The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead (1981)

The Evil Dead is a 1981 low budget horror movie that would quickly became a cult hit and help launch the careers of director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell. The film would spawn two sequels: 1987's Evil Dead II and 1993's Army of Darkness. A semi-reboot was released in 2013.

The following weapons were used in the film The Evil Dead:

New England Firearms Pardner

A New England Firearms Pardner Single Shot Breach loading Shotgun is used by Ash (Bruce Campbell) in the movie. The New England Firearms Pardner is a very common, cheap single-shot shotgun. It is apparently a 20 gauge, as the shells used in the movie are yellow.

Harrington & Richardson Pardner

Scott holding the shotgun.

Ash (Bruce Campbell) takes up the shotgun.

Ash with the shotgun.

Ash aims the shotgun at the window. Note: Bruce Campbell used live ammunition to shoot through the window.

Ash reloads the shotgun. The shotgun is apparently a 20 gauge, as the shells are yellow.

First person perspective of Ash aiming & shooting the shotgun.

Trivia

The affordable single barrel shotgun was purchased by Bruce Campbell at a Kmart for its specific use in the film. Since the budget was extremely low, and where they where filming was secluded in the woods, live ammunition was used for a couple of scenes. Scene such as when Ash shoots the window, and also a dummy filled with blood was shot. Most of theses scenes are filmed at low angles so the camera would not be hit. For other scenes, Bruce Campbell simply mime-fires the shotgun. At the end of production, star Bruce Campbell and Producer Robert Tapert bought about a hundred shells and shot up every prop used in the cabin. The resulting rubble was then lit into a huge barn fire by director Sam Raimi.

Bruce Campbell shooting real ammunition through a real glass window.

The dummy before.

The dummy after.