to live TV. And by the way, if you haven't covered that yet, have me on.

[28:01] Allison Pregler: I think we covered it live when it happened.

[28:04] Jesse McAnally: But are you covering when it happened?

[28:05] Allison Pregler: We could, we could do an episode.

[28:07] Jesse McAnally: I'm sure.

[28:08] Allison Pregler: Oh, we could do the real musical, like, because that's actually quality.

[28:11] Jesse McAnally: Matthew Morrison just ruined it.

[28:13] Allison Pregler: Oh, but it's the Matthew Morrison one I adore because it sucks.

[28:17] Jesse McAnally: We have to talk about that.

[28:19] Allison Pregler: I do remember it being fucking awful, though.

[28:21] Jesse McAnally: It was, it was so bad. And it was like, that was such a surreal time because it was, you know, there was no vaccine yet. So this was really deepened into the bad part of the pandemic. And like, you're sitting there like, I just want to interact with people again. And you're watching stupid, stupid, sexy fart Grinch or whatever they were doing with that.

[28:41] Andrew DeWolf: What is going on?

[28:42] Allison Pregler: Stupid, sexy fart Grinch is my drag name.

[28:46] Jesse McAnally: And on that note, let's go into a mid show.

[29:22] Unknown speaker: Humans, we've come for your freaky floats.

[29:26] Unknown speaker: What's the magic word?

[29:27] Unknown speaker: Well, blast your puny planet to smithereens.

[29:29] Unknown speaker: It was trick-or-treat.

[29:30] Unknown speaker: I was going to say that next.

[29:33] Unknown speaker: Haunted Vanilla, this will please the alien federation.

[29:35] Unknown speaker: The Simpsons are back, Haunting Burger King.

[29:38] Unknown speaker: Now, in every big kid's meal, you can get a Simpsons creepy classic.

[29:42] Unknown speaker: Each has a kooky, spooky scream.

[29:44] Unknown speaker: You can collect all ten, if you dare.

[29:49] Unknown speaker: Floats sell separately.

[29:52] Unknown speaker: This Halloween, take a wild ride to the frightfully funny side with the biggest Halloween adventure ever.

[29:57] Unknown speaker: Scary Godmother Halloween Spooktacular.

[30:00] Unknown speaker: It's a spooktacular journey to a whole new world of kooky monsters, silly skeletons, and hilarious fun.

[30:06] Unknown speaker: Join Hannah on Halloween night as she is whisked away by her scary godmother to the best Halloween party ever.

[30:12] Unknown speaker: Scary Godmother Halloween Spooktacular is loads of fun for the whole family.

[30:17] Unknown speaker: Available on DVD and VHS September 14.

[30:21] Unknown speaker: February 14.

[30:38] Andrew DeWolf: F***king I forgot about, I blocked that Grinch out.

[30:45] Andrew DeWolf: He said he social distanced before it was cool.

[30:49] Unknown speaker: Where everyone was laughing.

[30:57] Unknown speaker: That version is, yeah.

[31:12] Unknown speaker: What? Jesus f***ing Christ, did he actually?

[31:16] Unknown speaker: What in the world is going on?

[31:19] Unknown speaker: Oh, my God.

[31:21] Unknown speaker: I wouldn't lie to you guys, because I remember it being.

[31:25] Unknown speaker: And I just remember because we live streamed it as it happened.

[31:28] Unknown speaker: And I just remember I got so drunk because we all were.

[31:34] Unknown speaker: By the end, I was just simping over like the mom.

[31:38] Unknown speaker: I remember that. I remember that.

[31:40] Unknown speaker: You were like, you were like, oh, my gosh, she's the best part of this.

[31:43] Unknown speaker: I just love her.

[31:45] Unknown speaker: They gave her a song and she was actually singing well.

[31:48] Unknown speaker: And I was like, let's just keep her on screen.

[31:52] Unknown speaker: Oh, my God. All right.

[31:54] Jesse McAnally: Hey, guys.

[31:55] Jesse McAnally: Sorry to interrupt the show, but we've got to show it to you.

[31:58] Jesse McAnally: Today's show is brought to you by the extremely kind donations by our donors over at Patreon, which Alison wants to spit on you guys and tell you you're bad.

[32:04] Alison Pregler: If I remember the opening of this episode.

[32:05] Jesse McAnally: Can we splice that in right here?

[32:11] Alison Pregler: You could just say it again if you want.

[32:13] Alison Pregler: That's fine, too.

[32:14] Alison Pregler: I don't know. I think I did a good performance then.

[32:16] Alison Pregler: But I just want to say they need to be taken down a peg.

