Evil dead rise is a great comeback to the franchise

Evil dead has been one of the few franchises in Hollywood that managed to still retain a tightly knit sense of identity and uniqueness in a sea of other properties. Even amongst other notable examples of the demonic horror genre, this one still feels like it's own thing. Even though the identity of the franchise changed significantly over the years through the films, shows and comics belonging to it, it managed to remain recognizable.

In 2023 we recieved what's canonically the seventh entry into the franchise (if we don't include the comics or the musical adaptation that is) which decides to leave the haunting backwoods for something more urban, bringing with this a new cast of characters, new elements of the lore and new cosmic nightmares. Whilst I certainly hope this is the series finale, there have been news of new installments, and, given the financial succes of Rise, i woudn't be too surprised if that does trun out to be the case.

Before we delve into the nature of this one, I believe it would be wise of me to present my thoughts and feelings regarding the rest of the franchise. Since I haven't read the comics (apart from the crossover miniseries Freddy vs Jason vs Ash) nor seen the stage musical, I will only be focusing on the films and the Ash vs. the Evil Dead tv series.

Alright, let's go:

The Original Sam Raimi Trilogy (1981-1993)

Here is a personal hot take.

I don't care for the first Evil Dead film.

Yes, folks, get your pitchforks, guns, torches and WMDs ready and pointed into my direction, but it really didn't work for me. Let me clarify that it's not that I think it's a terrible movie, it rightfully holds a place as a cult classic and has siginficantly changed the style of horror filmmaking and just filmmaking in general and was a cultural touchhstone when it comes to the evergrowing popularity of indie cinema. It's not that I don't enjoy it because it's low budget either. Phantasm (1979), Blair witch project (1999) and Paranormal activity (2007) are some of my all time favorite pieces of the genre and neither really have the highest budgets. But, my personal gripe with the film is that it's just so cheesy. Don't get me wrong, cheesy doesn't always mean bad. Plenty of things I enjoy can be seen as campy or cheesy by the majority of the public, but everyone has their bounds at just how much cheese they are willing to take in. This crossed the line for me.

As per the sequels (Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn and Army of Darkness) I am very fond of both. They embraced the cheese of the first filma and satyrized it, making it weirder and more over the top, showing of Raimi's talent as a comedian and establishing his particular style. Many of their lines are still quotable and remain an iconic part of pop culture and the unique creature designs linger in my monster loving practical effects obssesed brain. Their dry, witty and edgy humor is far better written then expected and they remain the best examples of horror spoofs cinema has produced. Not to mention that we finally get the dimwitted badass demon hunter Ash Williams (whose role in the first film was drastically different) who will become not only Bruce Campbell's most iconic role, but also one of the biggest icons of pop culture.

Evil Dead (2013)

After decades of being associated with camp and humor the franchise decided to go back to the horror roots in a bloodier, flashier and bleaker reimagining. The behind the scenes crew was quite impressive and would go on to create many other great pieces of horror entertainment. The film was written and directed by rising star Fede Alvarez who would go on to write and direct the fantastic thriller Don't breathe (2016) as well as write it's 2021 sequel, directing the adaptation of the less than enjoyable (to put it politely) sequel The Girl in the Spider's web by David Lagercrantz which was a posthumous sequel to Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, as well as direct an episode of the From Dusk Till Dawn tv show (which, it seems, was enjoyed by nobody else but me), and direct, write and produce the fantastic Apple TV scifi horror anthology Calls (based on the French series of the same name) and produce the largely panned 2022 sequel to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. His friend Rodo Sayagues was a cowriter on the film, as well as filling in many roles in the other afframentioned projects (as writer, director, co-producer, creator, conceptualizer, composer and/or lyricist).

In order to keep the film more rooted within the franchise they even asked Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell to produce the film, which they gladly accepted, with the latter even recieving a small post credit scene cameo at the very end.

The film was also released through the production company Ghost House Pictures known for their work in the supernatural horror genre (holding rights to the American remakes of The Grudge franchise,The Boggeyman trilogy, 30 days of night film duology and both prequel miniseries to it, as well as standalone films like the terrible 2016 Poltergeist remake and more decent outings like The Unholy (also produced by Sam Raimi), The Possesion, Drag me to Hell (which was co-written and directed by Sam Raimi) and, the previously mentioned, Don't breathe).

Is it a remake? A sequel? A spin-off? A requel? A reboot? I'm not sure myself and quite frankly it's still a burning debate amongst the horror community, but personally, I like to see it as a remake of the first film so that's how I'll reffer to it in this passage.

The fanbase itself is largely split on this film, with some believing it's too flashy and lacks humor, others didn't care for the lack of Ash, however, the general consensus of the wider community is that this is is an exclent take on the narrative, filled with new twists and touching upon bleaker subject matter, giving the already excelent and terrifying horror film a deeper, more realistic meaning. The set designs are hands down the best the franchise ever had and I so dig the design of Necronomicon Ex Mortis (or how it's titled here Naturum Demonto), with it actually looking like it's bound in human skin and not like burnt cheese.

