An almost-perfect horror movie that ticks all the right genre boxes!
Right off the bat, let me start by saying that if you’re hoping this Evil Dead spin-off is going to particularly resemble Sam Raimi’s original 1980’s movies, you’re likely to be a tad disappointed.
It’s (mostly) lacking Sam Raimi’s goofy cartoonish style and Bruce Campbell’s everyman charisma. In fact, Ash doesn’t show up at all!
That’s not to say there aren't nods to its predecessors and ‘easter eggs’ within the speedy 97 minute runtime... there is actually plenty.
But this is very much its own thing – and I was personally more than happy with that.
What Evil Dead Rise does have is originality, characters with actual depth – and gore by the bucket load!
It sees sisters Beth (Lily Sullivan) and Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) – who have grown apart – trying to rebuild their relationship on the fateful night when evil is summoned. This demon is hungry for their souls – and even those of Beth’s children, Danny, Bridget, and Kassie. Tension quickly rises once you realise that nobody is guaranteed to leave the spooky apartment building alive – yes, anyone could be a victim.
Furthermore, so much love evidently went into the filmmaking. The writer/director, Lee Cronin, clearly put a lot of thought into every scene.
This is made from a horror fan for horror fans.
Finally, as surprising as it is rare, the best bits were actually left out of the trailer. These days, when watching a film, I feel like I’ve already seen it due to the marketing revealing way too many of their cards. But there were plenty of surprises to be found here.
My only minor criticism is that during a few moments it did veer into unintentionally comedic territory – which felt tonally unbalanced to the rest of the movie and therefore took me out of the film momentarily. Without those moments, this could have been a modern classic. Though it is perhaps worth mentioning that the friend I saw this with looked past those scenes – and she gave a five-star score.
Evil Dead Rise was originally supposed to be released as an HBO Max streaming exclusive, but when test audiences raved about the movie, it was ultimately given a cinematic release – and it’s easy to see why. Thank goodness, because this does indeed need to be seen on the big screen.
So rise off your sofas horror fans – and go see evil at its bloody best!
ESP Rating: 4.5/5
Mikey Clarke
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabriel Echols, Neil Fisher & Jayden Daniels
Running Time: 1 Hr 37 Mins
Director: Lee Cronin