We Played a Game to Determine the Best 18 Sam Raimi and Ghost House Productions Films

 Editors Note for the next game. I start with no extras. Nick leaves with an Override and Vanessa and Scott leave with an extra veto and an extra Override.

 Screen Drafts is a film game podcast where collaborators try to create the best possible list on a film topic. Players have vetoes and veto overrides. If something is vetoed, it is only vetoed at that spot. If the veto is overridden, the movie stays at that spot. If the game ends and players still have a blessings, one veto or override per player can carry over into the next game. Four of us (myself, my wife Vanessa and friends Nick and Scott) played on a late Monday night at Hop's pub. Everyone except Scott came into this with an extra veto. I will list the options for the picks below. Our friend Rene provided trivia based solely on Raimi films. Nick won trivia and picked the topic but opted for option B. He may have regretted this.

Option A: picks 18,14, 9, 6 and 1 (comes with one veto) this was mine.

Option B: picks 17, 13, 11, 7 and 2 (comes with two vetoes and one override) this was for Nick.

Option C: picks 15, 12, 5 and 4 (comes with three vetoes) this was for Vanessa.

Option D: picks 16, 10, 8 and 3 (comes with two vetoes and two overrides) this was for Scott.

There are 19 eligible Ghost House Pictures that Raimi produced: The Grudge and its sequels and reboots, the Boogeyman and its sequels, The Messengers and its sequel, 30 Days of Night and its sequel, Don't Breathe and its sequel,  the non Raimi directed Evil Dead films, the Poltergeist reboot, The Unholy, The Possession and Rise Blood Hunter.

There are 15 Raimi directed features eligible: The Evil Dead, Crimewave, Evil Dead 2, Darkman, Army of Darkness, The Quick and the Dead,  A Simple Plan, For Love of the Game, The Gift, Spider-man 1-3, Drag Me to Hell, Oz the Great and Powerful and the Doctor Strange sequel.

34 Options in all. I think we left this draft with a slight appreciation of 2000's horror and a bit less enthusiasm for Mr. Raimi. I started with a pick that I felt captured Ghost House pictures well, a modestly diverting film with poor CGI that was low budget and had good actors but tripled its budget in a way that could have only happened in the 2000's.

18. The Messengers (2007)

 

No one objected to this pick or placement. Nick had it a bit higher. He believed the integrity of this one more than its sequel and liked the human characters. Nick had the next pick and chose another Ghost House production that he was not crazy in love with but had some nice tweaks on the original. 

17. Poltergeist (2015)

Nick was particularly impressed by the drone scenes capturing the other side. He liked that modern touch. He loves the original and did not think this was a completely successful remake, but it had its moments. No one else had strong feelings about it except to praise the cast and the drone stuff. No vetoes were offered. Scott was up next and went with the first Raimi pick.

16. Army of Darkness (1992)

Scott felt this had not aged as well as 1 and 2 and was a bit too silly maybe. He felt it deserved a spot because it is instantly quotable and often funny. Nick liked it and liked it at this spot, felt the relationship was a lot ruder than in Evil Dead 2 and was not sure why. My wife and I both prefer Ashley (the serious version Bruce Campbell found in the 1981 film) over the over the top Ash. This issue will come up later when I try to play Evil Dead 2 towards the middle of the list. No vetoes played here. Nor in the next Ghost House pick from my wife V.

15. The Grudge (2020)

Vanessa played this here, worried it would not get played. I wanted it much higher. I loved the main characters, loved Cho, loved Shaye being paired with Frankie Faison. I loved Jackie Weaver in this. Scott and Nick found this more just serviceable. We all agreed it was relentlessly sad. But all Grudge films are. Up next, I went with a Raimi that could have been higher for some.

14. The Quick and the Dead (1995)

I felt this was a good movie in need of a better lead. Sharon Stone is out-acted by everyone in the film and the Gary Sinise flashbacks are so poorly handled, I don't even like her revenge story. We all agreed Crowe is fantastic. But Scott admitted it does not feel like Stone is the main character. And Nick and Vanessa enjoyed the gunfights but did not feel it needed to be any higher so no veto was offered. Nor was a veto offered on Nick's next Ghost House pick.

13. The Grudge II (2006)

Nick praised the film for its effective kills, including the one involving developed film. We both loved the milk scene; additionally, we both felt Amber Tamblyn was very real. He had a bit of a problem with the structure but that also led to a surprise at the end. I think Evil Dead Rise had many parallels with this one and would have played it higher. Scott and Vanessa had no strong objections so no veto was offered. A Veto was, however, offered by men when Vanessa tried to play The Gift next for reasons I will get into when that film is played again at 8. So Vanessa had to pick something else.

