Evil Dead Rise

The Evil Dead has, critically, probably got off lighter than many other horror film series there being just four (now five) films and not drifting too far from the source. It has though successfully diversified into TV and comic books that latter of which have crossed over from Bubba Ho-Tep to Xena: Warrior Princess with plenty in-between. Evil Dead Rise follows in the spirit of the original, though sets a direction of how the series could develop if there are other films.

The story is very straightforward after a familiar and gruesome pre-credits sequence. Mother of three Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) is living in Los Angeles with children, from youngest to oldest Kassie (Nell Fisher), Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), when aunt Beth (Lily Sullivan) a guitar technician pays a surprise visit.

It’s not a happy time with the four left by husband and father plus they are awaiting eviction from the apartment. Sent off to get a pizza dinner, the three return, when an earthquake opens up a hole on the parking revealing a vault and safety deposit boxes. These contain LPs (Danny is a DJ whom we see ‘rehearsing’ earlier on) plus that familiar old book. Discarding Bridget’s warning about theft he takes them back, cuts his hand on the book that soaks up the blood then plays the records.

Once the records are played then the film drives full force into relatively familiar territory though with a grindhouse murk and fury that hasn’t been seen since the first film. With nods and references all over the place to the earlier films and I’d say more than a bow to the over-the-top elements of the TV show, it just doesn’t let up. And there is very little here that could be classed as comedy with some particularly gruesome scenes and creations.

But the strength of this entry is that unlike the others writer and director Lee Cronin has filled out the characters so there is a degree of empathy with them which is developed in the earlier scenes between Beth and Ellie who are partially estranged, and the exchanges between the children. Of course, a lot of that disappears very quickly later on.

Oddly enough there’s a dint of Halloween III here in so much as the original idea there was to have ‘Halloween’ series just not necessarily featuring a deranged killer in every film. That could suit the Evid Dead should the makers decide to do more. An advantage is that it dispenses with the complications of continuity and the fan base scrutiny that inevitably follows.

Evil Dead Rises will be released in UK cinemas from 21 April 2023.