Director: Lee Cronin
Screenplay: Lee Cronin
Starring: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols and Nell Fisher
Country: USA
Running Time: 97 min
Year: 2023
BBFC: 18
Anybody invested in the horror scene knows about The Evil Dead. Young aspiring filmmaker Sam Raimi grabs a bunch of his friends into the woods to create something that’s now considered one of the greatest independent features ever made. I, myself, have never been in love with the films but completely admire them and find myself preferring some of Raimi’s later work such as his Spider-Man trilogy or cult hits Darkman and Drag Me to Hell. However, I’ve loved the idea of not pinning the franchise of The Evil Dead down to one specific thing from one specific filmmaker and although my opinion on it flip-flops constantly, the 2013 Evil Dead reboot is one of the more fascinating takes on a pre-established horror franchise. For that film, Raimi and The Evil Dead lead actor Bruce Campbell took a chance on an aspiring filmmaker, just like Raimi himself was when he began work on the original and gave him the keys to the castle. That director was Fede Álvarez and in recent years, he’s gone on to direct films such as Don’t Breathe and write the latest Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, so working on Evil Dead (2013) was a great entry point into the industry for him.
When it comes to the latest instalment in the Evil Dead franchise, Rise, Raimi and Campbell have decided to go the route of choosing another up-and-comer, Irish director Lee Cronin, who prior to Rise, was most notable for his award-winning short Ghost Train (which is included on Studio Canal’s home media releases for Evil Dead Rise), winning the Méliès d’Argent as well as his A24-distributed slow-burn horror The Hole in the Ground. Having seen Ghost Train, Cronin clearly had the talent to create effective, small-scale horror and I think he was a solid choice for the latest Evil Dead venture.
So, given the fact that all of the other Evil Dead films (with the exception of Army of Darkness) take place in a cabin in the woods, you might be surprised to hear that with the exception of an unrelated segment that opens the film, the entirety of Evil Dead Rise takes place in an apartment complex, a new and refreshing take on the one-location formula the series is known for.
Guitar technician Beth decides to visit her sister Ellie, as well as her three children for the first time in months. Beth tends to dip in and out of their lives, but after recently discovering she’s pregnant, she reconnects with her sister in the hopes of talking to her about it. The apartment that Ellie’s living in is just a month away from being completely demolished and after an earthquake damages the parking lot, it reveals that the apartment complex was built on top of an old bank vault. Danny, Ellie’s son ventures down and discovers a book, known to Evil Dead fans as the Necronomicon, the Book of the Dead, and a few vinyl. Whilst playing the vinyl, which has a priest reciting a passage that unlocks the Necronomicon and unleashes the evil demonic Deadites, everybody in the apartment complex is in for a hell of a night.
With a runtime of only 97 minutes, Evil Dead Rise isn’t massive on plot and does what’s required to set up the fun premise and I think it succeeds at delivering an entertaining, fun, schlocky horror film that most audiences will have a fun time with. Lee Cronin was adminant about sticking to practical effects when possible, and the film is all the more better for it. Some of the gory sequences later into the film truly had me second guessing whether or not what I was seeing was a digital effect or something created practically, which is a testament to how great they look.
If I had any major complaints about the film, there’s only two that really stick out for me. Firstly, as it’s kind of a trend lately with a lot of big remakes, reboots and requels, Evil Dead Rise tends to steer pretty close to memberberries territory at points for me. For those not familiar with the term, coined on South Park, memberberry media is something similar to Spider-Man: No Way Home or elements of the latest Star Wars films, where a lot of the enjoyment is from delivering pre-existing references and characters back to the audience. In the case of Rise, that mainly comes in the forms of certain references that don’t make a ton of logical sense in the narrative of the film, but almost feel like they’re placed into it to hammer home the point that it’s an Evil Dead film. Examples include the trademark chainsaw, certain Deadites saying “Dead by dawn!” in reference to Evil Dead 2’s tagline or recreations of scenes in prior films. It’s not something that completely ruined my enjoyment of the film whatsoever, but it definitely felt a little too heavy handed and pandering for my tastes, but still, that’s something I doubt will be an issue for most audiences.
Another issue I had was with the lighting, as the film is shot extremely dark and during my initial cinema viewing, I had issues making out certain sequences due to the lighting. While it’s far easier to configure the perfect setup at home, as well as with the added benefits of HDR on the UHD disc, it’s still not perfect by any means and I wish the film was lit just a little lighter than what’s shown here. It’s a modern horror trend that bugs me a lot, but Rise is perfectly viewable on home media, and I’d argue it’s an even better experience that way instead of the theatrical environment I first experienced the film in.
Evil Dead Rise isn’t the best horror film of the decade, but it’s a hell of a romp that delivers on the thrills, scares and gore that you’ve come to expect from an Evil Dead film. Is it a little derivative in places? Sure. Is it wholly unique? No. But is it a fun time? Absolutely. Horror fans that are craving a fun, 90 minute thrill-ride with some fun practical effects, the dark humour the franchise is famous for as well as some really good performances, Evil Dead Rise has you covered.
Film: 
Evil Dead Rise releases on the 17th of July via Studio Canal on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and digital. I watched the UHD release and was extremely happy with the release. The UHD transfer, as mentioned in the review looks great and actually improves on the theatrical experience for me. The HDR implementation really helps with some of the darker sequences in the film, and the Dolby Atmos mix included is a great one. As there’s a lot of moments with an array of sounds occurring, the Atmos mix delivers what you’d expect from a modern audio track. English subtitles are also included, which I used during my viewing.
In terms of bonus features, there’s not much here but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad selection.
First off, we have the short film Ghost Train, directed by Rise’s director Lee Cronin, and it’s a great addition to the release. As mentioned in the review, it’s an award-winning short and I can completely see why. It’s around 17 minutes long and has solid performances, some great scares and looks absolutely fantastic on the UHD disc. I’m unsure on whether it was a native 4K presentation, or upscaled from a 1080p file but it looked absolutely stellar on the disc.
And finally, there’s a feature-length audio commentary with director Lee Cronin. Right off the bat, Cronin points out that a sound effect of a fly in the opening credits is from the original Evil Dead film. The commentary is packed full of interesting easter eggs like that and Cronin is a joy to listen to. Cronin is an Evil Dead fan at heart and has nothing but positive things to say about the cast and crew. It’s one of my favourite audio commentaries of the year and even if I wasn’t in love with the film overall, the passion displayed here is almost contagious. A fantastic track.
Evil Dead Rise’s home media release is one that I’d strongly recommend to fans of the film. While it’s not jam-packed with extras, the two included are great supplemental material and the audio commentary is a must-listen.
Disc/Package: