Evil Dead Rise Review: Worthy Yet Surprising Addition to the Franchise
Cast: Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, Nell Fisher
Director: Lee Cronin
Where to Watch: In Cinemas
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Evil Dead Rise is the latest installment in the beloved Evil Dead franchise created by Sam Raimi in 1981 with Bruce Campbell as the iconic character of the anti-hero Ash. In the latest film directed by Lee Cronin, out in cinemas from April 20 with Warner Bros., and produced by Raimi and Campbell themselves as well as the inevitable Rob Tapert, the terrible Necronomicon Ex-Mortis strikes again. This time evil doesn’t wake up in the woods but in the middle of the metropolis, inside an old building, a former bank, ready to be redeveloped after having evicted those few souls left there.
As we will see in this review of Evil Dead Rise, the new horror written and directed by Lee Cronin does not betray the soul of the original trilogy but rather re-proposes in all respects that “caciarone” horror that was his trademark, not skimping on splatter and grotesque, but finding the right balance with its more genuinely terrifying side, and thus entertaining the viewer to the maximum. Evil Dead Rise is a sequel / standalone that opens new interesting doors for future developments of the franchise, which incorporates the most salient features of the original but also inserts unexpected turns and twists, perfect for involving an audience of old and new fans.
Evil Dead Rise Review: The Story Plot
After a “forest” incipit that would suggest a more classic setting, we are taken back twenty-four hours, to Los Angeles, to the home of Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her three children. Ellie’s sister Beth (Lily Sullivan) suddenly returns home after discovering she is pregnant by her; the girl lived a life of travel and adventure, working as a sound engineer for a successful band, and now she finds herself looking for support and a new direction. Ellie isn’t having an easy time either: she was recently left by her husband and is forced to move because the condominium where she lives with her three children – Danny, Bridget, and Kassie (respectively Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher) – is to be demolished. As if that weren’t enough, shortly after Beth’s arrival, an earthquake hits the city, undermining the foundations of the building. In the parking lot, where Danny, Bridget, and Kassie are at the moment of the events, a chasm opens up which reveals a secret chamber, the vault of an abandoned bank.
Curiosity is decidedly stronger than common sense and young Danny decides to explore the mysterious room: inside he finds a book and some vinyl recordings. Back home, he inspects the heavy, ominous volume (which – coincidentally – opens wide after accidentally absorbing a drop of his blood) and listens to the contents of the vinyls, unaware that he is about to bring hellish forces upon himself and his family. A disturbing recorded prayer awakens an evil entity, which targets Ellie: the woman will transform into a monstrous version of herself, thirsty for blood and impossible to contain. It will be up to Beth to protect the children, but the thing that has taken possession of her sister’s body is a concentrate of perversion and absolute evil.
As we have seen, compared to the previous transpositions, the premises of this new chapter are slightly different, albeit similar. The plot of Evil Dead Rise develops mainly around two sisters, Beth (Lily Sullivan) and Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), both unresolved in their own way. As Ellie tries to move beyond the sudden end of her marriage and raise her three children with eviction looming, Beth wants to escape responsibility for her own actions. On a classic horror movie night, Beth surprises Ellie by finding some support and complicity, unaware of the difficult period her sister is facing. All of this is nothing compared to what is going to happen. An earthquake rocks the city, creating a deep crack in the garage of the building and exposing the vault of the old bank that was previously the home of Ellie and her family.
The eldest son, Danny, as curious as any teenager who needs to be taught a little survival spirit, descends into the ruins by digging up a series of old and dusty books, one of which is very disturbing. What do we do, leave it there? But not. After all, what do you want a ceiling of crucifixes and protection amulets to be, a real sarcophagus as a bookkeeper, and a “blanket” of flying insects as a symbol of something sinister? No, let’s take him home. What could go wrong? The answer will come moments later when Danny and his sister Bridget open the book, discovering a series of illustrations of torture done in blood. Despite Bridget’s warnings to bring the book back immediately, Danny decides to listen to the three recovered records, awakening something that would have been better never to know.
