Directed by:
Lee CroninScreenplay:
Lee CroninCinematography:
Dave GarbettComposer:
Stephen McKeonCast:
Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, Nell Fisher, Billy Reynolds-McCarthy, Tai Wano, Mirabai Pease, Jayden Daniels (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
In the fifth Evil Dead film, a road-weary Beth pays an overdue visit to her older sister Ellie, who is raising three kids on her own in a cramped L.A. apartment. The sisters' reunion is cut short by the discovery of a mysterious book deep in the bowels of Ellie's building, giving rise to flesh-possessing demons, and thrusting Beth into a primal battle for survival as she is faced with the most nightmarish version of motherhood imaginable. (Warner Bros. US)
(more)Videos (3)
Reviews (10)
Sam Raimi produced and Lee Cronin directed Evil Dead Rise to make fans of the original as happy as possible. An audiovisually aggressive gore flick with great sound design and a lot of imaginative violence, it's a wild ride that goes by pretty damn fast even with its short running time. It also has fine heroes and even the derelict building setting works well enough to not mind that it doesn't bring much new to the table. I'm just not sure if a similarly off-the-rails horror film can capture audiences.
()
The nod to Raimi is clear right from the title, so expect more than just a monster under the bed. We're talking decapitations and characters going through medieval levels of bodily torment. It's brutal, twisted, and bloody — but in a way that’s traditionally entertaining for this horror franchise.
()
"You don't look so good, mom..." The technically-satisfying Evil Dead in a high-rise building can’t rely much on the child actors (especially during the possession phases), but that’s balanced out by Madam Sutherland, who would make Russell Crowe in an XXXL robe look small right now! Tailor's scissors under the bed, a broken mop handle, a wood chipper parked in the underground garage (if the entrance were bigger, there’d be a combine harvester too)—all of these are predictably put to use while testing if they can surpass the maximum weight capacity of the Overlook Hotel's elevator. The only remaining question is: after the intro at the lake house, will Ripley, Newt, and the trio avoid the evil from the vents and fly off the planet Monde?
()
Evil Dead Rise is a solid horror flick, but if you're familiar with the franchise, you'll just be mentally ticking off a list of must-haves. The setting of an old tenement house is not as atmospheric and interesting as a cabin in the mountains, and while the filmmakers attempted to bring evil to a new cramped location, they didn't miss the tried-and-true cabin, giving the film a framing device that's quite impressive but completely unnecessary to the main story (but at least it brought the best reveal of the film's title in years). The 2013 remake was far more impressive, engaging and entertaining in its reinterpretation of a well-worn formula; this one is just OK.
()
It's hard to believe a "rookie" like Lee Cronin could do this. He's pulled off a horror film that has managed to please 80% of the audience after God knows how long, is heading for massive numbers in the ratings, and is not just another generic entry into the genre, but the ultimate pleasure for die-hard fans of the franchise and the average viewer alike. Evil Dead Rise may not be as great as I would have liked, nor is it significantly more sophisticated or specifically its own, but it doesn't bore from start to finish, serves up great gore that in terms of quality and quantity and torrents of blood makes you feel almost disgusted, and visually wades into waters where other horror films fear to tread, and therefore scores full marks in terms of explicit scenes. Likewise, the soundtrack is nifty, and I wouldn't believe I'm about to say this, but the acting is top notch as well, as, exceptionally nobody here runs around like headless chickens, but behaves (within reason) quite rationally. I'm saving my fifth star for minor details like the characters' occasional sentimental "you'd be a good mom" talk while being chased by a knife-wielding psychopath (damn, I'm really waiting in vain for a movie that spares us these clichéd unconvincing chatterboxes... ) or the heroic monologues of the heroine while she's hacking the monster to bits, but outside of that and the fact that the curse jumps on whoever it wants to and how it suits it, I can't really complain in any significant way, because I can't remember a horror carnage this cinematically sound, purposeful and satisfying. A satisfying and I would say almost perfect first date movie.
()
Ads