The Evil Dead interview with Tom Sullivan
Thirty years ago a horror movie written and directed by Sam Raimi was released. That movie was THE EVIL DEAD. Five friends go up to a cabin in the woods where they find unspeakable evil lurking in the forest. They find the Necronomicon and the taped translation of the text. Once the tape is played, the evil is released. One by one, the teens are possessed. With only Ash remaining, he must survive the night and battle the evil dead.
We caught up with Tom Sullivan, the man behind the special effects of The Evil Dead.
Horror News Network: Can you tell us a bit about how you got involved in The Evil Dead?
Tom Sullivan: Since I was 5 years old I wanted to create special effects in movies. I saw the original King Kong one Saturday morning and I haven’t been the same since. So for the next couple of decades I developed the skills necessary to follow the footsteps of my heroes, Willis O’Brien and Ray Harryhausen. By the time my wife, Penny went to M.S.U. I already had a couple of reels of film experiments, a Halloween mask assortment and artistic abilities. I ran into Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, Bruce Campbell at the M.S.U. Creative Filmmaking Society. Sam was making Super 8mm films and was finishing up on It’s Murder and decided to try for a career in film. Horror was a fairly sure start because of the demand for teenage films at Drive Ins. So Sam started writing Book of the Dead after we were all tested on Within The Woods, a short horror film with Evil Dead elements. They presented Within The Woods to investors and raised the money for Book of the Dead, renamed later.
Horror News Network: How long were you actually working on the film?
Tom Sullivan: I worked on Evil Dead for a total of 7 months. There was 32 weeks of preproduction, 7 weeks in Tennessee, another 5 or 6 weeks during the summer at various shoots in Marshall, north of Lansing, Sam’s family home and then 3 months filming the stop motion finale.
Horror News Network: What was it like on the set of “The Evil Dead”? What are some of your more vivid memories of shooting the film?
Tom Sullivan: It was a lot of work but very easy going. We jumped in running and were filming immediately as I recall. It was a lot like camp with no adult supervision. No egos, no tantrums, no fights or quarrels as I recall. I found it a very invigorating and creative time.
Horror News Network: What stands out as your favorite effect from Evil Dead?
Tom Sullivan: I’m most proud of the stop motion finale I created and designed with Bart Pierce. That has been one of the best creative collaborations I’ve ever had. Of course Sam is great at making your work have a lot of impact and that short scene shows it.
Horror News Network: Can you tell us about the pencil in the ankle scene from Evil Dead? What was it like creating that effect, what was used, etc.?
Tom Sullivan: I made a cast of Betsy Baker’s leg and cast a leg of foam rubber. It had a blood balloon stuffed into a cavity I had made on the far side. When Ellen Sandweiss stabbed the phony leg with the pencil the blood bag broke but the pencil plugged up the rubber hole and stopped the blood flow. Sam yelled out, “grind the pencil so it’ll bleed”. And history was made.
Horror News Network: Can you tell us about your design of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis?
Tom Sullivan: I based it the illustrations on Da Vinci’s notebook drawings and the iconic imagery Sam’s script had along with a lot of stuff I made up. The cover was my idea of the most disgusting material one could use for a book cover. It was inspired by Ilse Koch’s depraved acts.
Horror News Network: Thirty years later, “The Evil Dead” still has a pretty fanatical following. Did you realize the sort of staying power it would have at the time?
Tom Sullivan: I recall a conversation in the kitchen of the house we stayed at during filming. We figured that if it played in a Texas Drive In for one weekend we’d be on the map. I think the big idea was to make a second film. I am amazed it’s now a well deserve cult classic.
Horror News Network: Can you tell us a bit about your Evil Dead Museum?
Tom Sullivan: I call it Tom Sullivan’s Movie Memorabilia Museum. It features my props, photos, articles and artwork of my film work especially Evil Dead. I also have racks of archival quality prints of my Evil Dead, H.P. Lovecraft and other fantasy art for sale. These days I also bring along a couple of the several films I’ve acted in or participated in.
Horror News Network: Where can fans find out more about you and your current projects?
Tom Sullivan: My website is: www.darkageproductions.com I am on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=849525047
Thanks for remembering us Evil Dead Alumni after all these years!
Beast witches,
Tom Sullivan
Horror News Network: Thank you for your time, Tom! Comment on this article on our forum.
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