[32:19] Jesse McAnally: Frankly, I agree.

[32:20] Jesse McAnally: They're acting entitled.

[32:21] Jesse McAnally: And you know what?

[32:23] Jesse McAnally: They're bad.

[32:27] Jesse McAnally: And they're so bad.

[32:31] Alison Pregler: Who's evil now?

[32:33] Alison Pregler: If you want to join them and be bad boys and girls and these.

[32:39] Jesse McAnally: What kind of promotion is this?

[32:41] Jesse McAnally: Does this work?

[32:44] Jesse McAnally: I'm trying a new new style.

[32:46] Jesse McAnally: New approach.

[32:47] Jesse McAnally: New approach.

[32:48] Jesse McAnally: And you can see Alison's face right now, which you are only seeing on Patreon.

[32:52] Alison Pregler: Oh, Patreon is going to be dead by dawn.

[32:54] Alison Pregler: I'll tell you what.

[32:57] Jesse McAnally: Oh, my gosh.

[32:58] Jesse McAnally: Those my little pony statuettes next to you.

[33:01] Jesse McAnally: They're coming alive.

[33:02] Alison Pregler: I wonder.

[33:03] Alison Pregler: Oh, my God.

[33:04] Alison Pregler: Why didn't that just be the thing?

[33:06] Alison Pregler: Like you open the book of the dead and all your fucking my little ponies kill you.

[33:12] Unknown speaker: They're laughing like the moose.

[33:14] Unknown speaker: I think it probably fit.

[33:18] Jesse McAnally: Our current patrons are Layton A.

[33:20] Jesse McAnally: Ewan Cassidy.

[33:21] Jesse McAnally: Monica Thoreau.

[33:22] Jesse McAnally: Brent Black.

[33:23] Jesse McAnally: Jon Van Alls.

[33:24] Jesse McAnally: Russ Walker.

[33:25] Jesse McAnally: Mieskel Helge.

[33:26] Jesse McAnally: NAC.

[33:27] Jesse McAnally: Nothing is certain except bath and taxes.

[33:28] Jesse McAnally: That is being who writes us very nice, long emails about our things.

[33:32] Jesse McAnally: And I always appreciate them.

[33:33] Jesse McAnally: I hope she keeps writing them.

[33:35] Jesse McAnally: Roof Geese.

[33:36] Jesse McAnally: E.G.

[33:37] Jesse McAnally: Francis.

[33:38] Jesse McAnally: Chris Marcote.

[33:39] Jesse McAnally: Kiji Marie Anastasio.

[33:40] Jesse McAnally: R.J.

[33:41] Jesse McAnally: Noriega.

[33:42] Jesse McAnally: Joe.

[33:43] Jesse McAnally: Toriana Frazier.

[33:44] Jesse McAnally: Sammy.

[33:45] Jesse McAnally: The Adequate Mount Jacobson.

[33:46] Jesse McAnally: Villainous Miss.

[33:47] Jesse McAnally: The Omega Geek.

[33:48] Jesse McAnally: Maddie Warkell, who was particularly excited that you were coming back today, Allison.

[33:51] Jesse McAnally: She was like really geeking out in our discord.

[33:53] Jesse McAnally: So that was great.

[33:55] Jesse McAnally: Elisa Erdman.

[33:56] Jesse McAnally: Rora Marasso.

[33:57] Jesse McAnally: Mara.

[33:58] Jesse McAnally: Puffy.

[33:59] Jesse McAnally: Boy.

[34:00] Jesse McAnally: Anna B.

[34:01] Jesse McAnally: Goldplay to Kiki Mora.

[34:02] Jesse McAnally: Aria Ardy.

[34:03] Jesse McAnally: Carl Baldasso.

[34:04] Jesse McAnally: J.

[34:05] Jesse McAnally: Harold Studios.

[34:06] Jesse McAnally: Fliberty Jigot.

[34:07] Jesse McAnally: Kayla Bailey.

[34:08] Jesse McAnally: Davin Willis.

[34:09] Jesse McAnally: Sophia Hurtado.

[34:10] Jesse McAnally: Jessica Pants Pants.

[34:11] Jesse McAnally: Casey Denning.

[34:12] Jesse McAnally: Liz Montemurro.

[34:13] Jesse McAnally: And Jose Gonzalez.

[34:14] Jesse McAnally: They all give us a little extra financial support that helps us keep the lights on here at Musicals with Cheese.

[34:17] Jesse McAnally: And if you'd like to join them, get all those fun perks and a bunch more, come join us over at Patreon.

[34:23] Jesse McAnally: And Allison, just one more.

