EvilDeadChainsaws.com - Pt6 Ash Vs Evil Dead 2015
Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:34 pm
Here is part 6 of my EvilDeadChainsaws photo retrospective, ranging roughly from February to April 2013. It covers the chainsaws I supplied to the first season of Ash Vs Evil Dead.
In February 2015, I was contacted out of the blue by a new TV show based on the Evil Dead Trilogy to be shot in New Zealand called Ash Vs Evil Dead. I supplied them four non working and two working medieval style chainsaws, all assembled but without any painting or ageing, plus a rough stunt saw as well, which took two months to make.
You won't see them on screen, however. It was only once the order was completed that rights issues with Army Of Darkness became apparent, which left the production with a problem as they couldn't use my chainsaws exactly as they were without having copyright issues, as they're identical to the Army Of Darkness screen-used chainsaws. Further to this, as Bruce Campbell's stuntman's hands were quite big, as are Bruce's for that matter, this meant they needed to re-orientate the inside of my saws to make it an exact custom fit for Bruce & the stuntman's hands. My chainsaws tend to be a one-size-fits-all, and aren't a custom fit for every customer, plus there is only so much internal space. The third issue was power. The motors I used were meant for cosplayers. You touch the chainsaw to your trousers and it would bite into the fabric and stall rather than cutting though anything (which is what I designed it to do). That's not to say I would want to have the spinning chainsaw pushed into my face, there is still some power there, it would cause some damage, but it was never going to cut though a plank of wood. A loaf of bread would probably be the limit.
This combined with the copyright issues meant they basically had to completely dis-assemble my chainsaws and virtually start from scratch re-orientating the interior and changing the outer look to negate any copyright issues. I know they used modified parts from my original chainsaws to make their first prototype chainsaw, but once they got this all sorted, they basically re-moulded everything and made their own chainsaws from then on. I'm told there are no original parts from my chainsaws used on their own screen-used chainsaws, literally everything was re-made by the production which is a shame, and of course I'm disappointed, but number of factors just came together to make an unfortunate situation. At least it was all sorted and they got what they needed to get done in the end.
In February 2015, I was contacted out of the blue by a new TV show based on the Evil Dead Trilogy to be shot in New Zealand called Ash Vs Evil Dead. I supplied them four non working and two working medieval style chainsaws, all assembled but without any painting or ageing, plus a rough stunt saw as well, which took two months to make.
You won't see them on screen, however. It was only once the order was completed that rights issues with Army Of Darkness became apparent, which left the production with a problem as they couldn't use my chainsaws exactly as they were without having copyright issues, as they're identical to the Army Of Darkness screen-used chainsaws. Further to this, as Bruce Campbell's stuntman's hands were quite big, as are Bruce's for that matter, this meant they needed to re-orientate the inside of my saws to make it an exact custom fit for Bruce & the stuntman's hands. My chainsaws tend to be a one-size-fits-all, and aren't a custom fit for every customer, plus there is only so much internal space. The third issue was power. The motors I used were meant for cosplayers. You touch the chainsaw to your trousers and it would bite into the fabric and stall rather than cutting though anything (which is what I designed it to do). That's not to say I would want to have the spinning chainsaw pushed into my face, there is still some power there, it would cause some damage, but it was never going to cut though a plank of wood. A loaf of bread would probably be the limit.
This combined with the copyright issues meant they basically had to completely dis-assemble my chainsaws and virtually start from scratch re-orientating the interior and changing the outer look to negate any copyright issues. I know they used modified parts from my original chainsaws to make their first prototype chainsaw, but once they got this all sorted, they basically re-moulded everything and made their own chainsaws from then on. I'm told there are no original parts from my chainsaws used on their own screen-used chainsaws, literally everything was re-made by the production which is a shame, and of course I'm disappointed, but number of factors just came together to make an unfortunate situation. At least it was all sorted and they got what they needed to get done in the end.