# Evil Dead Pinball Trailer Breakdown

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2024-11-22  
**Duration:** 20m 34s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AIU_gtAeK0

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy provides a detailed breakdown of Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead trailer, defending his earlier comparison of the game to Stern's Godzilla (meaning it represents Spooky's creative pinnacle, not a direct quality comparison). He praises the cabinet artwork, innovative topper ($1,300-1,400), and highlights several standout playfield features including a hidden flipper inside the slingshot area, double shooter lane reminiscent of Twilight Zone, and a moving hand mechanic. Hardy expresses enthusiasm about Bruce Campbell's extensive voice work and appreciates the game's faithful adaptation of the Evil Dead films.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Evil Dead will be Spooky Pinball's Godzilla—their creative pinnacle that future games will be compared to — _Hardy repeatedly clarifies this metaphor, explaining he means Spooky's best game yet, comparable to how Godzilla is Stern's pinnacle that no subsequent Stern game has surpassed_
- [HIGH] The Evil Dead topper features a hidden flipper inside the slingshot area, which Hardy claims he has never seen before in pinball — _Hardy describes detailed mechanics: 'flipper inside of a slingshot area so there is no bouncing like you know sling on your right it's going to be a flipper rubber that's basically the rubber for your sling'_
- [HIGH] The Evil Dead playfield features a double shooter lane similar to Twilight Zone, a feature Hardy says hasn't been seen in a very long time — _Hardy states: 'this double shooter lane kind of thing now that was just my immediate reaction whenever i first saw it i'm like that reminds me of twilight zone and i want to say we have not seen that in a very long time'_
- [HIGH] Bruce Campbell recorded extensive voice work for Evil Dead, including Army of Darkness callouts (hundreds mentioned) — _Hardy confirms: 'Bruce Campbell the man to do call outs' and 'they gave him so many call outs i don't know how many exactly but i want to say that was like hundreds but they definitely included audio like call outs from army of darkness in this game'_
- [HIGH] The Evil Dead topper optional upgrade costs $1,300-1,400 — _Hardy states: 'this topper is not the standard this is the optional upgrade for i think it's 13 or 1400'_
- [MEDIUM] Pre-release feedback on Evil Dead has been mostly positive, with Hardy estimating at least 90% positive sentiment — _Hardy remarks: 'so far the feedback on this game has been mostly positive like at least 90 i want to say and that's before the trailer released'_
- [HIGH] The playfield features a moving hand mechanic that rises and falls, protected by drop targets — _Hardy describes: 'this hand will be moving up and down this portion of the play field and you have these drop targets that are basically protecting it'_
- [HIGH] The cabin multiball lock is a key playfield feature with the swing mechanic from the movie — _Hardy notes the cabin lock and swing, though acknowledges the trailer doesn't show the cabin swing mechanic prominently_

### Notable Quotes

> "when I say that Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead will be their Godzilla, it's because that's their Godzilla. They're on two different playing fields, guys."
> — **Cary Hardy**, early
> _Core thesis defending his earlier comparison and clarifying what 'Godzilla' means in context of manufacturer-specific excellence_

> "From what I've seen so far, this looks like their best game yet. As of right now. I could play it. It could play like total crap. I don't know yet."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid-early
> _Establishes Hardy's position of enthusiastic but measured optimism based only on trailer evidence_

> "I don't know of any other game. By all means, educate me. What other game has a double shooter lane other than Twilight Zone? I'm not talking about Funhouse when it's on the other side."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid
> _Highlights a potentially rare/innovative playfield feature comparison to classic Twilight Zone_

> "So you, do you agree with me that, Zach, what he's done is showing you how well they have taken portions of the movie and have put them underneath the glass."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid-late
> _Praises the trailer editor's (Zach's) approach to integrating movie assets into the playfield presentation_

> "they gave him so many call outs i don't know how many exactly but i want to say that was like hundreds but they definitely included audio like call outs from army of darkness in this game"
> — **Cary Hardy**, late
> _Reveals extensive Bruce Campbell voice work including Army of Darkness content, a notable feature addition_