12. Evil Dead (2013)

This is my second favorite Evil Dead film. We all agreed that the drug addict angle was an intriguing one. Scott found there were too many callbacks. Nick wanted more from the brother character, better symbolism and less obvious jump scares. No one was mad enough to offer a veto as long as it stayed out of the top 10.  Nick was up next and went for a Raimi pick.

11. Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Nick loves this movie and had Mrs Lohman's autograph. But he admitted the Long character is not developed enough. We all had issues with the cat scene versus her sudden moral shift  in saving her competition. We all agreed it was gross. 

Nick and Vanessa agreed that the old lady did not deserve an extension on her mortgage. Scott and I immediately used that moment to donate to the ACLU. No vetoes offered here. 

A veto was offered for Scott's next pick. He tried to play The Possession (2012). He liked the dad's struggle and the rabbi character. V had issues with the quality of the film plus the fact it was all made up and the individual who claimed it was true was just faking Jewish culture. She deployed a veto. So Scott went with a Raimi. 

10. Spider-man III (2007)

 We all loved Sandman. We all loved goth Tobey. Scott loved these things more than anyone else. I am not a Spider-Man person nor is V. Nick didn't mind watching them. But we all accepted as a number ten. No one accepted my nine though when I tried to play Evil Dead 2 (1987) and was vetoed by Scott. This is how Ghost House takes over.

09. Rise: Blood Hunter (2007)

We were all happy with this pick. Great cameos. Lui has never been more attractive. It had an interesting take on vampire lore. We all thought it deserved a sequel. I had no vetoes left for what Scott did at eight.

08. The Gift (2000)

This was my number one because it was a touching elevated script with a Raimi macabre slant to it. I thought it best captured Raimi. Everyone agreed the performances were next level and Holmes looked amazing. Scott found it too predictable which led to him playing it at this spot. Up next, Nick picked a Ghost House.

07. 30 Days of Night (2007)

Vanessa is sentimental about this pick because we watched this after we brought home our bearded dragon. We named it Eben after the lead character in this. Nick loved the feeding and the intelligence of the vampires to trick people. We all loved Danny Huston and the setting. No veto offered here. Not so lucky with my next pick Evil Dead Rise; it was vetoed to get it higher so I went with another Ghost House.

06. Don't Breathe (2016)

I much prefer the sequel and hoped someone would play it higher, no such luck. I was also running out of great options. This one starts off fairly standard but has that amazing ending. Everyone agreed with this placement, liked the film more than I did and no veto was offered.

05. A Simple Plan (1998)

Scott thought this was a very good film. He played it here because it felt more Coen than Raimi to him. He did not see enough of the director in the product. Nick and Vanessa both loved this film and saw Billy Bob Thorton's work as a high mark. V thought the moral lessons on display were actually typical of Raimi and Fonda was great. I had this at 2 for all the positive reasons listed above and a few others including the crows and Brent Briscoe performance. His character seemed straight out of Raimi to me. V brought back a vetoed pick at 4.

04. Evil Dead Rise (2023)

 

As an aunt, Vanessa loved the aunt energy in this film. Nick loved many of the kills, cheese grater scene was brought up. Scott loved it as well, may have been his first Dbox. I liked it fine. No veto offered here. At three, Scott played one that was vetoed long ago. It was vetoed then I overrode the veto and it stayed at three.

03. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)

Without this one, Scott argued, you do not have the third one, the show or the interest to do remakes. He and Nick loved much of this from Ted Raimi's work to Ash slowly going insane. V liked the original most and thought this one was fine. I like the seriousness of the first one and would have been fine with just one and a later remake. I resented spending nearly the first half with just Ash. I suggested to Nick to play a fun choice at two because if he played The Evil Dead, I would have the fun choice at one (Don't Breathe 2). He picked another Ghost House. 

02. The Grudge (2004)

We all agree that the Japanese originals are better. But Nick felt this one captured the anxiety of traveling to a new country for the first time. He also found the kid scariest in this one. We could not fault the pick and no vetoes were offered.

01. The Evil Dead (1981)

For my part Ashley being in love is affecting. The friends are more interesting than the child of an anthropologist and the low tech makes for great scares here. We all loved the pencil scene. Scott told a story about taking his lovely wife to see this on their first ever date. And Nick  told a story about watching the film with his father. This was the right choice at number one. Next game the topic is very wide Folk Horror.