Submitted photo S-Mart employee Ash, played by Tommy Kuchulis, must stop the forces of evil in “Evil Dead the Musical (Dead for the Hellidays)” opening Thursday at 2nd Street Theater in Bend.

Just in time for Christmas, 2nd Street Theater is playing Santa for local fans of “Evil Dead the Musical.”

The ever-popular show opens Thursday at the Bend theater (see “If you go”), staging the theatrical version of the cult-classic low-budget film series for the fourth time in five years.

In past years, the folks at 2nd Street targeted its run for Halloween, a time of year befitting the gory, campy, F-bomb wielding musical based on characters created by Sam Raimi and arguably made famous by its over-the-top lead, Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams.

However, 2nd Street and a few “Evil Dead” cast members were tied up all summer and early fall with a large-scale production of “Spamalot,” according to director Sandy Klein of Stage Right Productions, which runs 2nd Street and staged “Spamalot” at the Tower Theatre in September.

That meant postponing “Evil Dead,” said Klein.

“Evil Dead” caters to a completely different audience than usually attends the theater, Klein said, adding that she’d “kind of made the promise that I’d bring back the show every year.”

She considered postponing “Evil Dead” till spring, which might have been fitting, as the musical’s events transpire during spring break. But without another Christmas show in mind, Klein said, “We all just kind of came up with ‘How about (“Evil Dead”) for Christmas? That could be a lot of fun!’”

Thus, “Evil Dead the Musical (Dead for the Hellidays)” was born, transferring the gore from spring break to Christmas vacation.

As anyone who’s ever been on the losing end of a Black Friday tug-of-war knows, the holidays can be murder: Just ask S-Mart employee Ash and his fellow revelers who venture to an abandoned cabin — never a good idea, kids! — where they kinda sorta unleash an evil force that turns the partiers into demons. Oops.

It’s up to Ash to keep the evil at bay, even if that means severing ties, so to speak, with his own hand as well as his girlfriend, Linda (Kara Davison). Joining them in the mayhem is Ash’s sister (Jenny MacKenzie) and friends Scotty (Todd Schetzsle) and Shelly (Sydnee O’Loughlin).

Starring as Ash, and making a choice stand-in for Campbell, is Tommy Kuchulis, who’s all rubber physicality and toothy grins, an actor clearly game to deliver all the bravado and one-liners the role demands.

It’s all of the fun of the ’80s and ’90s comedy-horror franchise, plus songs written by a team of four including George Rainblatt, who also wrote the book and lyrics, and choreography by Krystina Jermaczonak. A four-piece band will provide the cast live accompaniment.

As the “hellidays” subtitle suggests, the whole thing is spruced up with a Christmas motif. That holiday feeling is primarily achieved through references to “A Christmas Story” and other pop-culture borrowings. Listen closely and you may even hear one of the possessed call Ash a cotton-headed ninnymuggins.

The cabin set has holiday decorations including mistletoe, a wreath and a deer head with a nose that glows, which offer a nice contrast to the chainsaw, sawed-off double barrel shotgun and axe.

Throw in some zombie Christmas carols and a candy cane that shoots blood, and you have “Evil Dead the Musical (Dead for the Hellidays).”

For the unsqueamish, and those who want to prove they attended the show by bringing it home with them, for a few extra bucks you can secure a seat in the front row, also known as “the splatter zone.” But bear in mind that 2nd Street is a small space and choose your seat accordingly.

Spurting blood, even fake blood, is probably nobody’s idea of a Christmas decoration. But you have to admit: It is red, although not necessarily the shade of red Santa swears by. There are even a couple of trees that come to life (played by Neil London and Pierce Morrow) but they’re also evil.

“It may be even more raunchy than we’ve done in the past,” Klein said of the production. “It’s one of those deals where we’re already doing this for Christmas. Why hold back now?”

— Reporter: 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com