When the "cabin in the woods" shuttered its doors after a successful run in 2009, it remained to be seen if Evil Dead: The Musical would rise... rise... rise again. Deadites longed to once again sing along to songs like What The Fuck Was That and Housewares Employee and if they were quick enough to snatch up splatter zone tickets, get soaked in some fake blood. There was much rejoicing when Hit & Myth announced the show would return to Calgary, this time at the pumphouse theatre. The question then was how would it measure up to the original run, which was so fantastic three years ago?

Let's start with the most important role in the show – Ash. Relative newcomer Bart Kwiatkowski (a grade 6 teacher I can only assume gets called "Mr. K") was outstanding in Avenue Q at Storybook Theatre earlier this year, and nails it in Evil Dead. His evolution from geeky S-Mart employee to chainsaw wielding badass is a thing to behold and he more then lives up to both the previous stage incarnation and the original performance of Bruce Campbell. Eric Wigston's character, Scott, ramps up the sleaze and plays the douchebag to a hilt. Brent Gill steals his scenes as redneck Jake, and Alyssa Billingsley plays up the wink and nudge of Annie and Shelly well. The cast is rounded out by Mallory Minerson as the cellar taunting Cheryl, Amber Bissonnette as Linda, and Peter Fernandes as Ed. Kelsey Flower can be heard and seen making various things come to life as well.

A little rougher around the edges, this production of Evil Dead: The Musical fits in well in the old pumphouse, and is great for a fun night of laughs and bloodshed. Fans of the movies will have a blast reciting lines like "Good... bad... I'm the guy with the gun" and "shop smart, shop S-Mart!" Splatterzone tickets are all gone, but other seats including rush tickets are available at the pumphouse box office. The demons will be banished after the September 8^th performance.