> "if you have the audio if you hear it and you know the theme you've seen the movie you're playing that part in your head you don't need it on the screen"
> — **Cary Hardy**, late
> _Explains Hardy's preference for audio cues over video assets and their immersive gameplay impact_

> "i love the added sound effects and everything like that how this pops up and you've got more things to bash"
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid
> _Notes appreciation for sound design and interactive toy elements in the playfield_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | Content creator and pinball enthusiast providing detailed trailer breakdown and mechanical analysis |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer releasing Evil Dead machine |
| Evil Dead | game | Spooky Pinball's new widebody pinball machine based on Evil Dead film franchise |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Artist at Spooky Pinball responsible for Evil Dead cabinet artwork |
| Bruce Campbell | person | Actor from Evil Dead films who provided extensive voice work and callouts for the pinball machine |
| Stern Pinball | company | Referenced as benchmark manufacturer; Godzilla cited as their pinnacle game |
| Godzilla | game | Stern Pinball's acclaimed game used as benchmark/comparison for Evil Dead as Spooky's creative peak |
| Twilight Zone | game | Classic pinball game referenced for double shooter lane feature that Evil Dead appears to share |
| Zach | person | Trailer editor/creator for Evil Dead, praised for integrating movie assets into playfield presentation |
| Bug | person | Spooky Pinball representative scheduled for live stream Q&A about Evil Dead |
| Luke | person | Spooky Pinball representative scheduled for live stream Q&A about Evil Dead |
| Medieval Madness | game | Referenced for playfield magnet feature comparison |
| Avatar | game | Referenced as example of playfield-underneath-playfield mechanic that Hardy found unenjoyable |
| Funhouse | game | Referenced in comparison of shooter lane configurations |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Evil Dead playfield mechanics and features, Innovative flipper design inside slingshot area, Bruce Campbell voice work and audio design, Christopher Franchi cabinet artwork quality, Spooky Pinball's creative direction and game quality, Comparison of Evil Dead to Stern's Godzilla as manufacturer pinnacle
- **Secondary:** Evil Dead topper design and optional pricing, Community misinterpretation and clarification

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Hardy is enthusiastic and complimentary about Evil Dead, praising mechanics, artwork, voice work, and design. However, he maintains measured skepticism about actual gameplay since he hasn't played it, and acknowledges theme may not appeal to everyone. Frustration evident regarding community misinterpretation of his Godzilla comparison, but overall tone is celebratory of the game and Spooky's achievement.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Spooky Pinball scheduling live Q&A with Bug and Luke to address player questions about Evil Dead mechanics and features post-trailer (confidence: high) — Hardy announces: 'tonight there will be a live stream with bug and luke from spooky pinball answering all of your questions'
- **[competitive_signal]** Evil Dead positioned by Hardy as Spooky Pinball's creative peak, implying significant quality/ambition jump from previous titles (confidence: high) — Hardy's core thesis: 'From what I've seen so far, this looks like their best game yet' and extended comparison framework throughout video
- **[design_innovation]** Hidden flipper inside slingshot area appears to be a novel mechanical feature Hardy claims he hasn't seen before in pinball (confidence: high) — Hardy's detailed description of the flipper mechanism: 'So there is no bouncing like you know sling on your right it's going to be a flipper rubber that's basically the rubber for your sling'
- **[design_philosophy]** Spooky Pinball integrating substantial movie content (both visual assets and extensive voice work) into the Evil Dead game to serve the theme with high fidelity (confidence: high) — Hardy praises how Spooky 'have taken portions of the movie and have put them underneath the glass' and notes hundreds of Bruce Campbell callouts recorded, including Army of Darkness content
- **[market_signal]** Pre-release community feedback for Evil Dead is overwhelmingly positive (estimated 90%+) before official trailer release (confidence: medium) — Hardy states: 'so far the feedback on this game has been mostly positive like at least 90 i want to say and that's before the trailer released'
- **[community_signal]** Hardy defending his 'Godzilla' comparison terminology after community misinterpretation, emphasizing it means manufacturer-specific pinnacle not absolute quality ranking (confidence: high) — Extended section at video start where Hardy clarifies: 'when I say that Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead will be their Godzilla, it's because that's their Godzilla. They're on two different playing fields, guys.'
- **[community_signal]** Christopher Franchi artwork continues to be highlighted as standout element of Spooky Pinball games, reinforcing his role as key creative talent (confidence: high) — Hardy: 'you get a look around the entire cabinet right there to see the beautiful artwork that Christopher Franchi has done for us'
- **[product_strategy]** Evil Dead topper priced at $1,300-1,400 as premium optional upgrade, comparable to Stern's Metallica Remastered topper at $1,000 (confidence: high) — Hardy discusses pricing: 'this topper is not the standard this is the optional upgrade for i think it's 13 or 1400' and compares to Stern's offerings

