Evil Dead Rise

Evil Dead Rise is a solid horror flick, but if you're familiar with the franchise, you'll just be mentally ticking off a list of must-haves. The setting of an old tenement house is not as atmospheric and interesting as a cabin in the mountains, and while the filmmakers attempted to bring evil to a new cramped location, they didn't miss the tried-and-true cabin, giving the film a framing device that's quite impressive but completely unnecessary to the main story (but at least it brought the best reveal of the film's title in years). The 2013 remake was far more impressive, engaging and entertaining in its reinterpretation of a well-worn formula; this one is just OK. (04/28/2023)

I liked the opening and the brilliantly built-up finale, but between that, the new Evil Dead was nothing to write home about. What surprised me was that, compared to the film that started everything in 1981 (for a couple of bucks), this one is rather mild. What pleased me, on the other hand, was how they didn't mess around with it (thank you for the reasonable running time), and that there was no lack of black humour either. (07/09/2023)

I expected a film that would completely break free from the conventional bounds of bloody and explicit horror! Evil Dead Rise didn’t quite deliver on that front. Don’t get me wrong... Technically, it’s a flawless film, set this time in the intriguing environment of a dilapidated apartment building somewhere in LA. I even managed to warm up to the main protagonist during the enjoyable hour and a half. And when it comes to gore, it’s absolutely top-notch (though by my standards, it’s disappointingly sparse... the trailers promised a bigger dose). However, the story ultimately let me down. Adding in a few illogical situations (especially the bizarre way the blood-borne infection behaves) and some stupid character actions, it just can’t reach the genre's peak. On the plus side, Alyssa Sutherland played the demonic mother brilliantly... And the final chainsaw sequence? I genuinely squealed with delight :D It ends up with a weaker 7/10. (05/23/2023)

The nod to Raimi is clear right from the title, so expect more than just a monster under the bed. We're talking decapitations and characters going through medieval levels of bodily torment. It's brutal, twisted, and bloody — but in a way that’s traditionally entertaining for this horror franchise. (06/29/2023)

So here everything is absolutely fine. Anyone who has seen Evil Dead in its original versions (and it certainly left an impression on them, just like me) knows what they're getting into and applauds. Those who have never seen this film before not only miss out on that applauding heart and butterflies in the stomach right at the beginning when the 'demon' is making its way through the woods and over the water, but in the end, they're probably just disgusted by the visual appearance of all the scenes :D I have to say that I was completely satisfied. 90% of the film is in the spirit of Evil Dead (literally lol), it's cool, it's scary, disgusting, gloomy, muddy, bloody, crazy, relentless - the only thing that was slightly exaggerated was the ending, but then again, it was exactly the kind of ending you'd expect from Evil Dead, so why not :D I liked it! (05/15/2023)