I’ll never say no to something with Evil Dead vibes, especially when that something is directed by Sam Raimi himself, but Raimi’s new Quibi anthology series just isn’t fun enough, scary enough or creative enough to make a big impression. Not yet, at least.

I had access to the first three installments of 50 States of Fright, the three parts that make up the Michigan portion of the show, a story titled “The Golden Arm.” In it, we meet high school sweethearts turned happy husband and wife, Dave (Travis Fimmel) and Heather (Rachel Brosnahan). Heather has always been the prettiest girl in the county. She knows it and Dave knows it too, so Dave will do absolutely anything for her, even if it’s showering her in gifts he can’t afford. Usually that means buying Heather an expensive piece of jewelry, buy when tragedy strikes, that need to please compels both to make the ultimate sacrifice.

First off, Fimmel and Brosnahan are solid in the roles. It’s quite fun seeing the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel take a darker turn and “The Golden Arm” is worth a watch just to see how Fimmel’s strapping lumberjack character reacts to jump scares. The problem is, Dave and Heather’s story is pretty thin. Yes, we’re talking about short form horror here, but if you’re not going to let a scary story breathe, you better have far more clever “aha moments” up your sleeve. (And not make me think of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark every time you utter the title of the story.)

“The Golden Arm" does show off a few fun scare tactics here and there, but there’s not enough of them and, perhaps even more detrimental, the Quibi format does a disservice to the material by not giving the filmmaker enough time to build suspense and dread. It’s almost as if “The Golden Arm” is caught between the short and feature length formats. As is, it feels rushed, and it’s less scary because of it. One can’t help but to think that “The Golden Arm” might have had the intended effect had we been able to spend more time with Dave and Heather during better days before feeling the full force of their descent into darkness. And that also could have supported the overarching concept of 50 States of Fright far better. The anthology series is designed to tell a handful of state-specific urban legends. When you’re told such a story, you want it to stick with you. There is a tinge of satisfaction that comes with the realization that someone might repeat what happened to Dave and Heather in the state of Michigan, but the story just isn’t catchy enough to keep it on your mind beyond that brief moment.

The one thing 50 States of Fright has going for it that some other Quibi originals seem to be lacking is a sense of style. Perhaps this is just what you get when you bring in a master like Raimi, but the visuals all have such texture to them. They’re very well lit, there are a number of striking frames and tonally, The Golden Arm is cohesive. With a number of other well-known genre directors stepping in to helm the other installments like The Hole in the Ground’s Lee Cronin and Cam director Daniel Goldhaber, I’m confident that style will continue to be a major asset going forward. And I’d make the same bet with performances as well because this roster is absolutely loaded with top notch talent.

Again, 50 States of Fright is an anthology series and the quality of each story is bound to vary, but as my most anticipated piece of programming on the Quibi line-up, it’s hard not to wish that the story offered up for review was a little more creative and engaging than this.

Rating: ★★1/2