Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is still dominating the box office, and our brains, with no end in sight. If you are now obsessed with all things Raimi, or all things multiverse, I’ve compiled a list of films to keep that appetite sated.
With Raimi’s special blend of slapstick, fantasy, action, and horror, it can be hard to categorize a film like MoM, because what else is really like it out there? So I’ve decided to break this list down into three different categories depending on what parts of MoM really tickled your fancy: Multiverses, Dark Fantasy, and of course, Zombie Comedies—a.k.a. Zom-Coms!
If you love a multiverse
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
The belle of the ball right now, and rightly so, The Daniels’ latest film tackles the multiverse, and all of its implications, with gleeful, deft hands. It’s an emotional journey about family, love, and finding the joy and optimism in nihilism. Plus, it is silly, and outrageous, and the practical effects are mind-blowing. People are hyping it up for a reason!
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Listen, Spider-Man: No Way Home is fantastic and also tackles some multiverse-al issues, but if you want more of the mind-bending, psychedelic visuals of MoM’s multiverse, take a look back at Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. The animation is gorgeous and perfectly blends the disparate universes, genres, and Spider-Men, into one compelling story.
The One (2001)
In The One, Jet Li plays an agent of “The MultiVerse Authority” (which attempts to control interdimensional travel) who has gone rogue and is traveling to alternate universes to kill all the other versions of himself (to absorb their life energy so that he can transform into a Highlander-esque, superpowered being called “The One”). If that premise doesn’t automatically rule to you, you may not have a pulse! It’s peak Jet Li action, plus it’s up to Jason Statham and Delroy Lindo, and the last remaining Jet Li, to take him down.
Sliding Doors (1998)
For a different multiverse vibe, check out the romantic dramedy Sliding Doors. It presents two alternate realities side by side, one where Gwyneth Paltrow’s Helen makes it onto her subway train and one where she doesn’t. It is peak 90s romance and peak 90s Gwyneth, plus some alternate universe tomfoolery thrown in for good measure.
If you love a dark fantasy
Return to Oz (1985)
If ya’ll thought MoM was too scary for children (it’s rated PG-13), then shield your eyes from this nightmare-inducing classic! Disney’s PG sequel to the original film follows Dorothy (played by a young Fairuza Balk), post the events of the first book/movie, who is sent to an insane asylum and threatened with electroshock therapy because of her stories. And that’s before she escapes back to Oz itself!
She returns to a decimated, horror-filled fantasyland where princesses have collections of decapitated heads, there are terrifying gangs of monsters known as “wheelers,” and even Dorothy’s pals (like TikTok and Jack Pumpkinhead) look, well, uncanny. It’s a cult classic that left us elder millennials (and young Gen-Xers) scarred for life, but we still love it!
Crimson Peak (2015)
If you loved Doctor Strange’s cloak made from the souls of the damned, then you should make sure to check out Guillermo del Toro’s gothic romance Crimson Peak! Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) is haunted by black, dripping ghosts, and the hauntings only increase when she moves in with her new husband (Tom Hiddleston) and his sister (Jessica Chastain) in his crumbling manor. The film is lush with gorgeous costumes and jaw-dropping sets, but it is the oozing, skeletal ghosts that make this film a del Toro classic.
Army of Darkness (1992)
Listen, MoM is a Sam Raimi film which means it is going to be full of nods to Sam Raimi’s other films! And perhaps none more so than the capper to his Evil Dead Trilogy, the zombie/comedy/fantasy extravaganza Army of Darkness! It’s got the army of the undead! Ash trapped in another world! And of course, “Evil Ash”—the zombie leader of the undead army. If you loved the third act of MoM the most, then this is the film for you!
If you love a Zom-Com
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
I would be remiss if I did not also include Sam Raimi’s most perfect film, Evil Dead 2. A reboot of the first film, it turns the story into a full-on, spook-a-blast, slapstick comedy (but, you know, with demons and zombies and stuff.) If you are wondering why Doctor Strange curses Pizza Poppa (played by Bruce Campbell) to hit himself repeatedly, it’s Raimi throwing in a nod to the iconic scene from Evil Dead 2, where Ash has to fight his own possessed hand. It is the scene that cemented Bruce Campbell as a legend, and attention must be paid!
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
We can’t talk zombie comedies without mentioning Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead. A love letter to Romero’s zombie classics, Shaun of the Dead is the story of two best buds trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. It’s full of gore and laughs, so if you are craving even more undead antics after MoM, Shaun of the Dead is for you!
Dead Alive (1992)
An underrated cult classic, Dead Alive was my personal introduction into the sub-genre of horror comedies and it is a banger! Plus, it is one of Peter Jackson’s very first films, so he and Raimishare the “low-budget-perverse-horror-comedy-to-mega-budget-adventure-franchise” pipeline. Dead Alive tells the story of Lionel Cosgrove, a mousy, timid man whose mother is bitten by an evil creature and turned into a zombie. His attempts to hide and protect her fail, and soon the whole town has been turned into the walking dead. The practical effects are hilariously outrageous, and the humor is sharp. Plus, nothing can defeat the iconic moment when the village priest shouts, “I kick ass for the lord!”
(featured image: Marvel)
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