The much-anticipated new Evil Dead film finally arrived a full 10 years after the surprisingly decent remake starring Jane Levy. Rise features a new characters and setting, essentially being another reboot with the unfortunate absence or even acknowledgement of her character, whose fate remains unknown after surviving her possession and escaping the dreaded cabin.
For the first time, an Evil Dead story does not take place in a cabin in the woods but in a creepy LA apartment building. Despite most of the characters having a suspicious trace of Australian accents and brief shots of some shrubbery that I don't think grows anywhere in the United States.... But anyway, while the prospect of a new setting for Evil Dead shenanigans seems like a fresh idea, I don't find the ancient supernatural demons and zombies being summoned to invade this drab, modern building succeeding as well as it might've seemed on paper. It could've worked better if it was a sleek, clean, modern apartment complex instead of having the usual flickering lights, dingy areas, and collapsing structures that many horror movies utilize. But on the positive, it does provide some neat horror sequences that would be otherwise not possible in the tried and true cabin in the forest setting.
Despite no continuation of Jane Levy's character from Evil Dead, the leading lady, Mia, gets possessed and serves as the main antagonist and highlight of the film. The actress fully commits to embodying the essence of a scheming, unrelenting deadite gleefully chasing her poor family throughout the general area with various found weapons and nasty taunts. Despite these positives and some very creative sequences and camera perspectives, including one which all takes place through the view of a doorhole, the first half is kind of a slog. The typical setup of how the deadites are conjured is essentially the same as always, with an unassuming character coming across one of the cursed books, curiously opening it, and innocently reading its contents, thereby opening the door for the demons to come through. Cue the unhinged freak show of carnage and gore that everyone paid their money to see.
Director Lee Cronin turns out to be a solid fit for the franchise, despite his debut feature being a wholly different affair: the atmospheric, slow-paced, gothic horror film The Hole in the Ground. While he brings a fresh visual flair to this latest Evil Dead, the unimaginative script is limiting. These characters are hardly any more interesting than the mostly bland cast of Evil Dead 2013, and a misguided and ultimately pointless wraparound story that shows the infamous cabin with unrelated characters who all end up dead anyway that just shows the curse spreading from the apartment building back to its original setting? I think? In any cause, it's pointless and diminishes the overall experience. There is also a lack of surreal sequences that were present in the original trilogy, such as when Ash put his hand through a mirror and it's water, or the lightbulb filling with blood. They attempt one or two half-hearted comedy antics like in the Sam Raimi ones, which stick out when the rest of the movie is so grim and menacing.
With the announcement that the producers are considering making Evil Dead a consistent franchise with a new movie every few years, this doesn't really make a strong case for that idea. Despite delivering on the characteristic gnarliness and featuring excellent directing with some truly impressive sequences on a technical level, Evil Dead Rise at the same time feels too stuck in its ways to stand out or surpass previous entries in the franchise. If they are going to make a follow-up, I would say it really needs to reinvent the wheel beyond just changing up the main setting and actually incorporate some bizarre qualities and more humor in the spirit of all the Ash-starring movies and recent series. Evil Dead Rise may not succeed on all levels, especially regarding the plot, but is still impressive in a number of ways and lives up to the mighty Evil Dead mythology. If they do make a follow-up, it should star Mia, Ash, and Beth teaming up!
For the first time, an Evil Dead story does not take place in a cabin in the woods but in a creepy LA apartment building. Despite most of the characters having a suspicious trace of Australian accents and brief shots of some shrubbery that I don't think grows anywhere in the United States.... But anyway, while the prospect of a new setting for Evil Dead shenanigans seems like a fresh idea, I don't find the ancient supernatural demons and zombies being summoned to invade this drab, modern building succeeding as well as it might've seemed on paper. It could've worked better if it was a sleek, clean, modern apartment complex instead of having the usual flickering lights, dingy areas, and collapsing structures that many horror movies utilize. But on the positive, it does provide some neat horror sequences that would be otherwise not possible in the tried and true cabin in the forest setting.
Despite no continuation of Jane Levy's character from Evil Dead, the leading lady, Mia, gets possessed and serves as the main antagonist and highlight of the film. The actress fully commits to embodying the essence of a scheming, unrelenting deadite gleefully chasing her poor family throughout the general area with various found weapons and nasty taunts. Despite these positives and some very creative sequences and camera perspectives, including one which all takes place through the view of a doorhole, the first half is kind of a slog. The typical setup of how the deadites are conjured is essentially the same as always, with an unassuming character coming across one of the cursed books, curiously opening it, and innocently reading its contents, thereby opening the door for the demons to come through. Cue the unhinged freak show of carnage and gore that everyone paid their money to see.
Director Lee Cronin turns out to be a solid fit for the franchise, despite his debut feature being a wholly different affair: the atmospheric, slow-paced, gothic horror film The Hole in the Ground. While he brings a fresh visual flair to this latest Evil Dead, the unimaginative script is limiting. These characters are hardly any more interesting than the mostly bland cast of Evil Dead 2013, and a misguided and ultimately pointless wraparound story that shows the infamous cabin with unrelated characters who all end up dead anyway that just shows the curse spreading from the apartment building back to its original setting? I think? In any cause, it's pointless and diminishes the overall experience. There is also a lack of surreal sequences that were present in the original trilogy, such as when Ash put his hand through a mirror and it's water, or the lightbulb filling with blood. They attempt one or two half-hearted comedy antics like in the Sam Raimi ones, which stick out when the rest of the movie is so grim and menacing.
With the announcement that the producers are considering making Evil Dead a consistent franchise with a new movie every few years, this doesn't really make a strong case for that idea. Despite delivering on the characteristic gnarliness and featuring excellent directing with some truly impressive sequences on a technical level, Evil Dead Rise at the same time feels too stuck in its ways to stand out or surpass previous entries in the franchise. If they are going to make a follow-up, I would say it really needs to reinvent the wheel beyond just changing up the main setting and actually incorporate some bizarre qualities and more humor in the spirit of all the Ash-starring movies and recent series. Evil Dead Rise may not succeed on all levels, especially regarding the plot, but is still impressive in a number of ways and lives up to the mighty Evil Dead mythology. If they do make a follow-up, it should star Mia, Ash, and Beth teaming up!