Directed by Lee Cronin, Evil Dead Rise follows the story of Beth (Lily Sullivan) who after a long journey on the road visits her older sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), who is struggling to raise three children alone in a small Los Angeles apartment. However, their reunion is interrupted when they find a strange book hidden in the depths of Ellie’s building, which unleashes horrid flesh-possessing demons.
The Evil Dead franchise is probably one of the most iconic and consistently great horror franchises in existence, which is a rarity in the horror genre. You have the classic Raimi trilogy, the Ash vs Evil Dead show, and the surprisingly well-done 2013 remake. So there was definitely a lot of pressure on newcomer Lee Cronin with his new installment to continue the strong streak of this series. Did he manage to pull it off? He absolutely did.
Evil Dead Rise is another exemplary and demented entry to the Evil Dead franchise, delivering everything that fans would want while also standing out on its own as an extremely fucking good horror film that keeps you in its claws the whole way through. It’s terrifying, it’s relentless, it’s grotesque, it’s darkly funny, it’s highly stylized, it’s a goddamn Evil Dead film through and through that has all the best parts of previous entries but still injects something new.
Now admittedly I haven’t seen much of Lee Cronin’s work but I truly feel like he was the perfect person to take the reins of this franchise from Sam Raimi, way more than Fede Álvarez. I know that may come across as an unpopular opinion but I really feel Lee understands the franchise more in terms of following the roots of the series, creating memorable characters, and choosing not to hold anything back, unlike some horror films tend to do these days.
I have to start off by saying the performances are excellent across the board from everyone in the cast. Lily Sullivan as Beth is a fantastic horror lead in this film and a very compelling one in her own way that I was rooting for just as much as I root for Ash Williams.
There are also surprisingly strong performances from the younger actors playing the kids in the film. Normally I get nervous with kids in horror films as they have the ability to make or break the film but that was definitely not the case here because they were all amazing, especially Nell Fisher as Kassie.
And then we have Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie who is our main Deadite for the film and she was phenomenal! For me personally she is the creepiest and most unsettling Deadite we have had yet in the series. Putting aside all the brilliant grotesque makeup and practical effects she has, it’s Alyssa’s performance that made this Deadite work so effectively and had me feel absolutely terrified. These are the kind of horror villains that I have missed for so long.
The story of Evil Dead Rise has us set again in one location for a long night of bloody demented mayhem but this time it’s not a cabin in the woods nor is it following a group of friends. Instead, it’s set in a run-down Los Angeles apartment building that’s cut off from all forms of help and follows a slightly dysfunctional but still close family.
The choice to focus on a family was the right move and they give just enough exploration and development to the characters in between the madness to make them compelling enough as horror characters, as well as make us feel more emotionally attached to them when terrible things start happening to them. You feel their fear, their horror, and their sadness, making you really feel sorry for them and not wanting any of them to die. I honestly found these characters far more investing than the 2013 group and that’s saying a lot.
The new setting offers so many unique approaches for the Evil Dead toy box to go absolutely nuts in both a narrative sense and a style sense. Lee Cronin and his team make full use of everything the new setting offers, making a compelling graphic horror that does not fall into the trappings or cliches of previous horrors and I am majorly happy with that. Does it pay tribute to its predecessors in various ways with callbacks both audibly and visually? Yes, but it does so in the right way and again adds something new to make it feel refreshing. Nothing felt forced in the slightest. It was all cleverly set up and felt earned when it pays off.
Now while this film goes for a more serious narrative approach similar to the 2013 film there was a surprising amount of classic Raimi dark humor involved in this film that was very much missed. While it doesn’t necessarily go full camp at any point in the film there are moments where they tribute to some of the demented humor that Evil Dead is known for, especially when it comes to the dialogue, violence, and gore.
Speaking of gore holy shit does this film go for it! It lives up to the ultra-violence and gore the series is known for but it also does manage to deliver scenes that made me unexpectedly feel sick. I kid you not there were several instances where the gore almost made me puke which has never happened to me in years, even after watching so many disturbing horrors. So just as a word of precaution don’t eat when watching this film you will regret it! This film is not for the faint of heart by any means and it will assault all your senses in every single way it can. But in case anyone asks no, it never goes to the extreme of the first Evil Dead with the infamous tree scene.
This film is massively stylized in the technical department to match the energy of Sam Raimi’s work with the first two Evil Dead films on every level, from the cinematography to the editing to the effects and even the sound design that enhances this film’s scare factor up to the max.
The famous flying demon camera POV makes an official return in this film and my lord have I missed it so much. It looks absolutely amazing with the modern updates and delivers the exact same anxiety-inducing feelings the originals had but more enhanced. So much was crafted to perfection in this film especially with the cinematography being so excellent featuring a variety of amazing and disturbing shots.
The effects were absolutely off the chain in this film and most of it looked and felt practical for the most part, which I really appreciated. I literally couldn’t pick out any scenes where I felt CGI was obviously used, apart from one scene and that’s a serious first for me. They really put forth serious effort in the gore department and the designs of the Deadites, making them feel like real terrifying monsters and not ugly computer-generated constructs that they could have been.
As for music, we get an extremely skin-crawling score from composer Stephen McKeon whose music kept me on edge the entire time through the film and is used effectively without being overbearing.
Evil Dead Rise was absolute insanity from beginning to end and lives up to the franchise’s bloody reputation perfectly. It’s been too long since a horror like this has affected me the way this one did and I’m happy to say that this film is Groovy! I’m going to give Evil Dead Rise an A+ = 98.
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