Evil Dead Rise Review

The Evil Dead franchise makes it for a fifth cinematic entry. Evil Dead Rise aimed to mix the carnage of the original trilogy and the more serious tone of the 2013 reboot.

Beth (Lily Sullivan) is a guitar engineer who’s constantly on tour. When Beth finds out she’s pregnant she visits her sister, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), a single mother of three children. After an earthquake, Ellie’s son, Danny (Morgan Davies) discovers a volume of Naturom Demonto and accidentally unleashes the Deadite upon his family.

The Evil Dead was the franchise that made Sam Raimi’s name as a filmmaker. The first film was a creative low-budget effort that was more outlandish as it progressed, the second film was an outlandish splatter fest, and the third film changed genre by being a swords-and-sorcery film. There was a gradual escalation in the scope of the story and special effects. Even when the series was rebooted in 2013, Raimi’s production company was involved and Raimi and the trilogy’s original star, Bruce Campbell worked as producers.

Evil Dead (2013) aimed to be a grittier and more realistic take and was tonally more serious. However, it was an overly bleak film and the gore sequences felt more like torture porn because they were so detailed. It made the reboot an unpleasant experience. Evil Dead Rise was able to balance a more serious tone while still making sure the gore was outrageously outlandish. This was a film where a body part flew into someone’s mouth. It would have fitted in the original trilogy. The violence was fun because it didn’t linger on the more gruesome bits and allowed audiences to enjoy the bloodletting. This was a film that knew how to have fun since it had a chainsaw-wielding, blood-covered woman.

Evil Dead Rise did reconfigure the formula of the previous films. Three of the four previous films were cabin in the wood stories with characters in college. Evil Dead Rise changed the setting to an apartment in Los Angeles and the major characters were related. There was an automatic sympathise factor because one of the characters was a young girl who had a sense of innocence. The family was dysfunctional, Ellie was the one who kept them together. Ellie was hard-working and caring towards her children, so it was hard for the family when Ellie becomes possessed. The characters were flawed but weren’t bad people, so they weren’t just slasher fodder.

Adding to the family theme was Beth’s pregnancy. She had to face the prospect of motherhood and when Ellie became possessed, Beth was thrust into leadership.  As the film progressed her maternal instincts grew, as did her bond with Kassie (Neil Fisher).

The family theme made Evil Dead Rise more like a Blumhouse Production. Blumhouse has made a few films where a family faces a horror threat: Insidious and Sinister being prime examples of this. Evil Dead Rise had a modest budget, and it has already made a load of money in less than a week, so it would have fitted the Blumhouse model.

The filmmakers did reinterpret some of the franchise tropes. Whilst Evil Dead Rise was set in an urban setting, the filmmakers were still able to trap the characters in a small, confined space. The family were trapped on the top floor of their apartment building. In three of the four films, the first person who becomes possessed gets tied down and attacked by trees. In this entry the victim gets attacked by wires and pipes, showing the Deadites could adapt to any environment. These were excellent ways to make the film seem fresh whilst still being familiar. Evil Dead Rise did look and feel different to the original trilogy, it still honoured the past and acted as a way for the franchise to expand its universe.

Evil Dead Rise aimed to be a fun blood fest, there were also some effective horror moments. The scene where the action could only be seen through door viewer. It was a moment that left a lot to the imagination. There was some horrific imagery, in a good way in Evil Dead Rise.

Evil Dead Rise found the right balance to being a blood and gut horror film for long standing Evil Dead and ensured there was emotional investment so audiences can root for the characters.