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## Transcript

 What's up guys? I am pre-recording this because I'm going to be at work whenever the trailer drops for Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead. And since I obviously cannot release this video yet, I will be releasing it right around the time that the trailer drops for everyone to see. If you have not seen the trailer yet, I will be showing it in this video as well. But before we even get to that point, I feel like I have to get something straight, and I cannot get this any more clearer than I thought I already specified in my previous video. It's like I want to talk to certain people and go, how did you get that from what I said? now in 4k i thought it was a straight line and then people were like oh he said this negative so let me reiterate i'll even play it back right here in the video and my feelings towards it are this is what how i think about it and this is what i have stood by and those of you that have heard me speak about the mere speculation of what Spooky's been working on. Even at Expo during my stream, you guys were asking about what's going on with Spooky's next game, and I even said it then that guys get ready because Spooky's next game will be their Godzilla. And then when I say that, it's not like, oh, it's a big monster-based game. I'm like, no, it's merely to state that the game that will be revealed will be the game that everyone from then on will be comparing their next game after that to. So, I say that Spooky's next game is their Godzilla because I think this will be their best yet. So, to be clear, when I say that Evil Dead will be their Godzilla, meaning spooky pinball, this will be their pinnacle. Because my argument when mentioning Godzilla is Stern's pinnacle. Godzilla is Stern's Godzilla. I mention that whenever Godzilla was released, that every game going forward will be compared to Godzilla. No game has been released by Stern Pinball since that has surpassed Godzilla. So, when I say Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead will be their Godzilla, it's because that's their Godzilla. They're on two different playing fields, guys. I don't know how much more clear I can get on that. So when I see comments on Pinside, Facebook, on other stuff, and people go, is it better than Godzilla? Evidently, you didn't listen. I'm not mad. It's just a little frustrating sometimes, guys. You've got to look at it from my perspective. I deal with comments almost on a daily basis, messages on a daily basis, emails, whether it be work-related, on a daily damn basis. and it's always some sort of miscommunication or just the other individuals are not paying attention let me digress and just get back into why you are here in the first place and that is to discuss evil dead so what really matters is that my opinion states is that i think this game from what I've only seen with the trailer. That's all I've got to go on. I want to say I specified that in my previous video that I have not seen how it shoots or anything. I've merely got the trailer. If you've seen the trailer, then we're pretty much have the same amount of knowledge about the game now. From what I've seen so far, this looks like their best game yet. As of right now. I could play it. It could play like total crap. I don't know yet. I will find out eventually. But anyways, let's get to it. Let's talk about this damn trailer. But if anything, you guys do have to admit that I was 100% correct about this topper. I think I've seen the most positive reactions when it comes to this topper. So when the trailer first begins, the main highlight that Zack is trying to correlate to us here is showing off the artwork for the cabinet. Let's go. So you get a look around the entire cabinet right there to see the beautiful artwork that Christopher Franchi has done for us. And then it immediately smacks you in the face with this badass topper And it one of those I think the first time i saw it it was what the hell because you don see something that looks like that the amount of detail with the chains and especially the movement and then you have the internal glowing of green i don't know if that's an rgb or if it's always green though maybe it shows me in the video again i've already forgot but definitely i think a lot of people we're gonna are gonna spend the extra cash for this topper this topper is not the standard this is the optional upgrade for i think it's 13 or 1400 but that again when i specified in my video discussing about stern's metallica topper for the remastered for a thousand and then you see this this for 1400 that's why i get a press the amount of frustration when i see that because i'm like i disagree because of things like this and they're priced accordingly now you could argue well there's no licensing and everything on this more than likely there isn't any kind of licensing feature on this topper and that's also why it's probably sold separately okay so let's get into further in the trailer. So looking at the play field this looks to be a fan layout which is not typically my forte so I'm already holding that against it because fan layouts can sometimes be you know boring but not every time. There are definitely plenty of fan layouts that I do enjoy but let's see what we got here we've got one two three four i'm going to count the shotgun bullets as two different shots so one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fourteen