Necronomicon - Evil Dead 1, 2 & 3

[Howlrunner]

The necronomicon ex mortis is one of my favourite props, but it wasn't until recently that I decided to revisit the films and take a proper look at it. The differences in it's design are pretty interesting.

"Evil Dead" version(s) - Appears to be about the size of an A5 notebook. Note the variation in the sculpt:

This last image is actually of the "hero" book - the one that Ash opens and looks through. You can see that it's quite different (much rougher sculpt) from the other versions.


"Evil Dead 2" version(s) - appears a little larger than in ED1 and quite a different, more refined, sculpt:

So it appears that the latex DVD cover for "Evil Dead" is actually a copy of the book featured in "Evil Dead 2".


"Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness" version(s) - a larger book again, and totally different sculpt:

The pages and illustrations inside the books change a bit from film to film as well:

Evil Dead 3 book on the left, Evil Dead 2 book on the right.

Evil Dead 2 "hero" book on left, Evil Dead 2 "prologue" book on right (colouration appears a little different to me).

Evil Dead 1 book - page layout if different.

Evil Dead 2 "prologue" book on left, Evil Dead 1 "hero" book on right - colouration and layout are quite different.


That's all the variations I could find in the films - I still have no idea what these two versions are based on:

Evil Dead 2 DVD cover designed by Tom Sullivan on left and official Army of Darkness necronomicon puppet from Bump In The Night Productions on the right.

I'm also sure that there were pages featured in the movie that actually showed Ash, but I can't find them anywhere watching the ED3 DVDs (Theatrical and Director's Cut).

 

[CessnaDriver]

Thanks for those screen grabs.

I knew there were some differences but those are very dramatic differences. I guess it was so evil it could change it's appearance! :lol

I have new respect for that DVD cover now.

 

[JDarko]

thanks for the pics, they're ace! Wanted to get round to making the second Necronomicon book but now think all of them together would make an awesome display!
Thanks again:thumbsup

 

[Contec]

I belive they say on the Evil Dead dvd commentary that the first book was made by using one of the male actors latexs masks smeared over the cover.

 

[anniv111701]

I agree, Howlrunner (thanks for the screencaps, BTW) - it's a great prop & I've always wanted to do a copy of it, but I couldn't really remember what the book really looked like, just my impressions of it - and remembering it being disappointingly less impressive by ED3.

I'm glad my memories of the cover (confirmed by your photos) aren't as bad as I thought... about a dozen different versions, starting off with a pretty gory human-skin-stretched-over-a-book look and getting more & more gee-I'm-sure-I-could-make-that-out-of-Sculpey as they went along.

Your first photo's inspired me, though - maybe some thin, wet leather stretched & dried over a mannequin face & then crisping up the orifices with a heat gun would be in keeping with the spirit of the Necronomicon...

Take care,
Mike

 

[CB2001]

Plus, there is a size difference between the book in the first film and the second one. The book in the first film is smaller than the one in "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness". The size of the book in the first film is actually close to the size of a DVD in length and width (not including pages). Honestly, out of all replicas of the book, the closest that matches (going by how it looks in film), is my copy of the "Evil Dead: Book of the Dead" Necronomicon. For the book in "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness", they are roughly the size (by length and width, not thickness) of a normal wireframe notebook, you know the normal kind that typically used in high school, if not a bit bigger than that, like the Five Star notebooks from Mead.

 

[Howlrunner]

I belive they say on the Evil Dead dvd commentary that the first book was made by using one of the male actors latexs masks smeared over the cover.

I'm sure I read that somewhere too. Would be interesting to try, just to see the results.

Your first photo's inspired me, though - maybe some thin, wet leather stretched & dried over a mannequin face & then crisping up the orifices with a heat gun would be in keeping with the spirit of the Necronomicon...

Now that's an idea..... I've always wondered about wet-forming leather. I have a few pieces that have been made that way but have never understood how is it done, and how is the leather made so hard?

Plus, there is a size difference between the book in the first film and the second one. The book in the first film is smaller than the one in "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness". The size of the book in the first film is actually close to the size of a DVD in length and width (not including pages). Honestly, out of all replicas of the book, the closest that matches (going by how it looks in film), is my copy of the "Evil Dead: Book of the Dead" Necronomicon. For the book in "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness", they are roughly the size (by length and width, not thickness) of a normal wireframe notebook, you know the normal kind that typically used in high school, if not a bit bigger than that, like the Five Star notebooks from Mead.

Yeah, these pics show the size difference between the ED1 book and the ED2 & ED3 books quite well:

 

[anniv111701]

Now that's an idea..... I've always wondered about wet-forming leather. I have a few pieces that have been made that way but have never understood how is it done, and how is the leather made so hard?

Probably the easiest is just soaking it (1 part ammonia to 8 parts water, if I recall) at room temperature for several minutes and dropping it on the form to dry. You can make it a little firmer by drying it near a heat source or in direct sunlight, but I think up around 150 degrees F it starts to get brittle.

 

[anniv111701]

Howlrunner -

Out of curiosity I did a quick search for more info on stiffening leather & came across the following; it's aimed at leather armor, but the principles are the same & it's pretty in-depth...

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~Marc-Carlson/leather/hl.html

Take care,
Mike

 

[ReturningSon]

The original was made by Tom Sullivan. His website (link at the bottom) is really cool. He sells exact duplicates of the book in a wooden case for a grand (really cool). Anyway, just lettin you deadites know!

http://www.darkageproductions.com/

 

[Betamin]

I moved several months back and packed away my DVD "Evil dead" book that I used to have on display. I need to dig that out and set it on my shelves again. Friends used to say "What the hell is THAT??" and most were grossed out to find it was "squishy" with the foam latex cover. :lol

 

[CTF]

Cool thread!

I prefer the book from Evil Dead II, but I'm not the only one... it seems to be the most popular with fans.

Last holiday season I decided to give a miniature Necronomicon [that came with the McFarlane Ash] to a gal, along with his interpretation of the spell printed out on some paper. She loved it!

Groovy.

 

[Grey]

I posted this already in the other Evil Dead thread about this awhile back, but here it is again. I cut out the part on the DVD commentary for Evil Dead 2 where Sam Raimi talks about the prop.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1244235/evildeadcommentary.mp3

 

[weaselflinger]

I knew a guy that made replicas of the Necronomicon and sold them a few years back until Tom Sullivan came down on him like the wrath of God.

 

[CB2001]

I know of two tutorials at Instructables for how to make your own Necronomicon from "Evil Dead".

Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2

 

[Simmon M]

I knew a guy that made replicas of the Necronomicon and sold them a few years back until Tom Sullivan came down on him like the wrath of God.

Antrock - very cool guy. He made an amazing replica. He made one with with these "flesh" like pages and reproduced by hand all of the artwork from the original.

 

[weaselflinger]

Yup, that's him. I know that Tom went as far as to harass him on ebay auctions and such that had nothing to do with Evil Dead...Not that I'm blaming Tom, just as a word of caution to others...

 

[CB2001]

Yup, that's him. I know that Tom went as far as to harass him on ebay auctions and such that had nothing to do with Evil Dead...Not that I'm blaming Tom, just as a word of caution to others...

Wait a second, you mean to tell me he harrassed someone who had a replica of the Necronomicon, not from "Evil Dead", but an H.P. Lovecraft Necronomicon, and was welling this H.P. Lovecraft replica of the Necronomicon? Sorry, I'm just trying to understand it because of the way the whole thing is worded.

 

[weaselflinger]

Antrock made Evil Dead Necronomicon replicas (not HPL Necronomicons). Tom apparently holds all the rights to his original work and (rightfully) threatened Antrock with legal action if he didn't cease and desist.

Now from this point on the story is a little sketchy, because Tony (Antrock) sometimes likes to exagerate things in his favor, but he told me that after he stopped making the Evil Dead Replicas, Tom continued to harass him online going so far as to monitor and attempt to shut down Tony's eBay auctions that had nothing to with Evil Dead.

The moral of the story is if the license holder is just some guy in Michigan trying to sell official replicas at $1,000, he probably won't like others trying to do the same at a lower price.

 

[Contec]

We have talanted artists here on the forum that could draw the pages for us......maybe put into the Paper props thread. ?