Evil Dead Rise Review – Doesn’t Let Down!
The 2023 horror movie “Evil Dead Rise” has a hair-raising start, quite literally! Directed and written by Lee Cronin, the film begins with a menacing buzz over a beautiful lake where a lone girl is sitting and reading a book. After painting a deceptively tranquil picture with a hint of danger, the supernatural madness unfolds soon enough and a well-done shot of a possessed woman rising from the lake’s water announces the title of the movie. However, the actual story begins in a high-rise somewhere else.
Actor Lily Sullivan plays music technician Beth who is always on the road but reaches out to her estranged sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) when she is going through a hard time. What would have been an emotional reunion of two siblings turns into an adventure from hell for the family. Ellie’s son Danny (Morgan Davies) unwittingly summons evil forces, who take over his mother’s body and go on a bloody rampage in their rundown building. “Mommy Love You To Death” is a befitting sub-title for the film, as an evil Beth gives her three children an experience that will traumatize them for the rest of their lives if they live to see another day. If you aren’t a fan of too much blood and gore, steers clear from splatter-fest. “Evil Dead Rise” is slightly more gorier than horror-comedy “Cocaine Bear”, which is also a 2023 release, both films should appeal to the same kind of horror fans.
For a horror movie with limited settings, the cinematography in “Evil Dead Rise” is visually engaging, and all the scenes are well-lit, despite the majority of the plot unfolding at night, with a power cut to boot. Thriller and horror filmmakers should definitely take notes from Lee Cronin on how to avoid annoying viewers with dimly lit shots that do little to move the plot forward or make it more sinister. Fans of the “Evil Dead” movies by Sam Raimi are going to be thrilled to bits with the several nods and tributes Cronin gives to Raimi’s work. From the book of the dead, weird incantations to the classic chain-saw scene, there’s some great throwback tributes to the older titles.
Alyssa Sutherland is fantastically creepy as the possessed Ellie after the blood of her own kids. The decision to keep Beth’s human features and distort them a little works well with the script. The director should’ve added some more conflict between the human Beth and the demonic entity trying to take over her body would’ve made some of the family fight scenes more powerful. Lily Sullivan puts up a tough front as Beth, the aunt trying to protect three kids from the demented mum, however, she isn’t given enough biting action scenes to make a complete badass.
I don’t think “Evil Dead Rise” takes itself too seriously and thus is able to deliver a decent amount of laughs and a very entertaining blood-bath filled horror ride. Lee Cronin cleverly ties up the climax with an allusion to the opening scene, so we come a full-circle with the promise of a sequel.
It’s a 7 on 10 from me.
