‘Evil Dead Rise’ is the latest installment in the long running ‘Evil Dead’ franchise. Gone is Bruce Campbell and in his place a close knit family led by a recently divorced mother (Alyssa Sutherland). After a violent earthquake rocks their rundown apartment, the kids stumble on the infamous book of the dead buried beneath the parking complex. Simple curiosity leads to disaster as the kids unwittingly unleash hell on earth. Soon after, the matriarch of the family becomes possessed by the deadites and once again, it’s spam in an apartment block.
‘Rise’ faithfully adheres to the tried and true ‘Evil Dead’ formula albeit with one major change. It transplants the action from a musty run down cabin in the remote forest to a deteriorating apartment block in downtown LA. The change of setting is somewhat appreciated. But unfortunately, ‘Rise’ does suffer from some of the same issues that plagued the 2013 remake.
Whereas the tone of the original trilogy was one of manic absurdity, ‘Rise’ is much more concerned with simply playing up the shock and awe factor by way of over the top gore. By comparison, Sam Raimi’s original films could be best described as anarchist as they played up an almost ‘Three Stooges’ style of physical comedy with gore in place of custard pies. Tonally speaking, ‘Rise’ is much more comparable to the sadistic nature of the 2013 remake. Although, to its credit, it does show a little more restraint.
One of the most interesting things about the original ‘Evil Dead’ was how it presented the world surrounding it. The forest itself was a character in itself as it grew as equally deranged as those who were possessed by the deadites. By transplanting it to a rundown apartment, some of that feel is lost in the process as the apartment block has very little character. The residents that live within are all merely cannon fodder. As such, the apartment block itself isn’t exactly memorable.
That tangible quality of the world gone crazy is somewhat missing in ‘Rise.’ For instance, in the original ‘Evil Dead’, you have that surrealist moments such as the one where Ash reaches into a mirror only for it to turn into a puddle of water. It's surrealist flourishes like that which I could have done more with in ‘Rise.’
It does have some appeal. It’s nasty and grotesque in a way that should appeal to most hardcore of horror fans. The performances from all involved are very strong. Especially Alyssa Sutherland who once possessed gleefully hams it up to 11. It hits all the beats you expect from an ‘Evil Dead’ film. It’s incredibly slick in terms of production quality, but that may also be to its detriment. Another charm of the original film was its low budget punk rock nature. It was a film made by a group of ragtag friends for no money which only helped to lend to its absurdist charms.
Much the same problem that plagued the 2013 remake, once you apply a slick studio budget, it does wind up stripping it a little of its modest charms. It’s a little like watching a garage band sell out to the corporate machine. As an ‘Evil Dead’ film? ‘Rise’ never quite lives up to the wild anarchic spirit of the original Raimi films from which it borrows. As a mindless gore fest? It's perfectly serviceable and adequate.
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