This remains my favorite film in the franchise and I am very glad that Rise decided to continue in this direction.

Ash vs Evil Dead (2015-2018)

I didn't expect much going into the series.

This was actually my very first introduction to the franchise. I was in my late teens and, as the pandemic was just starting I had nothing to do than read books and watch things, and that's how I watched many shows I am fond off today.

Due to the title, I came in expecting and X-Files style horror drama about a band of unlikely demon hunters travelling around the country and getting rid of various hauntings. What I got was quite different, but I still enjoyed it.

To be fair I wasn't as enthralled with this series as many others were. It was funny, sure, and it's exactly what you'd expect from an Evil Dead entry: over the top demon violence, Ash being a badass, sex jokes, dark humor and intentionally cheesy effects, but it didn't drag me quite into it and there were points where I got quite bored with it. Personally, I think Bruce Campbell had better roles in shows (The X-Files, The Librarians, Fargo, Burn notice, just to name a few), but if you're a big fan of the films and wanted to see them redone in more modern times, then this is a perfect show for you.

In the end, the show would be cancelled by it's network (Starz) in 2018 after a 3 season run, with talks of an animated revival being in development, which reminds me quite a lot of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil (a much better and supremely underrated horror comedy in my opinion) which was cancelled by it's parent network Space in 2012 after two seasons, only to be revived in the form of an animated movie in 2017.

Ok, now that we're all caught up, let's get to discussing the meat and potatoes of this review's focus...

(1) The Setting

I usually don't comment on the setting first, however, in here it's defientely my favorite aspect.

Evil Dead as a franchise had been associated with the woods and a small haunted cabin within them for several decades. The first two films and the 2013 remake both used this as a main setting. Even the TV show had everything tied back to the cabin in some way despite not being set in it. This film even directly fools us into thinking this is how it will play out as well with a well thought out forest based cold open.

This is understandable as, ever since the dawn of humanity forests were viewed as a place of fear, danger and weariness, so subconciously our minds are going to associate them with horrors, wheater they're supernatural like ghosts, demons or monsters or just plain old murderers and dangerous animals. If you're interested in learning more about this sort off thing, I reccomend the book Legends of blood: Vampires in history and myth by Wayne Bartlett and Flavia Idriceanu which has a wonderful chapter on how forests are psychologycally tied to our deepest and darkest nightmares.

However, this spin off decides to do something quite unique. Sure, it's not a medieval dark fantasy film like Army of Darkness was, but I still do appreciate the fact that they switched the setting from a more traditional one (so traditional in fact that movies like Cabin in the woods and Tucker and Dale vs Evil mock it) to an urban one, showing that this unseen evil truly has no bounds. I love the forests as a horror setting as much as the next guy (you're reading a review written by someone who is currently rereading Tales of the Wind and Moon Shadows whilst also reading a complete collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales), but it's nice to see it take a new direction.

In their book Writing the horror movie by Marc Blake and Sara Bailey, the authors say that Large empty places breed uncertainty.

Sure, one could argue that setting a story in a place close to civilisation kills any amount of dredd, but I'd say you can still create great tension and generate a feeling of helplessness of the characters despite them being surrounded by people.

Apartment buildings had long since been a staple in the horror genre. These massive husks of glass, metal and concrete that tower over everything else around them certainly do have a unique and wonderfully creepy aura surrounding them. In their looming shadows the characters can feel small and insignificant and we can put themselves into their shoes quite easily as I'm sure we had all felt quite the same. There's also the undeniable feeling of being watched or observed one can get in an apartment, adding to the ghostly macabre vibe and atmoshpere of those places.

In many respects we can look at them as the moody gothic castles, asylums and mansions of our time.

In Ira Levin's short 1967 supernatural thriller novel Rosemary's baby, the apartment complex in which Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into is portrayed as a foreboding place, plagued by dark and mysterious events which unravel in a terrifying conclusion. This feeling of anxiety and dredd is wonderfully carried over into the 1968 Roman Polanski film adaptation (which is one of my favorite films of all time) and the 2014 NBC miniseries (which I don't think deserves the hate it got).

This motive is wonderfully carried over into the other examples of this genre, like Clive Barker's short ghost story The Forbidden (1985) as well as it's more well known film adaptation Candyman (1992), the second episode of the Canadian horror anthology Darknet (2013) and the German cosmic horror series I'm currently watching Hausen (2020). There's also the option of turning this trope into something more comedic, like in one of my favorite films Ghostbusters (1984). However, the most iconic, well executed and overall terrifying usage of this setting done in a film comes to us from the 2007 Spanish horror film REC which I reccomend as a great tutorial on making low budget yet effective horror cinema to any aspiring filmmakers.

So what does Evil Dead Rise do with this?