Evil Dead Rise Review and Analysis
For those who have read our review of The Pope’s Exorcist, you will know that I complained that the film was not really scary. But in this case, we are. Having seen so many horror films from all eras, I feel quite anesthetized, but the building of tension in this case is really well-centered. This is possible thanks to exceptional music, which penetrates the eardrums and bones of the spectators. But above all thanks to an excellent direction, fantastic especially in close-ups and in shots from behind capable of developing a good depth of field. The most successful scenes, however, are those from the peephole of the door, from which you will not look again for at least a week after the vision. Again, nothing had already been seen, but everything was well-built.
As we anticipated at the beginning, Evil Dead Rise finds the right balance between splatter and “caciarone” entertainment and a genuinely terrifying side. The combination works and involves the horror-loving spectator even more, who continually passes from the most total shock to the most subtle disquiet. The sequence dedicated to the Necronomicon, in particular, perfectly conveys the dark and demonic nature of the book, defining the tone of everything that will happen as a result: between the toothed opening and the terrible drawings made with blood, we immediately understand that shortly thereafter the hell. The scene of Ellie’s possession is then a real waking nightmare. Horror fans will notice the numerous references not only to the original saga but also to other horror masterpieces (have you ever wondered what it feels like to be “inside” the Shining elevator?), evidence of genuine love of Cronin for the genre.
As anticipated before, director Lee Cronin managed to find the right equation within the film between “not taking oneself too seriously” in perfect Raimi style and an even more raw and splattery representation of the image which had used Fede Álvarez in his remake (but taking himself all too seriously). The result is just over an hour and a half of healthy fun and blood galore, where the essence and spirit of the Evil Dead are respected, using the more contemporary canons of mainstream horror but without ever slipping into clichés. From the very first scene, directing of Cronin lets us immerse ourselves in what are the typical movements of Raimi’s handheld camera, with the sensation of having the subjective view of the demon upon us, menacing and disturbing, ready to fall mercilessly and make us his puppets of flesh to destroy from within. However, Cronin does not fall into the easy trap of fan service or making everything a bad copy of the style of the American director but uses the homage as an appetizing element that is easy to grasp for expert fans, but who also know how to surprise and please the viewer from the less trained eye.
Indeed, it is precisely through the visual and directorial quotation that the Irish director manages to insert innovative elements and variations in the theme that make this film original and at the same time faithful. Although perhaps at the end, a small cameo by Ash would have been nice, even as a scene after the credits for the mere satisfaction of the longtime fan, everything manages to work perfectly. You never really miss Ash because, after all, that’s another story. Sure, the Book of the Dead is always the same, its origin doesn’t change, as does its thirst for blood and destruction, but the story does. The protagonists change, their actions, their paths and, after all, we can also find a little bit of Ash in Beth’s character. as well as his lust for blood and destruction, but the story does. The protagonists change, their actions, their paths and, after all, we can also find a little bit of Ash in Beth’s character. as well as his lust for blood and destruction, but the story does. The protagonists change their actions, and their paths, and, after all, we can also find a little bit of Ash in Beth’s character.
One of the narrative elements that distinguish Evil Dead Rise from the previous installments of the franchise is its focus on the sisterhood, on the characters of Ellie and Beth. And it must be said that we have two extraordinary actresses here, Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan. Sullivan takes on the weight of survival, of abandoning all reason, of being willing to do anything, transforming herself in the end, with no small amount of suffering, into a furious killer of demons; Sutherland is irresistible in her violent character change. Not only is she bloody believable, but there’s a study of her movements that makes her creepy, bringing to mind the thought that no, you wouldn’t want to find her as a neighbor even for all the money in the world.