[34:25] Jesse McAnally: They're being bad.

[34:26] Alison Pregler: They're being bad, right?

[34:28] Alison Pregler: They're being so bad.

[34:29] Alison Pregler: Need to be punished.

[34:31] Jesse McAnally: Yep.

[34:32] Jesse McAnally: If that's not enough, come join us there.

[34:35] Jesse McAnally: All right, let's get back to the show.

[34:54] Unknown speaker: And now back to the Fox Halloween bash.

[34:57] Bruce Campbell: Hi, folks. I'm Bruce Campbell from the Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. Don't go away, because there's two full hours of Simpsons coming up.

[35:03] Unknown speaker: Universal Studios Florida.

[35:04] Unknown speaker: You don't mind if I jump in here?

[35:05] Unknown speaker: No, no, please.

[35:06] Unknown speaker: Jump right in.

[35:07] Unknown speaker: And then jump right out.

[35:08] Unknown speaker: Oh!

[35:21] Unknown speaker: Peanut butter crunch!

[35:25] Unknown speaker: We're after a peanut butter crunch.

[35:31] Unknown speaker: Horrifying, isn't it?

[35:33] Unknown speaker: One taste of my peanut butter crunch, and you always come back for more.

[35:37] Unknown speaker: It's the only peanut butter cereal, and it's part of a balanced breakfast.

[35:40] Unknown speaker: It's to die for.

[35:45] Unknown speaker: It's the crunch that screams peanut butter.

[35:48] Unknown speaker: Scared, silly?

[35:49] Unknown speaker: Starring Ronald McDonald and the Chicken McNuggets.

[35:53] Unknown speaker: Ramos, nice to see you in this mess of the woods.

[35:56] Unknown speaker: Come on.

[35:57] Unknown speaker: What are you making?

[35:58] Unknown speaker: We're stirring up secret sauces for dipping.

[36:02] Unknown speaker: We're very good.

[36:03] Unknown speaker: Let's make sauce.

[36:05] Unknown speaker: Oh, well, at least I got my hair done.

[36:08] Unknown speaker: I have an idea.

[36:09] Unknown speaker: Whoop-de-doo.

[36:10] Unknown speaker: McDonald's sauces.

[36:11] Unknown speaker: You can always count on them to be terrific.

[36:14] Unknown speaker: It's a good time for the great taste of McDonald's.

[36:34] Jesse McAnally: Now, it's time for everyone's favorite part of the show, where Allison and Andrew must go head-to-head to guess whether these real-life Letterboxd reviews are one-star or five-star.

[36:40] Jesse McAnally: It's time for Previews.

[36:49] Jesse McAnally: It's time for Previews.

[36:51] Jesse McAnally: Previews.

[36:52] Jesse McAnally: Previews.

[36:53] Jesse McAnally: It's time for Previews.

[36:56] Jesse McAnally: All right.

[36:57] Jesse McAnally: All right.

[36:58] Jesse McAnally: Andrew, I'm going to let you go first so that Allison kind of knows what this game is going to be like.

[37:01] Andrew DeWolf: Sure, sure.

[37:04] Andrew DeWolf: All right. Ash, WTF is your haircut in this?

[37:09] Andrew DeWolf: It's an interesting one.

[37:11] Andrew DeWolf: I don't remember his haircut being that interesting, but we're going to give that a one.

[37:17] Andrew DeWolf: We're going to give that a one.

[37:18] Jesse McAnally: You were incorrect.

[37:20] Jesse McAnally: That was a five.

[37:22] Andrew DeWolf: What?

[37:23] Andrew DeWolf: And his hair is really wacky in Evil Dead 1.

[37:26] Jesse McAnally: This is specifically reviews for Evil Dead 1?

[37:28] Jesse McAnally: No, this is a review for any film in that franchise.

[37:32] Andrew DeWolf: Oh, okay.

[37:33] Andrew DeWolf: I would have guessed it was the first one for sure.

[37:36] Andrew DeWolf: I didn't realize it.

[37:37] Andrew DeWolf: I wouldn't have thought that his hair looked weird.

[37:39] Unknown speaker: Yeah, I mean.

[37:40] Unknown speaker: His hair was pretty stupid.

[37:42] Jesse McAnally: Well, now it's your turn, Allison.

[37:45] Alison Pregler: All right.

[37:46] Alison Pregler: This is tough because Letterboxd, they got the zingers.

[37:49] Jesse McAnally: They do.

[37:50] Alison Pregler: They do.

[37:51] Alison Pregler: The real Evil Dead was that unibrow.

