EVIL DEAD PRODUCTION DIARY #3 – September 13, 2000
By Scott Krager
Executive Producer, THQ 

I was just going through my massive Evil Dead file looking for some reference material and I came across the first document submitted to THQ by the Heavy Iron folks, who at the time were still the interactive division of a digital effects company. The document outlined three concepts for an Evil Dead game. Three stories that were all centered around the idea of doing a survival horror game based on the movies. After glancing through the document for old time's sake, I thought back to the time when I first pitched the idea of doing an Evil Dead game when I was working as a producer at Activision. I remember having a discussion with Stephanie, a co-worker at the time and still a good friend. I told her that an Evil Dead game would not only be a lot of fun but successful as well given the huge cult following of both the movies and Bruce Campbell. Being a big fan herself, she agreed. And without my knowing, she actually pitched the idea to some of the management team. She told me there was some interest in the idea, so we spent the next several months trying to get the game off the ground. By then it became clear it wasn't going to happen.

Flash forward to December of 98. A few months earlier, I left Activision and joined THQ. Not because they didn't give Evil Dead the greenlight (although maybe subconsciously that played a part), but for other reasons too boring to discuss here. Anyway, one day I was sitting in the office of Germaine, the woman who ran marketing and licensing. She mentioned that THQ had decided to get into horror games, a big departure from wrestling and kids titles – two types of games heavily identified with the company at the time. Of course, the first two words out of my mouth were "Evil Dead!!" In fact, the words left my mouth probably before I even realized I said them. After seeing the blank stare on Germaine's face, I realized she knew not of what I spoke. She hadn't experienced the vision that is Evil Dead… but can't say I was surprised. Cult horror movies aren't exactly her cup of tea. Having small kids, she's more of a Disney gal. Anyway, I went into a crash course of Evil Dead 101. I explained what the movies are all about – horror, comedy, Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell. Thankfully, she got it… at least she said she did. Doesn't really matter because things started to snowball from there. Turned out there were quite a few Evil Dead fans in the company. Not necessarily any of senior management, but enough people to show that the license is strong enough for a game.

Next thing I knew, we had a few meetings with Renaissance Pictures (Raimi's company) and soon had a deal. Then a few weeks later, we hooked up with the guys that would become quickly become Heavy Iron Studios. They had been prototyping some technology that THQ felt was perfect for Evil Dead. And the best part was that they were all fans of the movies. So, everything came together and we were on our way.

A little over a year later, the Heavy Iron team is crunching big time. They're working around the clock to finish the game. And just yesterday in Santa Monica, I sat in a small room with Tommy Tallarico as he directed a 60-person choir in a music hall somewhere in Budapest. We watched over a live feed via the Internet as they recorded the choral tracks that will be used for some of the key pieces of music in the game. Just the day before, we used the same method to record a full orchestra. Pretty simple to arrange something like this nowadays but it was cool nonetheless. Here I was in sunny California, in the back room of someone's guest house, watching the Budafok Chamber Choir of Hungary lay down tracks for an Evil Dead game. I wonder if they have even heard of Evil Dead… although it doesn't really matter because it sounded awesome regardless of whether there is a Hungarian chapter of the Bruce Campbell fan club. Speaking of which, I still need to compile the list of lines that Bruce needs to record for his pickup session next week. We'll spend an hour or two re-recording some of the original lines and also recording some new ones including a bunch of new one-liners. Should be fun. Bruce has been great to deal with. In fact, he's hoping to stop by the Heavy Iron offices while he's in town to check out the latest stuff.

Indeed, it's been quite a ride. On one level, we're trying to make a game that can compete with other survival horror games using a third of the budget, time and manpower typically allotted for the Resident Evil's of the world. Quite a daunting task, but one the Heavy Iron folks are making great efforts to accomplish. Like any game, you start with a grand design that ends up changing throughout production, often significantly. And as you near the end, you wonder whether you made the right decisions, whether the game is going to be great or if it will suck, whether the press and fans will love it or hate it – all the usual thoughts that run through the mind of anyone working in game production. Evil Dead has certainly gone through many changes, some minor and some major. Features and content became victims of game production's biggest enemy – lack of time. Of course, some will argue that lack of money is a bigger enemy. Often it is. But despite all this, the core design has thankfully and almost surprisingly remained intact. Sure, some things have been left on the cutting room floor, but the game is still fun and that's what matters. Not to mention… we now have a nice list of features initially planned for Hail to the King that will probably show up in potential sequels. But in the meantime, it's all about bug fixing, polishing and lack of sleep.