Hey, check this out cats n’ creeps; a group of young adults are frolicking in nature’s splendor when some ancient evil entity possesses one of the gang who then transforms into a demonic killing machine!
Business as usual for most of the Evil Dead franchise…
Now what isn’t business as usual for an Evil Dead flick is where the story of Evil Dead Rise takes us next, namely an apartment building located in a city (which would be business as usual for Lamberto Bava’s Demons 2 however… ).
Anyway, said building is currently the residence of one Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), an industrious tattoo artist and single mom of three, namely near-perfect, creatively minded siblings Danny, Bridget, and Kassie (played by Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher respectively), as well as Ellie’s free wheelin ‘ (and free loadin’) sister Beth (Lily Sullivan)… but only temporarily as hard times have necessitated the family hitting the bricks in the immediate future.
Before you can say “possible unexpected windfall”, an earthquake unearths a hidden bank vault under the building and those kids mentioned previous discover a treasure trove of dusty records and one gnarly looking book.
Hoping to have struck gold (and found a way to stay afloat), the kids begin examining the artifacts with the book being revealed as being the terror tome; The Book of the Dead (which gets a sweet lil’ re-design here… and don’t get your knickers in a twist, it’s explained) and the recordings detailing the revoltin’ results the last time that beastly book was read (listen for an audio cameo from the legendary chin himself, Bruce Campbell in this sequence)… which immediately releases that familiar ol’ evil force which immediately blasts Ellie’s ass to hell and back within a rapidly rising elevator following which she’s menaced by sentient electrical cables and possessed six six six ways to Sunday!
Soon that friendly family are up to their collective asses in Mommy Dearest’s hyper-violent, super-creepy Deadite antics and it seems all of their financial woes will soon be over… along with their lives!
So what works with Evil Dead Rise? Pretty much everything in my not so humble opinion!
For starters so much goddamned ado was made about this new entry’s setting (which let’s be honest, is basically a new coat of paint) that the thing that makes this a wicked winner, and successfully shiver-inducing entry in the series, is that the corrupted family dynamic present in Sam Raimi’s original Evil Dead, and to lesser degree in it’s sequel, Evil Dead II, is amped up to be the focus of this here feature… and kids and pregnant ladies in peril always raises the ol’ stressful sitch meter by leaps and beastly bounds!
Speaking of family, it doesn’t hurt matters that the kids in this film aren’t annoying as all fuck, and praise must be given to the actors playing them for their strong performances across the board… and praise must be given for throwing them directly into the bloody mayhem. It’s just one of the ways this film does not hold back.
Want another way the film holds nothing back? Let’s talk about gore, and how much one can expect to witness when sitting down to view this picture… the answer is “a very large fuck-ton”, but it may actually be higher than that official measure. Seriously though, we get dismemberments, grievous bodily self-harm, gallon upon gallon of blood (and a lesser but equally impressive amount of vomit), and much, much more sure to satisfy the terror tooth of any drool-drenched gore-hound!
The Deadites present here are top-notch too with Sutherland giving a delightfully devilish, and eerily energetic, performance that is sure to put a sinister smile on the face of Evil Dead aficionados… and while the Deadites do remain thankfully faithful to what has come before, there is a new beast on display to keep things interesting!
And while we are on that “what has come before” tip, keep your putrid peepers peeled for callbacks to other entries in the series, which seem to focus mostly on references to the more comedic Evil Dead II, which is cool but odd given the pitch-black tone of this film.
Looking for answers as to why that is? Well none are to be found on this release as the special features have completely disappeared into a swirling portal and now are to be found in 13th Century Europe…
All in all Evil Dead Rise is one hell of a trip into our beloved Evil Dead franchise; it’s vicious, violent, and true to it’s roots… which makes it a fang-tastic entry in the putrid pantheon of supernatural shockers started by Raimi and Co. ‘lo those many years ago!