[37:54] Jesse McAnally: Would we do another five star right now?

[37:56] Alison Pregler: I'm just going to say five star.

[37:58] Jesse McAnally: That was a one.

[38:01] Alison Pregler: Dang.

[38:02] Alison Pregler: Dang.

[38:03] Jesse McAnally: All right.

[38:04] Jesse McAnally: All right.

[38:05] Andrew DeWolf: Yucky, all in lowercase.

[38:09] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, if this is referring to any of them and is being serious, it's clearly a one because, I mean, fuck.

[38:16] Andrew DeWolf: I got to say it's probably tongue in cheek, right?

[38:19] Andrew DeWolf: Like five?

[38:20] Jesse McAnally: That is correct.

[38:22] Andrew DeWolf: Okay.

[38:23] Jesse McAnally: What movie was that for?

[38:25] Andrew DeWolf: That was for Evil Dead 2013.

[38:27] Jesse McAnally: Oh, really?

[38:28] Jesse McAnally: I wouldn't have guessed that.

[38:29] Jesse McAnally: Any, any in the franchise.

[38:30] Andrew DeWolf: Okay.

[38:31] Jesse McAnally: All right, Allison.

[38:34] Alison Pregler: Like going on a really bad ghost train.

[38:36] Jesse McAnally: I'm going to say one.

[38:38] Jesse McAnally: That is correct.

[38:39] Alison Pregler: Only, and I had no idea what a really bad ghost train was.

[38:42] Alison Pregler: Like, like one of those like little rides where they, the ghosts pop out at you.

[38:46] Jesse McAnally: That?

[38:47] Alison Pregler: Maybe.

[38:48] Alison Pregler: Like, see, now that, that makes more sense.

[38:50] Alison Pregler: I think those are called ghost trains sometimes.

[38:52] Jesse McAnally: Yeah.

[39:00] Jesse McAnally: Which one was that for?

[39:09] Alison Pregler: That one, I think is for Evil Dead 2.

[39:11] Jesse McAnally: Evil Dead 2 is the bad ghost train?

[39:14] Alison Pregler: You know what?

[39:15] Alison Pregler: I can see it.

[39:16] Alison Pregler: There is just like a bunch of spooks that come out occasionally just to like, woo, and then disappear.

[39:22] Jesse McAnally: They do kind of do the jump at the camera sometimes.

[39:24] Jesse McAnally: The wacky Sam Raimi lens.

[39:27] Jesse McAnally: We're a tied game.

[39:29] Jesse McAnally: So this is the last thing.

[39:30] Jesse McAnally: It's either going to be a win or a lose.

[39:32] Jesse McAnally: Andrew.

[39:33] Andrew DeWolf: Okay.

[39:34] Andrew DeWolf: Get back to that cabin in the woods to watch.

[39:36] Jesse McAnally: The hell does that even mean?

[39:38] Andrew DeWolf: I don't know.

[39:39] Andrew DeWolf: That's Letterboxd.

[39:40] Andrew DeWolf: Get back in that cabin to woods to watch.

[39:43] Andrew DeWolf: That's perplexing.

[39:45] Andrew DeWolf: I can't even decipher that.

[39:47] Jesse McAnally: We'll go, we'll go five.

[39:50] Jesse McAnally: We'll go five.

[39:51] Jesse McAnally: All or nothing here.

[39:52] Jesse McAnally: Andrew.

[39:53] Jesse McAnally: Andrew.

[39:54] Jesse McAnally: That was a one.

[39:55] Andrew DeWolf: I should have known.

[39:57] Andrew DeWolf: I should have known.

[39:58] Alison Pregler: What?

[39:59] Alison Pregler: That seems to imply that they want to watch the movie again though, right?

[40:03] Jesse McAnally: Confusing.

[40:04] Jesse McAnally: I am equally confused.

[40:06] Jesse McAnally: I gotta read this one.

[40:07] Jesse McAnally: I would have guessed the same as you, Andrew.

[40:09] Jesse McAnally: Get back to that cabin in the woods to watch.

[40:11] Jesse McAnally: Did I misconstrue any word in that?

[40:14] Andrew DeWolf: That's completely correct.

[40:15] Andrew DeWolf: That's what it says.

[40:21] Jesse McAnally: Allison, we're tied.

[40:23] Jesse McAnally: You could either win this or tie.

[40:25] Alison Pregler: Okay.

[40:26] Alison Pregler: Don't do drugs.

[40:28] Alison Pregler: Like, dare.

[40:29] Alison Pregler: Don't do drugs.

[40:30] Alison Pregler: I'm going to say five stars.

