For more than four decades for four decades, the Evil Dead has been the bizarre Teddy Bear's picnic of horror -- blood-soaked, black-humoured tale in which kids visit the woods and discover a big surprise. https://www.evildeadriseimovie.com/ -director Lee Cronin's new addition to the franchise is a break in the tradition like a bone. In the past, all hell would break loose in the bowels rustic cabins that creak in the dark woodlands of rural America The fifth installment in the big-screen Evil Dead canon redirects its blood-sucking monsters to urban LA.
Some weren't convinced of the move when the film's first trailer dropped in the last quarter of last year. Could the Evil Dead movie still feel like an Evil Dead movie, some fans were concerned, without the isolation that fueled the previous films? Were Cronin, plus producers Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell at risk of taking an axe to the exact element that made the original Evil Dead groovy?
The answer, as it comes out is a clear, "Hell, no." Evil Dead Rise -where two sisters who are separated, Beth (Lily Sullivan) and Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) meet just in time for an old Sumerian text to doom them and their entire family- is a rare horror sequel-cum-reboot that reimagines and refreshes instead of simply rewriting. The film does indeed re-create the creepy vibe of the film's original by Sam Raimi, blurring the line between humour and horror by pouring 6,500 litres blood along the line and scorching the ground on the basis of which it's drawn.
Yes, it's a story that continues to tell of unwitting teens accidentally unearthing the 'Necronomicon Ex-Mortis', an unholy book that summons terrifying hordes of the damned and creates chaos every when it's opened, just like the memoir of Prince Harry. It also features an energetic hero who rises up to his own occasion slashing to pieces Deadites with the ferocity of tomorrow, wielding a familiar weapon or two during the process.
But Evil Dead Rise also takes the series to new and exciting locations that go beyond its current locations located in La La Land. Cronin is a key new voice in the field of horror, as anyone who has seen his 2018 chiller The Hole In The Ground will attest to -- is a filmmaker who thrives on finding fresh ways to scare. his second feature film has more imaginative scares than you can make a sound with an Ash Williams boomstick at.
Each scene expertly exploits the cramped home environment that its story takes place in, leading to set pieces with various cooking tools which will leave you shaking in terror at your cheese grater next time you open up your kitchen drawer. Be prepared for your steps to go through the roof in the weeks following your first viewing of this film. A terrifying scene that traps viewers inside an elevator, accompanied by an unidentified, earring-stealing demon. You'll probably be taking the steps for the rest of your life.
The character-based work in Evil Dead Rise is comparable to the series' best in the series, featuring Beth and Ellie fighting their own personal demons long before any actual demons awake. However, that's not the primary appeal of the series, and Cronin recognizes it. The title goes to the Deadites which are the film's disgusting and shit-talking ghouls who are incredibly mischievous and violent in this movie.
Evil, it's true, doesn't just rise in this film, no matter what the title promises. Instead it tames and afflicts. It decapitates and disfigures. It crawls under the skin of the actors and the viewers and then eats them as if they were molars in a glass and spits you out in a bloody mess.
Does the film meet your expectations? Not quite. Story beats are often detectable at a distance- it's how it happens instead of what happens that drives Cronin's screenplay . And the movie's single-apartment set-up can be a hindrance as well as helps, keeping the tension cranked high yet making the film feel tiny after the event. These aren't the only issues that, especially given the context surrounding this revival of one of horror's most beloved treasures.
It's been quite a while since Evil Dead last graced the big screen and even more from a story that bottled the brutal magic of the original trilogy. A remake in 2013 called Evil Dead, produced by Raimi and directed by Fede Alvarez, was an admirable attempt which was all about the show's adolescent doses of zany humour. Also, the highly-rated but recently ended Ash Vs Evil Dead never moved out of its tiny screen home. With Evil Dead Rise, the Evil Dead franchise has gorily found its rhythm.