The Evil Dead (1981)

The Evil Dead (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Jun 1, 2000Backwoods Possession/Splatter Comedy
Ferociously paced low-budget hit that put the names of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell on the map, both making their film debuts here. What made the film a cult hit was Raimi's full tilt pace and entertainingly over-the-top splatter effects

Darkman (1990)

Darkman (1990)
Rating: ★★★½
Jan 3, 2000Disfigured Avenging Superhero
Amid the early 1990s spate of dark superhero films, Sam Raimi created one of the few original screen superheroes with Darkman, essentially a superhero film where The Joker (by way of The Phantom of the Opera) is the hero of the piece

Army of Darkness (1992)

Army of Darkness (1992)
Rating: ★★
Jun 5, 2000Evil Dead Sequel/War with the Dead/Horror Comedy
Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell make their third Evil Dead film. The series hit a peak with the delirious balance of horror and comedy in the second film but here the comedy over-balances and becomes too broad

Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-Man (2002)
Rating: ★★½
Jun 20, 2002Comic-Book Superhero
A huge hit and one of the key influences that created the box-office dominance of Marvel Comics in the 2000s/10s. A fine incarnation of the comic-book, Sam Raimi brings it to life with exhilarating web-slinging scenes but overdoes the winsome innocence of Peter Parker

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Rating: ★★★½
Jul 5, 2004Comic-Book Superhero
Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire get it just right in the second entry in their trilogy of Spider-Man films. The writing team deliver a fantastic Soul of the Superhero script while Raimi delivers some superheroic action sequences that are about as exciting as it is possible to get (*)

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Rating: ★★★
May 5, 2007Comic-Book Superhero
Last and by general opinion the least of the Sam Raimi-Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films. With three super-villains present, the plot feels as though it is bursting at the seams juggling the various origin stories and ongoing dramas, although Raimi still delivers some solid superheroic action scenes

Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013)

Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013)
Rating: ★★★
Mar 8, 2013The Wizard of Oz Prequel
Sam Raimi's prequel to The Wizard of Oz is now; the story of how a conman fools an entire land rather than of an innocent girl just trying to find her way home. The reconceptualisation of Oz comes with a colourful sweep

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Rating: ★★
Jul 1, 2022Marvel Comics Magician Superhero
Doctor Strange was one of the better MCU films. Here Sam Raimi takes over in the director's chair. This readily delves into multiverse themes but requires a major crash course in a plethora of Marvel tv series to follow