How would you like your Evil Dead done? Funny or serious? Splat stick or torture porn? You want some Ash with it?
Your answers to these questions will dictate your enjoyment of Evil Dead Rise. This latest instalment in the series is, for the most past, a straight-faced fright fest with countless jump scares and many grizzly sights. I like it. I think the premise is very refreshing, the characters are very well written and the horror very well executed. It’s Blumhouse at its best, just with a lot more gore.
Is that a bad thing? It depends. This is what I think.
One rainy night, a woman drops in on her sister in her apartment. The visit is unexpected. The sister has three children, two teens and a young girl. One of the teens discovers a mysterious book and a couple of vinyl records in the basement of the parking lot. Playing the records, the adolescent unknowingly frees a swarm of evil demons, immediately turning a family reunion into a fight for survival.
The Characters
The family we’re presented with is very strained but very much together. Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) is the mother of the home and Beth (Lily Sullivan) her distant sister who crashes that night. Both are very convincing as sisters who’ve been separated by work, lifestyle and housing. They don’t hate each other but they have very difficult questions for one another.
As principle characters in a horror film they’re great. They’re not so likable to the point of being boring but they’re also not so flawed to the point of being boring. They come across as real people with real problems. The time we have with them before all the bloody mayhem kicks off is a compelling watch.
Ellie’s children, considering their circumstances, are equally convincing. Our two teens are Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and Kassie (Nell Fisher) our innocent.
Danny likes dark occult stuff. When an earthquake strikes the apartment building and unearths the parking lot basement, he immediately dives in and explores. He of course owns a vinyl player for the records he finds and flicks through the Book of the Dead with great enthusiasm.
Bridget does come across as a stereotypical millennial with her social activism and moody personality but her tense, almost aggressive concern for her family helps make her feel like a fully-fledged human being.
Kassie, since she’s so young and in such an extraordinary situation, doesn’t have as many distinct characteristics as her older siblings but honestly she doesn’t need any. She’s a child in an Evil Dead film. You’re more concerned for her safety than for the teens or the adults.
The cast is pretty solid but what of the Evil Dead motifs? Those characteristics that define the series, how are they done?
The Horror
If the shower scene in Psycho is the bloodiest thing you’ve ever seen then Evil Dead Rise will be a revelation to you.
If your tolerance for gore is like mine however, which is pretty high, there are two sequences in Evil Dead Rise that will knock your socks off. One of which you’ve probably heard of by now, a scene that involves a cheese grater. Those two sequences will make you cringe and grimace, they are electrifying.
Apart from those two sequences, the gore and horror of Evil Dead Rise is quite generic. Anyone possessed by a Deadite looks like every possessed person in every possession film made since The Exorcist and the jump scares are like those of any mainstream horror from the past 15 years.
It’s a basic horror for the most part, which brings us back to question we started with.
Is that a bad thing?
I know many have made the same points following the 2013 remake but Evil Dead Rise made me realise that what made Evil Dead unique and fun to watch was its mix of horror and comedy.
The original Evil Dead from 1981 is a straight-up horror. Its style of filmmaking is its only real contribution to the horror genre I believe. Apart from that, it’s pretty bland. Its scares certainly don’t age well but that’s ok because it’s an old film and, like it or not, it was revolutionary at the time.
The same cannot be said for Evil Dead 2. Its scares and attempts to shock may have aged but its comedy and wackiness have not. To this day it is still a fun flick.
Basically, I don’t think Evil Dead can be scary and interesting in the modern age. Unless it ups the gore but how it can do that without entering the niche, non-mainstream waters of the Terrifier and Human Centipede series I don’t know.
What also doesn’t help I think is the fact that the Evil Dead brand is so well-known that the title itself is a descriptor. Read any review of a gory comedy and you’ll probably find a line akin to “if you love Evil Dead you’ll love this” or “it’s a bit like Evil Dead.”
The Evil Dead style has been imitated and referenced by many countless films now. How do you make a new Evil Dead that feels fresh but at the same time true to the series’ identity? It’s a big creative dilemma, one that producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert have been struggling with since Army of Darkness.
Overall, while Evil Dead Rise gets a lot right, it might be a reminder of what the series can and cannot do. If you’re an Evil Dead fan I don’t need to recommend it, you’re going to see it regardless but if you like horror films that are like rollercoasters full of speed and adrenaline, Evil Dead Rise will not disappoint.
I give Evil Dead Rise a groovy 7 out of 10.
Duffhood 