In 1981, director Sam Raimi headed out to the backwoods of Tennessee with a few buddies to make a low-budget indie pic that would change both their lives and those of horror film enthusiasts everywhere. Since then, the Evil Dead world has been thriving. There have been sequels, a remake, and a boisterous TV series (starring fan fave Bruce Campbell) that has let loose upon the Earth more Deadites, Kandarian demons, and Sumarian Books of the Dead than you can shake a chainsaw at. And now, in the year of our lord 2023, we have the new chapter in the series, Evil Dead Rise, which promises enough carnage to make previous excursions look like kiddie romps. So does it make good on that promise? And does it tell a compelling story? Yep…
Written and directed by Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground), Evil Dead Rise takes Raimi’s Deadites from rural cabins to an apartment building in Los Angeles where a strange yet oddly familiar book is unearthed yet again. The story follows Beth (Lily Sullivan) as she visits her sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her three kiddos in their dilapidated home. Newly abandoned by her husband and facing eviction, Beth isn’t doing too hot when her eldest son Danny (Morgan Davies) discovers an old bank vault in the basement of their building, but once he excavates a book bound in human skin and a few dusty recordings of incantations, things really get messy.
The family must evade Ellie’s new appetite for souls, all while the Book of the Dead is looking to increase its numbers. Evil Dead Rise’s claustrophobic atmosphere is conjured by the close quarters on screen. There’s limited space to run to once mommy starts showing her love using soldering irons, with only a few rooms and no electricity.
The cast sells the blood-soaked outing with their strong performances, particularly Sutherland as Ellie. Once evil takes hold, her jerky movements, unflinching stare, and commitment to absolutely annihilating her own offspring is the perfect…
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