Evil Dead Rise (2023) Movie Review

Evil Dead Rise – Movie Review

Director: Lee Cronin

Writer: Lee Cronin (Screenplay)

Cast

• Lily Sullivan (Jungle)
• Alyssa Sutherland (The Devil Wears Prada)
• Gabrielle Echols (Reminiscence)
• Morgan Davies (The Hunter)
• Nell Fisher (My Life Is Murder)

Plot: A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Evil Dead Rise starts when estranged sisters Beth (Sullivan) and Ellie (Sutherland) reunite. However, Beth learns the family is struggling, with the children Bridget (Echols), Danny (Davies) and Kassie (Fisher) needing to find a new home.

When an earthquake hits, Danny discovers the Book of the Dead and after reading from it, hell breaks loose. Beth must try to get her nieces and nephew out of the building before the evil gets what they want.

Verdict on Evil Dead Rise

Evil Dead Rise is a horror continuing the stories of the Book of the Dead. This time it finds the book in the big city where a family become the latest target. They must figure out how to survive when evil tries to take them down.

This is another vision for the franchise, unlike the last reboot/sequel, whatever it wanted to be called, it changed the setting. We get to see the film in a city, with an apartment building being the location. This is refreshing as it even feels like a character itself. However, the idea a copy of the book is where it is, seems strange, while building for more potential ideas. The bravest decision was to have children put in danger, something the franchise hasn’t ever done before.

This feels like more of the chaos that we got from the original, instead of focusing too heavily on the impact of gore. While it doesn’t quite hit the comedy it could have. The performances are great from the whole cast, and this does feel like a much more Evil Dead feeling movie. One of the biggest weaknesses in the movie, is the overuse of foreshadowing, hinting at everything that is going to happen in the film.

Final Thoughts –Evil Dead Rise is a big, blood-soaked addition to the universe.