The whole film is set in a crummy apartment complex which was at first a church which closed down under mysterious circumstances, later refurnished into a bank and then into a housing facility. The opening shows us that this isn't exactly the greatest of living places with terrible lighting, a barely fucntional elevator and earthquakes being common in the area (I feel like the last aspect could have been utilized a lot better given that it feels like the writers completely forgot about their existence after the end of act one.).

So how do they achieve the aspect of being cut off and isolated from the rest of the world?

During a particularly nasty earthquake, the staircase on their floor ends up getting demolished, leaving them on their own for the rest of the film. I gotta say that it's a pretty neat idea, but one does have to wonder as to why nobody from the upper or lower floors called the firefighters or something, but, hey, a plot needs to happen.

I feel like the limitations of an apartment floor were very well utilized here with a lack of proper proffesional assistance, a small group of survivors and/or victims and largely malfunctioning technology leaving our characters virtually powerless against the limitless and ancient evil hunting them.

(2) The Writing

This film brings back what was probably the best thing about the remake: serious themes.

Now, I'm not saying every horror movie needs to be this dark thought provoking drama full of metaphors, allegories and philosophies, some are just dumb fun. However, I feel that, in case of this specific franchise, the graphically violent demon action could certainly use some gravitas. And that's where these themes come in.

In the remake the prevailing theme was drug abuse and recovery from it. It's a theme that flows throught the film, cleverly being intergrated within the plot. This made the ending that much more triumphant despite the bloodshed happening throught it.

In this film it's the theme is motherhood.

The whole movie deals with our protagonist, Ellie, accepting her role as a maternal figure to her unborn child, and over the course of the runtime she learns this by literally protecting her nieces and nephew from and eldritch supernatural threat. This works great as a metaphor for the uncertainty and troubles of being an up and coming mother and all of the horrors one has to face whilst doing so.

If handled poorly, this theme can backfire super quickly and come off as impecably pretentious and condescending (for example, this is the case with the anti-abortion film Alison's choice). However, this movie treats it with remarkable devotion, at no point did I feel that the message was hammered in or hamfisted, and if one were to look carefully they'd notice how well and suptily it gets intergrated within the plot.

The other well handled aspect of this film's writing was how it compliments and expands the worldbuilding.

The film shows us that there had been other people throught history who cae in contact with the dreaded Naturum Demonto (the revamped title of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis) and the dreaded and brutal consequences that came along with that. To me, this is a great dread building device as it puts our characters in a much scarier situation making us ask the question If the people who came before didn't survive, then how will they? and then cheering immensly when they do. It can also show us tha this mysterious evil truly has no bounds and extends towards every inch of Earth, across time and space creating a truly disturbing and almost Lovecraftian antagonist (which ends up becoming a great comeback to the Necronomicon's literary origins).

Overall, this is up there with the 2013 remake as hands down the best written serious film in the franchise and I have nothing but praises for it's amazing script work.

(3) Any Negatives?

Ok so I showered the film with praises and, for the most part, it's an incredibly well executed movie, no questions asked. But was there anything in here I geniunely disliked or hated?

Both of those words were pretty strong and, even though this is one of my favorite films of the year so far, I wouldn't call it a perfect and flawless piece of filmmaking.

The acting, whilst perfectly serviceable and certainly good, isn't the best and I don't think the actors gave nearly as much emotion or put enough of their game in it.

The effects (other than the decently creepy makeup of the possesed characters) also feel pretty bland, but that's probably just me experiancing CGI fatigue like with many new films prior to this. Not to mention that they do sometimes fall on the cheesier side of monster designs.

The soundtrack of the film was also not very memorable and from what I gather, even quite generic.

But, there's a good explantion as to why this happened.

Evil Dead as a franchise was always associated with camp and cheese (as previously stated) so, even the more serious and flashy modern entries need to atleast somewhat keep up with that B movie charm in order to not alienate the existing fanbase. Wheater or not this is a great idea is up to personal interpretation, but I do understand where the filmmakers are coming from, even though I feel this makes some aspects fall a little short.

Overall, despite these shortcomings, it's not and definetely won't be a terrible film.

(Sidenote: this image is a perfect representation of the Evil Dead fandom after they read my thoughts on the first film)

Finally, would I reccomend this film to anyone? If you're a seasoned Evil Dead fan then, yes, definetely!!! There's enough references and gorey action sequences to keep you entertained, even if you won't be happy about the lack of any Ash Williams appearences here.

If you're new to the franchise and would like to start off with the most recent entry without any prior knowledge you should be ok given that this is a largely standalone spin off and not a direct sequel to any of the previous films (this is exactly what happened to a friend of mine). Just be warned, you need a really strong stomach to handle any of these films.

If you're just looking for a fun modern B movie with flashy effects, violent action sequences and some cool demonic horror imagery then this will probably be a decent watch, even if you never had an exposure to the franchise previously.

For me, it was honestly a really entertaining and stomach churning watch. Whilst it isn't a film I'd rewatch ever again, I'm glad to have atleast seen it in theatres (pretty much the same response I had to Cocaine Bear).

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