Film Review – Evil Dead Rise
Evil Dead Ride (R)
Directed by: Lee Cronin
Starring: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland
Review by: Julian Wright
What happens when the woods-dwelling Evil Dead demons relocate from a dingy cabin to an urban apartment building? Well, pretty much the same gleefully grotesque freak show of horror effects.
But despite being the fifth film to bear the name, these deviants still have creative ways of creating terror.
When roadie Beth (Lily Sullivan) discovers she is pregnant, she goes to stay with her sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her three young kids for support and guidance.
Trouble is, Ellie is in a bit of a pickle herself. Her husband just split and their run-down apartment building was recently condemned – and they have just weeks to move.
An earthquake swiftly helps the demolition process along, and the kids Danny (Morgan Davies), Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and Kassie (Nell Fisher) discover the Book of the Dead and some records in a long forgotten bank vault under the parking garage.
Guess what happens next.
Despite giving us a fresh setting for the mayhem, fans of the series will be please to know it opens with some brief but impactful cabin action before rewinding 24 hours to explore the main story.
More than the previous films, this one focuses strongly on character and relationships, so that when the inevitable carnage commences, we have developed a connection with them all.
It is probably the first time we have actually care about the people who are possessed and tearing their mates apart with various sharp objects.
Beware the cheese grater!
Director Lee Cronin maintains the Evil Dead look and feel as much as possible despite the modern, glossy digital sheen a stark betrayal of the original’s gloriously grimey, home-made looking appearance.
Still, he relies on practical effects over CGI and the spectacle is worth admission alone (for those who can stomach it – this is after all rated R18+).
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