While the original films centered around a group of friends, this film shines a spotlight on two sisters who must rely on each other for survival. The bond between the sisters is convincingly portrayed and adds an emotional depth to the film that is often lacking in horror films. And this, in reality, is also felt with the characters of Danny, Bridget, and Kassie, or Ellie’s children, making the consequences of each action even more atrocious and painful. There is even greater characterization in our protagonists, in their past and those said and unsaid typical of blood ties. Here, perhaps the excuse that a demon takes possession of your relative is the right way to remove more than a few pebbles from your shoe. This is certainly felt in the script and gives that more evil and sarcastic taste to the jokes. Typical then of the same Evil Dead. But, at the same time, it makes some choices even more suffering, and painful, even giving greater intensity to the empathy that the viewer can easily develop.
The presence of more in-depth writing, which is very rare in horror cinema, except for the usual four names we mention, does not however want to weigh down the film or make it too serious or who knows how metaphorical. No, the register kept by Cronin is always that of the irreverent and, in some ways, even a caciarone. One of the defects that we can find in this kind of writing is that he throws the stone towards some issues, such as emotional dependence but also remorse, and then withdraws his hand; that is, too quickly he abandons the concept of the street, immediately moving on to the next quartering. For heaven’s sake, he doesn’t complain about it, but it can be a bit sloppy and, from time to time, it can affect the pacing making it feel a bit bumpy. Let’s say that mostly we are concerned with captivating, endearing, and then… hurting, mortally wounding, sowing clues here and there for the possible future of the franchise.
We have to be honest: having seen the trailer of Evil Dead Rise, what we expected was a film that was too similar to the remake, which took itself too seriously and which only had the name in common with the Evil Dead franchise. How much satisfaction is to be proved wrong with a film which, although not perfect, knows how to revive that type of vibe, having fun but, above all, daring so much with blood? And bloodbath it is! And what wonderful props! Yeah, hats off to Lee Cronin and his staging. After all, one of the winning elements of Evil Dead is precisely showing an avalanche of blood to no end. The last part of the film, in this sense, is spectacular. The highlight of the whole film.
Although there is a large use of CGI, without worrying about being too realistic but keeping some of that cheap patina typical of 80’s horror films, the more artisanal effects, the prosthetic makeup and the “real” liters of blood used staged to make it even crazier, funnier and absolutely epic. Cronin did not spare himself from a real carnage in grand style in the final act, playing not just with the Evil Dead lore, giving us not only particular killings that “foment” the viewer not a little but also bringing to the screen a pair of monsters of all respect. In addition, he has perfectly managed to dose the elements of anxiety and tension, using a palette of dark and gloomy colors that chill and leave the feeling of shivering down the spine. Also, thanks to the change of location, another innovative element of this chapter.
The skyscraper, unlike the isolation in the house in the woods, makes everything more claustrophobic and even more lethal, transforming the building into a real concrete trap for human beings infested with demons, where the only way out would be a good leap from the window with the hope of dying on the spot. I also applaud the music. It pays homage to the main films, it doesn’t anticipate too much, and, above all, it’s not invasive like in most horror films where the task of saving the incompetence of the writing is left to the music. Lee Cronin with Evil Dead Rise has been able to dose each element, creating the right mix and surprising the viewer from start to finish with a film that knows how to entertain, arouse the curiosity of the novice, satisfy the thirst for the blood of the passionate and, above all, paying homage to one of the greatest classics in the history of horror cinema, without offering us a carbon copy devoid of soul and substance. At most, a few souls will be sucked along the way!
Evil Dead Rise Review: The Last Words
Overall, Evil Dead Rise is a worthy, yet surprising, addition to the franchise. It offers tension, fun, and a lot of blood for fans of the main saga, even introducing some new elements capable of keeping things fresh while remaining faithful to the light-hearted spirit of the original work. Not a perfect film, but it can offer an hour and a half of fun for all horror fans. A truly enjoyable film. It will hardly disappoint you; it will hardly exalt you, but it will certainly entertain you pleasantly for a scarce two hours. Renewing a franchise is never easy, the risk of boredom is around the corner, but here the operation is fully successful. There are all the premises for a good trilogy. Now that evil has returned, who can stop it? Only a bad result at the box office, so ran to the cinema to see Evil Dead Rise!
