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The horror movie genre has been delivering hits one after the other in recent times, and Evil Dead Rise has joined the list. In the wake of some great horror movies since 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery and New Line Cinema have managed to come up with something that could either leave people thrilled or petrified.
It has had a great opening at the weekend box office, pulling in $23.5 million domestically and standing at $40.3 million worldwide. With an estimated budget of just $19 million, this is the kind of result that every movie studio would like.
What they’d also like is that along with commercial success, Evil Dead Rise gets critical acclaim that makes it a complete homerun. The Rotten Tomatoes score on this one stands at 84% Fresh.
Spoiler-free review of Evil Dead Rise
Writer-director Lee Cronin did a remarkable job reviving Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise. The latest outing had a bit of everything, as viewers got to witness comedy, action, thrill, and a lot of gore on the back of some great acting in a classic horror story.
Cronin told a pretty simple story where a couple of characters felt stupid at times. But by suspending disbelief, the movie truly achieves its goals. Viewers get to see the worst-case scenario of what would happen if a demon from hell were let loose in the living world, and the answer to that is total chaos.
The horror and chaos were executed to perfection by some inventive Sam Raimi-style camera work, along with the remarkable portrayal of a demon from hell by actors such as Alyssa Sutherland (Vikings) and Gabrielle Echols, among others.
Sutherland, in particular, deserves most of the credit, as she turned out to be one of the scariest characters with her expressions and the outstanding make-up and prosthetics she was put under. But she also made viewers sympathize with her character, Ellie, even after being possessed by the demon.
Lily Sullivan also does an astounding job playing the protagonist, taking the baton, or perhaps the trademark chainsaw that Bruce Campbell carried in past movies. One of the reasons it works so well is because of its nods to the classics.
Besides the classic chainsaw, there were plenty of other nods to the old Evil Dead movies. Campbell also returns to voice the priest on the taped records, and the film includes a literal bloodbath, which is a common aspect in all Evil Dead movies.
But along with these Easter Eggs, there were teases and references to slasher thrillers like Scream, and the blood-flood out of the elevator totally reminds us of The Shining. Overall, the comedy and jump-scares added to the gore and violence make up a lethal combination for those who are into the genre.
But it’s not meant for everyone!
Evil Dead Rise is not the kind of movie that everyone should watch, simply because it involves a lot of gory scenes. Even a lot of horror aficionados may find the gore to be a bit too much because the graphic violence gets dialed up to eleven as the film goes on.
Not just for underage viewers, the visuals in Evil Dead Rise could be disturbing, if not borderline traumatizing, for faint-hearted adults as well. So, viewers who can’t handle bloodshed or deal with the fact that this film makes the bold and questionable decision of putting kids in nightmarish situations should avoid this film.
Others who are fans of horror and gory franchises such as Saw and Mortal Kombat would find Evil Dead Rise to be an entertaining start to a possible new trilogy.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
