Evil Dead Rise – Review
117 Minutes, Rated R
Written and Directed by Lee Cronin
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.
Who would have thought back in 1981 that the glint in Sam Raimi’s eye, brought to life through the larger-than-life physicality of Bruce “Ash” Campbell, would spawn 2 sequels (Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness), 3 seasons of television (Ash vs The Evil Dead), a spiritual sequel/reboot from writer/director Fede Alvarez in 2013 (Evil Dead), and now another extension of that horrific universe in 2023?
Zero.
Zero people would have thought that.
But now we have, in front of our eyeballs, Evil Dead Rise, from Irish horror writer/director Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground), blessed by Raimi and Campbell, and ready to make us scream once again.
With a bit of a head-fake with an opening that takes us back to a cabin in the woods, the scene shifts quickly to a run-down apartment building (that used to be a bank… this is important in a minute) in Los Angeles where a single mom and her three kids welcome (?) home their sister/aunt.
An earthquake breaks open the parking cargage floor, exposing…THE BANK VAULT!
Into said vault goes the DJ-wanna be teen boy who finds a weird book (!) and some old records… because he’s a DJ.
As a longtime fan, myself, I understand how some folks might be hesitant to take the horror out of the woods and into the big city, but since Lee Cronin has made this into a recognizably confined space, the fact that it takes place inside an apartment instead of a cabin works fine.
And the fact the “new” Book of the Dead looks markedly different from the “classic” version is also explained in the movie, which itself opens the door to at least one more possible avenue of attack by the Deadites.
The cast here is pretty solid, with the relationship between sisters Beth and Ellie (Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland) establishing the tone for the rest of the film.
Because nothing is more horrific than a dysfunctional family, am I right?
The kids (Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, and Nell Fisher) are suitably angsty enough or innocent enough to make those bits flow smoothly.
And speaking of flow, 1,700 gallons of blood can’t be wrong.
While Cronin’s version, much as the 2013 Alvarez version did, leans far more into the horror than the comedy of Raimi’s original trilogy, but that’s okay. It’s a different cinematic landscape in which we find ourselves, so that kind of thing wouldn’t necessarily play the same as it did back then.
There are nods aplenty to Raimi’s originals, though. From some props, to some phrasing, to the distinctive camera work, all of which are subtle enough to not detract from what this current film is giving us, except in one or two places when I really just wanted to say “move on,” Evil Dead Rise provides just the right amount of fan service without crossing over into The Rise of Skywalker territory.
And that’s not even counting the homage to one of the most horrific bits ever put on camera: the tree rape.
No trees in an apartment building, but a situation occurs that evokes enough of that scene to remind you why they don’t finish it here.
All in all, Evil Dead Rise is an eminently enjoyable modern expansion of the Evil Dead universe, one I look forward to seeing more of.
Oh, and the head-fake opening scene? Totally paid back at the end of the film.
Evil Dead Rise is playing in theaters now and stars Mirabai Pease, Richard Crouchley, Anna-Maree Thomas, Lily Sullivan, alyssa Sutherland, Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, Jayden Daniels, Tai Wano, and Mark Mitchinson.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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