[40:31] Jesse McAnally: That is correct.

[40:32] Jesse McAnally: And Allison, you have won previews today.

[40:35] Alison Pregler: Woo!

[40:36] Alison Pregler: Congratulations.

[40:37] Alison Pregler: Though I gotta say, I think I got the hardest one, but.

[40:40] Jesse McAnally: You did get a hard one.

[40:43] Jesse McAnally: That seemed like a trick question, honestly.

[40:45] Alison Pregler: All of these are kind of trick questions.

[40:48] Jesse McAnally: Yeah.

[40:49] Jesse McAnally: I guess they're all meant to deceive.

[40:53] Jesse McAnally: As our recurring guest Bigby says, I read them like an asshole.

[41:01] Jesse McAnally: So I guess it makes it harder.

[41:03] Jesse McAnally: Let's talk about some of the songs.

[41:06] Alison Pregler: Cabin in the Woods, as an opening number, makes this feel a lot kitschier than it ends up being.

[41:23] Alison Pregler: Cabin in the Woods, yeah!

[41:27] Alison Pregler: We're five college students on our way to an old abandoned cabin in the woods.

[41:33] Alison Pregler: Oh, yeah!

[41:34] Alison Pregler: Yeah, it definitely has that, like, the parody musical type vibe to it.

[41:38] Alison Pregler: Especially because they're, you know, driving across the fake backdrop with all the, like, rainbows and little animals and stuff.

[41:45] Alison Pregler: But I do think it's a funny intro.

[41:47] Alison Pregler: And I think, I guess, going back to what you were saying earlier, is this funny or do you have to know the movies to laugh at it?

[41:55] Jesse McAnally: I think it is funny on its own, but I think it's more rewarding if you know the movies.

[41:59] Jesse McAnally: Because a lot of these jokes that they're making are direct references to things in the movies.

[42:05] Jesse McAnally: You know, just emphasizing, like, look at this bridge!

[42:08] Jesse McAnally: This is the only way in and out!

[42:10] Jesse McAnally: Hope nothing bad happens to this bridge!

[42:12] Alison Pregler: But now, like, I feel like this is such a remnant of when the internet was so much smaller.

[42:17] Alison Pregler: And these jokes are made, like, so much now that they kind of feel trite.

[42:23] Jesse McAnally: Sure.

[42:24] Jesse McAnally: I worry that it has an age...

[42:26] Jesse McAnally: Like, now that we have that Joss Whedon Cabin in the Woods movie, like, that is making fun of all these tropes, are we too savvy now?

[42:34] Alison Pregler: It does feel like just a parody, not of Evil Dead, but just the whole genre.

[42:39] Alison Pregler: It's like, oh, the college kids going in the woods.

[42:42] Alison Pregler: Nothing bad will happen there.

[42:43] Alison Pregler: I wonder if it did feel more specific in 2007 or earlier?

[42:48] Jesse McAnally: The Year of Our Lord, 2007.

[42:50] Jesse McAnally: What were you doing then?

[42:51] Alison Pregler: Fuck, if I can remember.

[42:53] Alison Pregler: 2007, so that was nearly 20 years ago.

[42:57] Jesse McAnally: Don't like that.

[42:58] Alison Pregler: Take that in.

[42:59] Jesse McAnally: Don't like that at all.

[43:00] Alison Pregler: So, I was 17.

[43:03] Alison Pregler: I was in high school.

[43:04] Alison Pregler: That's what I was doing.

[43:06] Jesse McAnally: Okay.

[43:07] Jesse McAnally: Fuck, I was like 10.

[43:08] Alison Pregler: You and I were like 11, 12.

[43:11] Andrew DeWolf: I was watching Transformers, 2007, and Surf's Up.

[43:15] Alison Pregler: Surf's Up, yo!

[43:17] Alison Pregler: Surf's Up!

[43:18] Andrew DeWolf: Seen that.

[43:19] Alison Pregler: Never seen that.

[43:21] Alison Pregler: Surf's Up has actually done more for cinema than a lot of films.

[43:25] Alison Pregler: The tools developed to make Surf's Up are actually very important and still in use in things like the 2019 Lion King, where they basically made sensors on cameras to integrate camera movement into animated landscapes.

[43:41] Andrew DeWolf: I don't know.

[43:42] Andrew DeWolf: Surf's Up is a deceptively important film, unlike Evil Dead the Musical.

[43:46] Jesse McAnally: I love that.

[43:48] Jesse McAnally: Which is what I guess we're talking about today.

[43:52] Alison Pregler: Look Who's Evil Now could be the moment that the musical kind of turns on, in my opinion.

