TVSquad

Director Sam Raimi, the man who created such gut-wrenching horrors as The Evil Dead trilogy and Spider Man 3, takes his talent for disemboweling innocent people and chopping off limbs with a dull ax to television ... for a reality show?!?

13 - Fear is Real premieres tonight January 7 on The CW at 8 p.m. eastern. It puts 13 innocent (not really) people in the middle of a fake horror movie, and the last one standing on their bloody stumps takes home the grand prize.

The reality show aims to do for horror movies what Next Action Star did for action movies - rip them off and turn them into another schlock reality show that requires little to no creative ideas or thought.

In this one, 13 people go into the forest where they are subjected to the shocks and scares of an ominous stalker. The contestants include a 25-year-old musician from Oregon, a 22-year-old student from Austin, and a 26-year-old sport show co-host from Georgia - all stupid enough to tell network executives their real fears and personal scariest movies, only to have them turned against them.

The winner receives $66,666 as the grand prize, a small amount considering they could win much more for doing less on other game shows and they could walk away with their super-egos intact.

Frankly, I had much higher hopes for Sam Raimi's television career. The show is destined to fail since it's airing opposite the rating juggernaut that is American Idol. I would have preferred to watch an actual horror series from the man who brought Ash and Spider-Man to the big screen. I, nay the world, demands to see Evil Dead: the Animated Series before they die.