In college, he teamed up with his brother's roommate Robert Tapert and Campbell to shoot Within the Woods (1978), a 32-minute horror film which raised $375,000, as well as his debut feature film It's Murder!. He began to make Super 8 movies with his friend Bruce Campbell, whom he met in 1975.
Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father brought a movie camera home one day. Raimi graduated from Groves High School and later went on to attend Michigan State University, where he studied English but left after three semesters to film The Evil Dead.
Another older brother, Sander, died at 15 in an accidental drowning Raimi has said that the trauma knitted the remaining family closer together and "coloured everything he's done for the rest of his life." He is an elder brother of actor Ted Raimi, and a younger brother of screenwriter and physician Ivan Raimi. His ancestors were Jewish immigrants from Russia and Hungary. He is a son of merchants Celia Barbara (née Abrams) and Leonard Ronald Raimi. Raimi was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, to a Conservative Jewish family. His next film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is scheduled for a release on May 6, 2022. He founded the production company Renaissance Pictures in 1979 and Ghost House Pictures in 2002. Raimi has also produced several successful television series, including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and its spin-off Xena: Warrior Princess. His films are known for their ostentatious and highly-dynamic visual style, inspired by comic books and slapstick comedy. He also directed the 1990 superhero film Darkman, the 1998 neo-noir crime-thriller A Simple Plan, the 2000 supernatural thriller film The Gift, the 2009 supernatural horror film Drag Me to Hell, and the 2013 Disney fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful. He is known for creating the Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007) and the Evil Dead franchise (1981–present). Raimi ( / ˈ r eɪ m i/ RAYM-ee born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker, producer and actor.