Evil Dead Rise Review: Lively Bruise for Happy Horror-Living Madmen

This review by Evil Dead Rise was originally released after the film’s SXSW debut. It was updated and re-released for the film’s public theatrical release.

In terms of sheer fear factor, your mileage may vary Evil Dead Rise. This spin-off of Sam Raimi’s iconic franchise maintains the manic glee of Sam Raimi’s original 1980s Evil Dead movies, but the violence falls somewhere between Fede Álvarez’s 2013 remake and Raimi’s more comedy-heavy evil death 2. The killings are downright brutal and gritty, the emphasis on endangering children adds a new twist to the plot, and the tone is generally somber and gruesome.

And yet it still finds moments of lightness. While it’s far from comedy, there’s plenty to laugh about Evil Dead Rise – like a gag about an eyeball being ripped out and then landing on someone’s mouth. Writer/director Lee Cronin has a solid grip on the creepy-funny scale, juggling both without undermining either. This is a film best seen with a huge horror loving audience, who take in the gruesome horror along with the silly jokes, who scream and cheer with the action.

A big part of why this film’s more straight-forward, more terrifying setting works is the change in formula. Instead of focusing on victims in a cabin in the woods, she moves to the big city, where she follows a family she torments dead, the signature antagonists of the Evil Dead movies. There’s no undead army here: like the 1981 original, this film works on a smaller scale – in this case, a Deadite. It plays more like an ownership story than what modern moviegoers would expect from a “zombie movie.”

The role of villain falls to Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie, a mother of three, who ends up on the brink of demonic possession after one of her children – or as she puts it, her “titty-sucking parasite” – finds the one Book of the Dead. She soon turns on her own children and tries to murder them in the worst possible way with every tool in the house. (A cheese grater becomes the star.)

On the other end is Beth (Lily Sullivan), Ellie’s sister, who returns home when she freaks out about an unexpectedly positive pregnancy test. Once at the apartment, she has to fight her own sister as everyone in her family turns against each other. Sullivan is fantastic, with Cronin giving her depth through references to past trauma that round out the character without sacrificing the silly fun of an Evil Dead movie. This isn’t “sublime horror” – don’t expect an A24 horror film about exploring grief – but the family aspect creates a dynamic with stronger emotions that connects viewers with the characters, while still letting the gross fears take precedence.

Once Ellie is possessed, the film gets its second wind and goes off the rails in the best possible way. Ellie immediately turns on her family, threatening, scaring and chasing them, but also insulting them. At the same time, even Deadite Ellie still loves her children and she often begs to be stopped.

Cronin makes maximum use of his location. Everyday objects take on new and more sinister vibes as they make their way to the characters. There is a sense of claustrophobia throughout the film as the characters have little chance of escaping the apartment. Cronin and his team have a clear penchant for practical effects, evident in the sheer amount of tactile, physical blood on screen. He also has a penchant for the Evil Dead films: Cronin packs the script and screen with as many visual references and homages to the original Sam Raimi films as he can, and overloads the film with fan-service, ranging from iconic weapons to to lines of dialogue and even the selection of recordings.

Evil Dead Rise is a film by sickos for sickos. It’s a fantastic update of the legendary franchise, full of humor but with Álvarez’ penchant for the gross and disturbing. The refreshing scene and cast changes, as well as Sutherland’s stellar performance, prove that there’s still plenty of life and struggle in this undead franchise.

At 97 lively minutes, it feels like it’s almost over as soon as it starts. It’s a perfect onboarding film for newer audiences who haven’t seen an Evil Dead movie before, but for longtime fans, it breathes new air into a classic horror comedy franchise, mixing Raimi’s old-school approach with the new-school of cruel horrors. It proves that there is still a lot to paint within the old deadlines.

Evil Dead Rise is now in cinemas.