Greetings horror fans, Puzzle Box Horror here with a review of the latest installment in the Evil Dead franchise, Evil Dead Rise. If you’re a fan of brutal violence, creative kills, dark humor, and gore, then this movie is a must-watch.
Alyssa Sutherland’s performance as possessed Ellie is otherworldly good. Her transition from caring single mother to bloody thirsty demon pays homage to the previous victims of the necronomicon. with her body language and movements being particularly unsettling post deadite transition. The effects, makeup, and prosthetics are all fantastic and stick to the more grounded practicals vs CGI. The gore is top-notch, with our lead deadite biting out a dude’s eye and spitting it into another guy’s mouth before yeeting a small child down the hallway. This was a no holds barred gore fest!
Evil Dead Rise strikes a perfect balance between being brutal AF and very messed up at times, while also being genuine to the franchise. There is less humor than the Bruce Campbell originals but it had it’s dark and snarky moments. It’s like the brutality of the Evil Dead 2013 remake mixed with hints of the bonkers style of the 1980’s originals.
Lily Sullivan’s performance as Beth is solid, and the film spares no one, not even the kids. The peephole shots are amazing, with some poor soul running across the hallway from one edge of the peephole to the other, with a deadite in hot pursuit, being particularly darkly comedic.
There are a few notable cameos and although we did not get Bruce Campbell directly as we might have hoped we got a chainsaw cameo and a shotgun cameo so we had at least 1/4 of Ash Williams in one shot. I’m still processing the redesign of the necronomicon cover, but either way the book plays its role with some really well done vinyl record additions.
Another notable cameo is the blood elevator. A very well executed ode to Stanley Kubrick’s elevator scene in the 1980 horror classic “The Shining.” You could feel it coming like the wave of blood that ensued, but you were not disappointed when it delivered.
This standalone film is perfect for new viewers to the franchise, as there are no required carried-over characters or story threads to continue, making it very “new viewer friendly.” With that said there are enough ints you will miss if you have not seen the earlier movies. Evil Dead Rise is a simple, grounded, bloody, and terrifying installment that breathes new life into the franchise.
Lee Cronin has done an excellent job directing this movie, hitting that horror highway at top speed and never letting off the gas. Lily Sullivan announces herself as a new star in the horror genre, and Alyssa Sutherland steals the show with her fantastic performance.
Overall, The Evil Dead franchise remains the most consistently awesome horror franchise in horror movie history. Evil Dead Rise is a helluva horror film and a must-watch for any horror fan.
Tritone’s love of horror and mystery began at a young age. Growing up in the 80’s he got to see some of the greatest horror movies play out in the best of venues, the drive-in theater. That’s when his obsession with the genre really began—but it wasn’t just the movies, it was the games, the books, the comics, and the lore behind it all that really ignited his obsession. Tritone is a published author and continues to write and write about horror whenever possible.