Evil Dead Rise (2023) Review

 "Mommy's with the maggots now."
-Ellie Deadite



After an earthquake damages his apartment building, Danny (Morgan Davies) finds a copy of the Necronomicon and some recordings in a hidden basement vault.  He brings it backs to his family's apartment and accidently summons a Deadite that possesses his mother, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland).  Now Danny, his sisters, his aunt, and the other residents of the building have to fight to survive and escape from the Deadites.


What Works:

I love when horror movies don't pull their punches.  The last Evil Dead movie is one of the goriest movies I've ever seen and Evil Dead Rise follows in its predecessors bloody footsteps.  However, we have teenage and child characters in this movie and they aren't spared from the death and dismemberment.  Honestly, I love to see it.  No one should be safe in a horror movie.  It adds to the tension.

The gore itself is absolutely insane.  The amount of blood is absurd and over-the-top.  That's my favorite type of gore in movies.  Dial it up to 11 and fill the room with blood.

The kills are gnarly and the movie is dark, but it's not an entirely humorless experience.  The 2nd and 3rd movies in this series are horror-comedies.  This is not.  It's 98% horror, but we get a couple of very funny movements, if your sense of humor is on the dark side.  Miserable things may be happening to the characters, but it's not miserable to sit through by any means.  Quite the opposite, in fact.

The performances from the actors are great across the board.  The entire family does a great job.  From the get-go, you can tell they love each other, even if there is some conflict between them.  It makes the decisions the characters have to make much more difficult because it's not just friends being possessed, but your mother or your siblings.  The performances and the character relations make the movie even more horrifying.  

I love the setting.  The Evil Dead movies take place in a cabin in the woods (with one notable exception).  This movie (unlike Army of Darkness) takes the same premise and changes the location to a condemned apartment building.  It's a great location and the movie has to find creative way to isolate the characters, who live in Los Angeles.  It's a lot of fun.

Finally, the script is very tight.  Everything is set up and everything pays off.  I could spot the set up for weapons to be used later and I got very excited.  I was hoping the script was tight enough to pay those setups off successfully and the movie absolutely does.  I love a smart and efficient script.


What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.


Verdict:

Evil Dead Rise is an excellent addition to the franchise and a must-watch film for hardcore horror fans.  The gore is incredible, the performances are awesome, the setting is a fun change of pace, and the script is tight.  It manages to be both fun and horrifying to watch.  It's a hard balance to strike, but this movie pulls it off.  It's my favorite movie of 2023 so far and has absolutely got it going on.  Hopefully, you have a strong stomach.

 10/10: Amazing 

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