“Mommy loves you to death.
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.” – Letterboxd Synopsis
I have been wanting to dive into this franchise for a long time now. I’ve seen plenty of video breakdowns on the Ash trilogy and some videos on the 2013 reboot. So I know some things about this universe and how things work, but by no means am I super well versed so this movie being its own standalone entry with a sequel that just came out this year felt like the perfect jumping in point. Especially because I remember the trailers from a few years ago and how excited I was for it back then. It may have taken me a bit to get around to it, but Evil Dead Rise is fantastic.
For the second time this year, I’m going to use Goosebumps as my frame of reference for a horror movie, but I can’t help it. The inciting incident for this movie feels so Goosebumps-esque. First of all, rewinding a bit, the intro into the title sequence is one of the coolest things ever. I remember seeing that in the trailer and it being a moment that wowed me. I love how the movie came full circle with that. Back on track though, this movie takes place in an old apartment building that’s soon to be torn down but still has tenants. The entire setting felt so Resident Evil/survival horror. Which I loved. It makes for a believably confined but open enough space for running, hiding, and some downtime when the deadites start doing their demonic thing. It was a great choice of setting. It felt claustrophobic but still open enough to feed the runtime. I really enjoyed the family dynamics at play. It’s always nice to see a messed up family, or one that’s going through hardship, that still genuinely cares. And of course the deadites use that to their advantage fully. For a movie whose plot can be easily boiled down to “we gotta get the hell away from that/don’t let her in,” it executes a lot with that, and I found myself really enjoying every moment of it.
For a movie that I enjoyed so much, the characters were just fine for the most part. The two strongest were, of course, Ellie and Beth. Their connection and struggles were done really well. Everyone else, though, was just alright, but that doesn’t matter when you have Alyssa Sutherland giving a straight up amazing performance. Both when she is a human and also when she becomes a deadite. Actually, especially when she becomes a deadite. I was almost rooting for her to kill/turn everybody. She was equal parts terrifying, funnily antagonistic, sad, all of the things that, in my mind, make for a great possession, she killed it. I almost want to say she was born to play this role. And opposite her, Lilly Sullivan, who plays Beth, was just as good. Talk about a survival horror character brought to life. These two hard carry this movie, and I loved every second of it.
I don’t know how many times I had to look away or through my fingers as I was watching this. Definitely more so than any other movie I’ve watched recently. I mean that in all the best ways. This movie was bloody, gnarly, and brutal. It was hard to watch at times. And while all that is amazing, the way this movie is shot really does the blood and gore justice. Going back to the setting, its use makes everything feel so claustrophobic in a room full of demons. I loved it. Also, that title sequence again, so good.
So yeah, I had high hopes for this movie, but being a newcomer to this franchise, I didn’t know what to fully expect. What I got was a very fun, intense, bloody thriller that makes great use of its setting to tell a very claustrophobic story that hits a lot of my favorite survival horror notes. Topped off by an amazing performance by Alyssa Sutherland, Evil Dead Rise is a must watch horror movie.
Evil Dead Rise – 9/10
Notes – Thought my feelings would change once she fully turned into a deadite, but nah, Alyssa Sutherland was still bad in both forms. New celebrity crush unlocked for sure. Brb, imma go binge Vikings now.
