There are very few horror franchises as iconic or recognizable as the Evil Dead franchise. From the campy nature of the original films, to the lead star Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams. In the latest addition to the franchise, a new director attempts to capture fans of the lore with a new, bloody horror take Evil Dead Rise.
A reunion between two estranged sisters gets 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.
Review
I am going to start by saying that horror is not my genre. So take that into account when you read my review. I have seen the original Evil Dead films and enjoyed the campy fun horror that they were. Coming into Evil Dead Rise, based on the trailers, I was expecting anything but that. The story is rather straight forward. A family living in an old building, finds the Necronomicon and instead of leaving it where it was, they open it and all hell literally breaks loose.
The film is gory for gory sake. And while that is expected in a horror film, here the director does it obsessively. In fact, according to reports, they used over 1,700 gallons of blood for the film. Many of the scenes had me turning away simply because they were gross versus scary. There is nothing exceedingly scary in this film, that’s not its goal. Its all about the gore factor. However, even in the peak of the gore factor, none of it comes across as impressive.
Evil Dead Rise has plenty of elements that keep it well anchored in the Evil Dead franchise from the fly, to the in the face camera angles and the chainsaw. However, its devoid of any of the campy or comedic horror that the original films did so well at. Because of that, the film comes across as empty and pointless overall. If you are all about the gore or a die hard Evil Dead fan, this film will certainly scratch that itch, but just don’t use a cheese grater.
Evil Dead Rise hits theatres 4/21.