[43:58] Alison Pregler: Now I'll ask you a question!

[44:00] Alison Pregler: Not where or why or how!

[44:02] Andrew DeWolf: Well, that's when the demons show up and you start getting into the real like meat of the story. Yes. And the cheesiness of the songs are now juxtaposed against like the darkness of the things going on. Where the first couple songs are just kind of like, fun songs in a fun environment. And now here's like, the tension's real, but we're gonna have some goofs now.

[44:48] Alison Pregler: Yeah, well, they were setting up, you know, all the stuff prior to that. It's like, here's a bunch of wieners you'll want bad stuff to happen to. And then the bad stuff starts happening. Yeah. And I guess that's always kind of my, even when I watched the first Evil Dead is like the struggle is like the camping, the setting up of the necklace, the weird close ups of Bruce Campbell and that girl's eyes. Yeah. Oh, it's awkward. Drinking moonshine in the car that was real moonshine. The history of that movie is crazy. But um, but it is funny. They do make fun of the specific things that happen in the movie setting up these college students. Because the dialogue is really bad. The interactions are really awkward and stupid. So like Scotty says the stupid bitch line constantly. That's a real line from the first movie, Andrew, in case you don't know. He laughs and goes like, what a stupid bitch. He's like, over and over again, or just like one?

[45:39] Andrew DeWolf: Well, no, they turned it into a running gag. He I think he just says it once that when an animal was that what a stupid bitch is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's like completely like out of pocket when he says the stupid bitch line. But I think they really honed in on on making that his character in this because he really doesn't have much of a character in the movie. You get that he's kind of an asshole, but they don't really develop anyone that much in the first Evil Dead. So they really like decided that he was going to be this bro character. And I think with all of them, they they picked something to kind of go with that maybe wasn't even necessarily in the movies, but something you could gather would be that type of character.

[46:20] Alison Pregler: In Evil Dead one, do the characters all die like instantly when the demons come out or?

[46:25] Andrew DeWolf: No, in the same pace. Yeah, it's more of an Evil Dead two thing. It's more of the pace of this musical how they die. Okay, Evil Dead two, it's like comical that everyone except Ash is just dead instantly. They spend so much of Evil Dead two with him just by himself. Yeah, but Evil Dead one does like spend a lot of time with these college characters and then setting up that these bad things start happening to them. And there's there's somewhat attempts at character interactions and romance stuff, and they're very clumsy. But, you know, I mean, the second one just went right to it. I kind of love those parts. Like once again, the student film aspect of Evil Dead, the first Evil Dead is really fun for me. Like, especially I love that they took that crummy kind of student film type thing and made something out of it in the musical. That's what I enjoyed that like they they took this kind of crummy basis and like, how do we create a story out of this?

[47:17] Alison Pregler: I agree. I think that is really the biggest miracle with this musical is the actual full structure they have built out of this. They even like deleted some characters to make it less redundant. They have a joke about it in about Bobby Joe, like she would have been redundant because the tree thing they do a similar tree thing with her in the second one. So there's really no point in also having that character in this story that melds the two movies. They don't do Henrietta in the in the cellar because they decide to make it Cheryl's character.

[47:51] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, I mean, it's one of those things that you don't think about when you're actively watching it because it kind of blends together so much and you kind of half remember the movie and you half remember the main things. I'm probably not you, though, and you probably have the movie inscribed in behind your eyebrows when you close your eyes.

[48:04] Alison Pregler: I've watched them so many times, but it's been some years since I watched them now. But yeah, there's a lot of parts I do remember vividly. And it's interesting to see how they they altered or condensed them to make. It's really, honestly, very easy to make one single story out of Evil Dead one and two, because even though they Evil Dead to sort of remade the first one at the beginning, just so they could condense the story and like summarize what was happening. It really is a continuation of it. And he's just in the woods continuing to endure things with these Kent area demons. So it's really one of the easiest stories for them to to make into one thing. And I'm sure you know this, like the reason why they had to do Evil Dead two that way it was because they did not have the rights to any footage from the first Evil Dead.

[48:49] Andrew DeWolf: And yeah, so they were like, fine, we'll just remake it.

[48:53] Alison Pregler: Yeah, well, they didn't have the rights. And they at one point, I think they were going to like they were making casts for like a Scotty and stuff. And they were going to do more of a like summary of what they were doing. And then they just decided to like, remake it at the beginning. But I think it was still intended to be a continuation. But a lot of people just assumed it was just a remake of the first movie. But I mean, if you just chop off the beginning, it really is just a continuation anyway.

[49:20] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, the demon shaved his unibrow in between coming to get him.