different things to hit in the fan in front of you maybe more if i can't see far enough over there to the right and that's not even actually including the far left side of the machine with the drop targets and the other targets so there's upteen i'm going to say upteen damn things to hit just from your flippers for crying out loud hey let me ask you something do you believe in the existence of evil so here you get a good look at the cabin the ramps closer shot of the 12 gauge shotgun bullets and of course you know the side art blades and the back panel art and everything it looks to be a pretty nice looking package that we have here powder coated rails um and then i like how they haven't really shown you what this play field can do yet that's later in the video shoot some ramps so we can get on this was one of my like little things about the trailer that i even mentioned to zach after watching is that i wish that they would have spent like maybe an extra second pointing out that you had evil dead one and evil dead two it's on evil dead two for a half a second and then it goes to evil dead one and i don't know that's enough time for people to realize that hey we've got one and two but i think at this point in time everyone should know one and two are there so my understanding at the time was that this was going to be the first thing anybody ever saw and one of the main questions was going to be is it just one or is it just two or does it have both and i felt like i was like just to kind of knock out the potential of that question being there maybe spend an extra second on that screen but that was like very small minute thing so we get on with it only guarantees in life for death and taxes and i don't pay taxes so it's just death now i haven't stopped it yet because you know you're pretty much seeing all right shots doing their thing shots doing their thing here's another close-up shot of the shotgun bullets right there loaded daddy wants to play how you can hit that and then he loads the other one so this was a a photo that i was allowed to leak out to you guys and that was the hand this is a roving shot so this hand will be moving up and down this portion of the play field and you have these drop targets that are basically protecting it so my assumption at this point in time is that you need to hit those now it like i said i don't know as much about this game as i would like to now I could easily find out but I'm still liking the idea that I'm kind of like you know not in the know and I'm right there with you other pinball enthusiasts that you had these drop-down targets that you could hit with your regular flippers your left and your right but you have this hidden right flipper that I kind of curious how many people were able to spot before they actually pointed out in the video of its use guns loaded wish i was now this was the feature that i wanted to say reminded me of twilight zone was the double shooter lane kind of thing now that was just my immediate reaction whenever i first saw it i'm like that reminds me of twilight zone and i want to say we have not seen that in a very long time I don't know of any other game. By all means, educate me. What other game has a double shooter lane other than Twilight Zone? I'm not talking about Funhouse when it's on the other side. I'm like side by side. Guns loaded. Wish I was. Son of a... How about a double... So I'm not sure if you guys caught that, but the lighting effects whenever you launch the balls. It's just the intensity of the light and like a muzzle flash right there. I think it's going to be much more enjoyable in person on that. So it looks like the shooter lane will also go across the play field to hit those drop-down targets in front of the moving hand. Then you also have what's about to be shown here in a little bit. So this is him going to be basically suiting up. Right there. That's the hidden flipper that I was telling you about. Now this is something that I mentioned in my video that I have never seen before in pinball have you ever seen a flipper inside of a slingshot area so there is no bouncing like you know sling on your right it's going to be a flipper rubber that's basically the rubber for your sling so if you find the ball going between the slingshot and the left and going to this flipper it's not going to be the typical reaction of chaos it may hit this flipper and it may just be like a dud and then feed down to your bottom right flipper and i'm going to say that i'm pretty sure you can control that flipper with the right upper button that you have you have two buttons on the right and i believe one of those buttons controls this flipper independently but i thought that was damn cool that they because i've never seen that before and if you've seen this before in any other pinball machine let me know in the comments down below i personally haven't seen it before i thought that was very innovative and i'm kind of definitely want to experience it in person aim groovy come up so the trailer is bleeping it out so i can already tell by the words that are being bleeped out in this there will be a mature mode there better be a mature mode that you're able to toggle on and off in the settings you bash that big ugly right here i love the added sound effects and everything like that how this pops up and you've got more things to bash the dead egg doesn't matter whatever you call it bash it so now that those are out of