It pains me terribly to say that this movie was not good. Over the years, 'The Evil Dead (1981)' has become one of my favorite movies of all time. I've watched the director commentary multiple times to see how they created a shoe-string budget indie masterpiece, which they explain through hilarious stories from the production/filming process. The entire cast/crew put themselves through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows to get the original 'Evil Dead' made. Nothing but sheer will-power and creative ingenuity are what got the original movie made. Actual blood, sweat and tears from the cast and crew poured onto the original, glorious-looking Necronomicon. None of that love went into this movie.
We've seen what a modern 'Evil Dead' can look like with 2013's remake, which I thought was pretty good, definitely miles better than this. This movie was extremely tame, way too tame to have 'Evil Dead' in the title. The cheese grater scene that was hyped up so much (that I was looking most forward to), that they made a WHOLE POSTER FOR, turned out to be a MASSIVE let down. The tattoo gun scene you get a glimpse of in the trailer? Also a massive let down. Why were they so afraid to show gore and intense violence in this one? 2013 (and the originals) went WAY harder than this. For God sake, a woman gets assaulted by a tree within the first 20 minutes of the original! No boundaries are pushed with this entry. It makes no sense why they went so tame for this, especially since Terrifier 2 (which just released last year and made BANK at the boxoffice) was extremely BRUTAL and had insanely gory and violent scenes that showed off somewhat cheesey, but also very impactful practical effects (what 'Evil Dead' is supposed to be all about).
There was a decade between this and the 2013 remake, and tons of production time, so why was the script so bad? The way the Necronomicon was discovered in this movie was some of the most lazy, terrible writing I have seen in years. Also, what is up with the characters? None of them are likable and they're all female, half of which are pronoun warriors. If I didnt know any better, I would've thought Disney had their hand in the writing material for this entry. The 'Evil Dead' franchise broke the mold by being one of the very few horror franchises to have a male be the hero/survivor. 99% of horror movies (especially today) have a final girl. We had Jane Levy as Mia in the 2013 remake swap roles with Ash by being the sole survivor of the Deadites, and I thought that worked pretty well. Levy kicked ass and earned her right to be the final girl. That is not the case in this movie.
Another thing I don't understand is if they're going to do something different with the franchise, why not go all the way? What I mean is that they changed the setting, and that's about it. The Necronomicon was discovered in the same way (albeit WAY dumber and less believable in this entry), the story beats were nothing new, a close knit group has to defend themselves from the Deadites, etc etc. Almost nothing but the setting (which they didn't even use well) was anything new for the franchise, so I'm not sure why they're trying to pass it off as some game-changing entry. They also used one floor of the apartment for 90% of the movie, so it's not like they even changed the setting that much.
The homages in this movie felt so out of place, like they were forced into the movie. 'Evil Dead Rise's' eyeball homage made me roll my eyes to the back of my skull, hoping I'd become possessed myself because it felt so forced. I could feel the director writing all these homages with a big grin on his face like 'Oh yeah, Mr. Raimi's gonna love this hehehe!'. At least 2013 was subtle with their homages, whereas this movie was just blatant and forced, making the homages feel extremely out of place. I'd rather they just did their own thing and not have any homages at all than get the homages I got.
THE GOOD PARTS:
The main possessed mom actress stole the show. When she first got possessed, her movements and facial expressions were top notch. I'd say she's the best Deadite probably since first two 'Evil Dead' movies. I would even go to say she may be the best demonic portrayal in many years. She was really chewing up the scenery early on. Everyone else was just meh, but it's not the actors' fault that their characters are trashcans.
Obviously, there was gore, but really not that much, and when there was gore, a lot of the times it was implied. They'd pan away a lot when a kill or something gruesome was about to happen, or the character would kick the demon off before getting brutalized. This is easily the most tame 'Evil Dead' entry; some guys in the bathroom were even saying the same thing. The demon kill count is also pathetic; none of these women could kill a demon for the life of them. The theater I was in was damn near sold out, yet my girlfriend and I were the only ones to laugh during the entire showing. Everyone else was dead silent throughout the whole movie, so that should let you know how things were going.
OVERALL, this was a massive disappointment, but not just as an 'Evil Dead' movie, but as a horror movie. The movie doesn't stand on it's own enough; story and lore-wise, it just doesn't really carry the franchise forward in any meaningful way, leaving me questioning what the point of the movie is. At this point, I think it would be best for the 'Evil Dead' franchise to do what 2018's 'Halloween' did and only count the original 'Evil Dead' as existing, then make a trilogy from there. That being said, do it better than the new 'Halloween' trilogy because those took a nosedive quick. I'm not saying 'Don't see this movie'. By all means, see it. But don't expect to be on the edge of your seat terrified. Don't expect creative and crazy camera work, lighting or practical effects. Don't expect the franchise's story to move forward in any meaningful way. But most saddening, don't expect any soul in this movie (possibly because it was sucked dry by the studio). Hopefully, for the next entry, they get Damien Leone or Ari Aster, someone who is passionate and thrives in the indie horror scene and pushes boundaries when it comes to extreme horror; something 'Evil Dead' is supposed to be about, but apparently not this time.
EDIT (May 5): Upon a second viewing, I've gotta admit... that this movie is indeed bad. I double down on everything I said previously. They did to Evil Dead what Disney did to Star Wars. How they found the book is awful, the deaths (which are almost all off screen) were lame and uninspired, the setting was completely wasted, and all the characters were worthless and annoying. This movie felt like a dumb kid (Lee Cronin) copying an essay of a smart kid (Sam Raimi) and just changing one word per paragraph to try and pass it off as their own. What a joke.
5.1/10.