[49:27] Alison Pregler: Yeah, all of a sudden, he got like more muscle and he less of a wiener. Yeah, much more of this weird kind of douchebag energy. Last song I really want to talk about is Save the fucking day, which is the end song. Because it was not always there. It was a very late addition to this musical. Because when they did the off off Broadway, the Toronto version, it just ended the way Evil Dead 2 ends, which is like, you know, he's back in-

[49:57] Andrew DeWolf: Are you talking about blow that bitch away?

[49:59] Alison Pregler: Yeah, sorry, blow that bitch away. Yes.

[50:01] Andrew DeWolf: I was like, what song are you talking about?

[50:03] Alison Pregler: So sorry. Yes, blow that bitch away, which was the new newly added song that they put in, because they just didn't know how to end it. So they added all that SMART stuff and put all those pieces in. And they were inspired by the musical Hairspray, because they really liked You Can't Stop the Beat being a brand new song that just pops in at the end and won't stop and leaves everyone on a feeling good note. So that was their attempt to do that. And I think it's really effective as far as all that goes. And during that scene, in my production, there are buckets, large giant buckets of blood that dump onto the audience with every shotgun blast.

[50:43] Andrew DeWolf: That's amazing.

[50:45] Alison Pregler: And like, if you were not like really soaked with blood or you're like drying off, because it's been a minute since we had a pretty big blood splatter, you are fully drenched during the bows.

[50:57] Andrew DeWolf: That's how you got to end it. It's a big finish.

[51:00] Alison Pregler: So I was a little confused. Does that take place after Army of Darkness?

[51:05] Andrew DeWolf: Yes, they just skip over it.

[51:06] Alison Pregler: He mentions two. He mentions traveling in time and saying that that was another story, which is they're kind of doing the ending of Army of Darkness because he goes, well, the redone ending of Army of Darkness, they had a they had a more downer ending and then they redid it with this. But yeah, they do basically the same thing or a woman is possessed at Esmart while he's bragging and then he shoots her.

[51:29] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. Do you like that new ending or do you prefer the one where he accidentally sleeps too long?

[51:33] Alison Pregler: I like the redone ending. I don't want a bummer ending.

[51:37] Andrew DeWolf: I don't know. Evil Dead 2 has a pretty bummer ending.

[51:40] Alison Pregler: Yeah, but, you know, it's going into Army of Darkness and eventually it all works out. I don't know how Ash vs. Evil Dead ended, though. Was that a bummer ending? I didn't finish it.

[51:48] Andrew DeWolf: I only seen the pilot and I was like, that's enough. You know what? That was good enough, but I will walk away from that. Not that it was bad.

[51:56] Alison Pregler: See, Ash vs. Evil Dead was broey in a way that bothered me that like the musical doesn't. I mean, it's very of its time and there's some lines that I'm like, yeah, right. But there is a lot of stuff that makes me laugh in this play that's pretty funny. But like, I think the Ash vs. Evil Dead leaned too much into the broey elements that were not really part of the other movies. And it was just gross and mean spirited a lot of the time and like not in a fun way. And the marketing campaigns, too, were just all over the place. It was like those really cringy like they would give out condoms to people with like promotional condoms or like there was a Tumblr for Ash vs. Evil Dead where they would do a bunch of like, you know, he's checking out the hot chicks, Photoshop's and stuff. And like, look, we're with the kids and the memes. He's watching women play volleyball. Happy summer. God, Ash for president. Oh, shut up.

[52:53] Andrew DeWolf: I'm so glad I was not involved in any of that. Like that is that sounds terrible.

[52:58] Alison Pregler: It's kind of funny, like to make fun of to laugh at. But I didn't finish the show. I heard the last season got better, but I was like, I'm good. Evil Dead 2 is my favorite movie. And I'm like, I don't need to finish this. I'm grateful that Evil Dead is kind of move beyond just Ash, you know, for the better. I'm glad that people like the new movies. It's not necessarily the, you know, my favorite thing, but I think they're pretty well crafted. I'm glad that people are enjoying that iteration of it and that they're, you know, I think they're better than the show.

[53:27] Andrew DeWolf: So fair enough. And on that note, what is our overall thoughts on Evil Dead, the musical and our cheese ratings? Andrew, why don't you start us off?