the way that's your topper guys for those that have never seen that evil dead movie that's the topper is this scene right here of the individual underneath like inside the basement trying to get out holding on to the chain wanting out that's where the topper comes from i'm pretty sure i'm the favorite kid now so then you feed the ball down there into the basement locked down there before it ain't exactly mardi gras kind of curious of how that plays typically in my experience playfields underneath the play field most of the time are not fun i didn't find avatars very fun so hopefully either one it's more entertaining or two you're not down there for a long time but uh i don't know we're just gonna have to wait and see on that this is where i told you that it reminded me of medieval madness is these two right here. Let's see. Us versus two dead assholes in a book. I like these odds. You've got a magnet up there that stops and feeds the pops. So you, do you agree with me that, Zach, what he's done is showing you how well they have taken portions of the movie and have put them underneath the glass. That's what he's doing. He's showing you movie. this is the game movie this is the game breakups are never easy cabin lock is lit I wouldn go in there Alright, so now we're going to feed the cabin right here for your multiball. This was the only scene, I think, that they don't really show you, or I say they, like Zach didn't really show you, what the swing in the cabin and everything is. Most of the movie takes place in the cabin. and at the very beginning is the only time you really see the swing and it's like basically kind of like moving itself and slamming into the side of the house uh that's not shown in the trailer it doesn't need to be but you know for those that have seen the movies and are fan of the movies you know what you're seeing i have no doubts if you are an evil dan evil dead fan and you see this and you don't like it or if you think that they missed the mark on the theme I really want to hear from you because I just find it hard to believe that they did not take your dream theme of Evil Dead and do it justice. But, you know, knock yourself out. How many times have you seen something like that on an apron? I've never seen that. shut it off so i like what zach has done right here with uh i mean this is just other things that other video editors would notice but like you know i love what he's done right here to make the portions of the movie assets in place of the playfield right there shut it off looks like that's over with how about you and I get a little drinky drink and then for those of you that did not notice also is Bruce Campbell himself not another actor or sound alike they hire Bruce Campbell the man to do call outs and I know some of you were like oh why didn't they do army of darkness you know all those good call outs and you know what i'm just gonna say it because that you know the game is out now and everything is fully released i'm gonna i'm gonna say it there are call outs from army of darkness in this game they gave him so many call outs i don't know how many exactly but i want to say that was like hundreds but they definitely included audio like call outs from army of darkness in this game and for me that means more than getting video assets i don't know what all call outs that he's going to mention you know if he's going to say this is my boom stick or shop smart shop s smart i don't know if all that's going to be in here i hope it is because for me if you have the audio if you hear it and you know the theme you've seen the movie you're playing that part in your head you don't need it on the screen if you hear it you're going to be busy playing the damn pinball machine you're going to hear that audio cue and it's immediately going to play the video in your head so i appreciate that they have got the call outs i would prefer audio more than the video the video is definitely you know a chef's kiss glad that's in there as well but definitely golf clap for having the audio so far the feedback on this game has been mostly positive like at least 90 i want to say and that's before the trailer released i'm definitely curious of where the you know the bar is going to be landing now after you have fully seen the game so by all means i'm definitely curious to hear your feedback down in the comment section below on how you feel about this game i know that the main turn off for a lot of people is going to be the theme it's not a theme for everybody out there but theme aside what do you think they've done with the game has spooky done another game that you think is better than this one am i wrong about stating that this game is their godzilla let me know in the comment section down below guys that's the joy of this hobby is that you have the right to your opinion so that's fine have your opinion just don't misquote me that's all i ask and for those of you out there that still have questions about the game and things that you just want to get answered or curious or whatever then tonight there will be a live stream with bug and luke from spooky pinball answering all of your questions that you have desired to be answered so i don't know how many takes it took me to say that i kept screwing it up but and i still can't get it right i'm tired i'm going to bed uh love you long time guys peace out

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1c00e00a-6c90-40ed-b154-71fc22f53497*