Sam Raimi didn’t just make a movie in 1987. He made a miracle. If you look at the Evil Dead Two cast, you aren't looking at a massive Hollywood ensemble with trailers and personal chefs. You’re looking at a group of people who spent weeks covered in Karo syrup and red food coloring in an abandoned high school in North Carolina. It was grueling.
Bruce Campbell. That’s the name everyone knows. But the chemistry of this specific group is why the "sequel-remake" actually works. Without the specific energy of Sarah Berry or the physical comedy of Ted Raimi, the movie probably would have just been another forgotten 80s gore-fest. Instead, it’s a masterpiece of slapstick horror.
The One and Only Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams
Bruce Campbell is the soul of this thing. In the first film, Ash was kind of a wimp. He was the "final girl" in a man's body. By the time we get to the Evil Dead Two cast lineup, Ash has transformed. He’s losing his mind.
Campbell’s performance is basically a silent movie acting masterclass hidden inside a horror flick. Think Buster Keaton, but with a chainsaw. He’s fighting his own hand. He’s doing backflips. He’s getting slammed into walls. Most actors would have called their agents and quit by day three. Bruce just asked for more fake blood.
The physical toll was real. Raimi used to poke Campbell with sticks to keep him agitated. It worked. You can see the genuine exhaustion in his eyes. That’s not just acting; that’s survival.
Sarah Berry and the Annie Knowby Dynamic
Sarah Berry played Annie Knowby, the daughter of the professor who found the Necronomicon. She brings a weirdly intense, academic energy that balances Bruce's spiraling insanity. While Ash is losing it, Annie is focused on the research.
Berry hadn't done a ton of film work before this. She came from a theater background. You can tell. Her delivery is sharp, almost staccato. It fits the frantic pace of the second half of the movie. She isn't just a damsel. She’s the one actually reading the incantations. Honestly, without Annie, Ash is just a guy bleeding in a cabin until he dies. She provides the narrative engine that gets them to that wild medieval ending.
The Supporting Players: Bobby Joe, Jake, and Ed
The rest of the Evil Dead Two cast fills out the "fodder" roles, but they do it with so much personality.
- Dan Hicks as Jake: Jake is the local guy. He’s "redneck" muscle but played with a certain charm. Dan Hicks became a cult favorite after this for a reason. He has this sweaty, nervous energy that makes the cabin feel even smaller.
- Kassie Wesley DePaiva as Bobby Joe: She plays Jake’s girlfriend. Her death scene is one of the most chaotic sequences in the film, involving trees and a lot of screaming. She later went on to have a massive career in soap operas (One Life to Live), which is a hilarious jump from being chased by Deadites.
- Richard Domeier as Ed Getley: Ed is Annie's boyfriend. He doesn't last long. But his transformation into a Deadite is legendary. The makeup effects on him were so heavy he could barely see.
Ted Raimi: The Unsung Hero in the Basement
We have to talk about Henrietta.
Professor Knowby’s possessed wife is the primary antagonist in the cellar. Most people don't realize that under those massive prosthetic folds was Ted Raimi, Sam’s brother. Ted suffered. It was 100 degrees inside that latex suit. He was sweating so much that when he lifted his leg, liters of sweat would literally pour out of the costume's foot.
Ted’s performance is terrifying but also deeply funny. The way Henrietta floats and cackles? That’s all Ted's manic energy. He’s been a staple of the Evil Dead Two cast legacy ever since, appearing in almost everything Sam Raimi touches.
Why the Casting Worked Where Others Failed
Most horror sequels just throw more bodies at the screen. They hire generic teenagers. Raimi didn't do that. He hired people who could handle the "Three Stooges" style of directing he was pivoting toward.
The chemistry between the Evil Dead Two cast feels like a pressurized steamer. They are all trapped. They are all annoyed with each other. And as they get picked off, the stakes actually feel high because each character represents a different way of reacting to the supernatural: Annie is the logic, Jake is the fear, and Ash is the pure, unadulterated madness.
👉 See also: Why Goo Goo Dolls Long Way Down is the Most Important Song They Ever Wrote
The Special Effects Team: The "Invisible" Cast
You can't talk about the actors without talking about the guys behind the masks. Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger, and Robert Kurtzman (KNB EFX) basically started their legendary careers here. They were as much a part of the cast as anyone else. They were on set every day, gluing hair onto demons and pumping gallons of green fluid through tubes.
The puppets were actors too. The laughing deer head? The dancing bridge? Those required puppeteers who had to hit their marks just as precisely as Bruce Campbell. It was a synchronized dance of low-budget ingenuity.
The Legacy of the 1987 Crew
What’s wild is how this movie launched so many careers. It wasn't just a paycheck. For the Evil Dead Two cast, it was a trial by fire.
- Bruce Campbell became the king of B-movies and eventually returned for Ash vs Evil Dead.
- Kassie DePaiva became a daytime TV icon.
- Ted Raimi became one of the most recognizable character actors in genre history.
- Dan Hicks remained a beloved figure in the horror convention circuit until he passed in 2020.
They all seem to remember the shoot with a mix of fondness and PTSD. You don't forget spending weeks in a humid schoolhouse getting blasted with high-pressure hoses full of fake guts.
How to Appreciate the Cast Today
If you’re rewatching, don't just look at the gore. Watch the eyes. Watch how the Evil Dead Two cast reacts to things that aren't there. A lot of the time, they were screaming at a tennis ball on a stick.
👉 See also: Why Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Songs Still Define American Roots Music
The nuance in Bruce Campbell’s facial contortions is actually insane. He’s doing some of the best physical acting of the 20th century, and he’s doing it while a mechanical hand tries to pull his hair out.
To truly dive into the history of these actors, your next steps are simple. First, go watch the "Making of" documentary The Gore the Merrier. It shows the actual footage of Ted Raimi sweating in the Henrietta suit. Second, look up the 2026 retrospective interviews if you can find them—many of the surviving members have finally started opening up about the technical nightmares of the North Carolina set. Finally, compare the performances here to the 2013 remake or Evil Dead Rise. You'll notice the original cast has a "vaudeville" timing that the newer, more serious films lack. That’s the secret sauce. That’s why we’re still talking about them.