[53:37] Andrew DeWolf: Sure. I think seeing it as just the bootleg like I did, I kind of missed out on a lot of what would make the show actually good. So I think for me, I got to say it's kind of average. But I feel as though if I got to see it in person, I probably would have really liked it. It just seems like the type of thing where it's like, you know, it's a spectacle. It's less of like a work of like, oh, you're going to contemplate the songs. And it's just it's like, no, no, you're just you're going to get covered in blood and they're going to like spray blood everywhere. And like, you're going to see shit that's fun. And you don't really get that on a screen. It's not the same. So I'll keep an eye out. Maybe I'll get to see it eventually. As far as the cheese rating, I'm going to give it a Campbell's condensed cheddar cheese soup because, you know, why not?

[54:29] Alison Pregler: OK, Andrew, Andrew Warhol there. Alison, what about you?

[54:34] Alison Pregler: Remind me again. So we're just rating this just what type of cheese?

[54:38] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, there's no you can justify it however you want. There's no rubric.

[54:43] Alison Pregler: I am more well versed in cheese now than I was the last time I think I've had some quite good cheeses. This is a good goof them up play, you know, like I wouldn't call it high art or anything. But as someone who's a fan of Evil Dead, I am a fan of Evil Dead the musical. I think it's really funny. Not all of it holds up, but I was glad to rewatch this because there were bits I didn't remember about it. I do listen to the soundtrack occasionally, not every song on it, but I do still listen to it. So it makes me laugh. I would I would call this cheese whiz because, you know, it's not the highest quality, but it'll get the job done.

[55:25] Andrew DeWolf: Alison, that's so I'm sorry to react that way, but I was just like, oh, I wonder what Alison's last two cheese ratings were. And the last one was she with cheese whiz.

[55:35] Alison Pregler: What did we what did we do? What was the last one?

[55:38] Andrew DeWolf: The DJ. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's a cheese whiz for sure. I forgot we did.

[55:46] Alison Pregler: This is better than you're allowed to reuse them. I just thought it was funny.

[55:49] Andrew DeWolf: Oh, yeah. I guess that's my that's the thing I'm into, right? The cheese whiz. We get no Asiago here. I mean, if we cover something that is goes beyond cheese, she'll give it to be on cheese whiz. But right now we're kind of in that same vein. Um, I'm just going to give this Ashley cheese, which is a soft, ripened cheese made from pasteurized whole cow's milk and produced in Colorado, USA, because Ashley is Ash's full name. Nice.

[56:21] Alison Pregler: Thank you.

[56:24] Andrew DeWolf: Alison, you are a joy as always. One of our favorite guests. We need to get you on more often. Please promote all your stuff where we can find you as if people don't already know.

[56:29] Alison Pregler: Oh, well, if you must insist on finding my stuff, if you don't know where it is, I am on YouTube dot com slash Movie Nights, the series I talk about so bad. It's good movies, episodes of Baywatch. I just did. It's on Patreon right now. But by the time this comes out, it's going to be on YouTube, a video on the 1973 film Werewolf of Washington with Dean Stockwell. So if that sounds appealing to you, a cheesy werewolf film from then, you'll probably like my stuff. So you find me there.

[57:04] Andrew DeWolf: And it's truly, truly great. I know this is like a big compilation of previous things, but I loved your Halloweentown like mega retrospective.

[57:15] Alison Pregler: Oh, thank you.

[57:16] Andrew DeWolf: Like as like, I guess I kind of grew up with those movies. It was just like, oh, yeah, I remember vaguely these images on the Disney Channel screen in the fall.

[57:28] Alison Pregler: OK, OK. And I always love when you guys talk about the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen films.

[57:33] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. Oh, I love doing them, too. We got to get them out more than once a year because. But eventually we're going to run out of them, you know?

[57:39] Alison Pregler: Yeah.

[57:40] Andrew DeWolf: There's a finite number of Mary-Kate and Ashley.

[57:42] Alison Pregler: Have you done New York Minute or are you saving that one?

[57:45] Andrew DeWolf: You know what? We keep doing the shorts. We'll have to do the movies by themselves. I think when we run out of the shorts, we'll have to just start doing the movies.

[57:49] Alison Pregler: Yeah, we'll learn about when in Rome and all those other ones. Like, I don't know. I grew up with those like those are true blue nostalgia for me. So I look forward to it.

[58:01] Andrew DeWolf: Mary-Kate and Ashley were just ubiquitous at the time.

[58:04] Alison Pregler: They were like everyone loved Full House and we all yeah. But no, Alison's content is great. I've been we've been fans of her for a very, very long time, and I will remain so as long as she keeps doing content. We wholeheartedly endorse her.

[58:19] Andrew DeWolf: On that note, let's wrap it up. Thank you all for listening, and we'll see you next time on Musicals with Cheese. Thank you again, Alison.

[58:27] Alison Pregler: Thank you.