Evil Dead Rise
Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie in Evil Dead Rise
In the build up to the release of Evil Dead Rise, director Lee Cronin revealed that they used “6,500 litres of fake blood” for the movie. I’m surprised that number isn’t higher, for Evil Dead Rise is a sturdy, outrageously bloody little number of manic possession horror that sticks the landing. Unfortunately, it arrives a moment too late at the expense of a relatively sour first half, and a lack of what makes this franchise so gloriously special.
In this chapter of the franchise, Rise focuses on a single mother (Ellie, played by Alyssa Sutherland) who is taken by the forces of evil after one of her three children (Danny, played by Morgan Davies) stumbles across the Necronomicon. When Danny plays a record containing an incantation, the forces of evil turn Ellie into a deadite with one explicitly clear goal: kill everything and everyone, including her children (Bridget and Kassie, played by Gabrielle Echols and Nell Fisher respectively) and sister (Beth, played by Lily Sullivan).
Rise begins in classic Evil Dead fashion: a cabin encounter with some dipshit twenty-somethings who get picked off one by one. That’s one of the many references or call-backs that Rise makes to the Raimi trilogy. Those invested in this franchise will be delighted to hear various phrases such as “dead by dawn!”, iconic weaponry used by Ash Williams, and a minor voice-over cameo by Bruce Campbell himself. Bringing the focus into an apartment block and having the movie centre on a tight family unit did somewhat work in its favour, especially in those brilliantly rancid closing moments of the film that has, in my opinion, one of the top kills in this franchise. However, I can’t help but feel that this is where the comparisons stop.
Sure, Rise has a thoroughly gory nature to it, some silver-tongued deadite quippery (“that’s my shotgun you c*nt!” was a personal favourite), and a rampant closing 10 minutes, but it’s not got the consistently great filth-basking goofiness or stylistic idiosyncratic nature of the previous entries. All the bells and whistles are there, but they don’t feel as effective or disarmingly rampant. The first half of Rise is dedicated to spending an unnecessary amount of time with these characters in a way that doesn’t really amount to much, other than a genuinely sober storyline that falls flat. There’s a nice little arc resolution to conclude the piece, only it’s simply not sold by in a way that is interesting or in line with the playfully macabre horror surrounding it.
Overall, this is tight and well-made horror film that is more than eager to cover audiences in a fountain of goopy gore. I just wish it, like it’s rivers of blood, flowed better.
