Plot: What’s it about?
In 1981 Director Sam Raimi essentially created a genre of film – the horror movie…with a comedic twist. This genre has been played out, but films like the original Evil Dead movies, An American Werewolf in London and so on – all embraced it. Fans of Raimi’s Evil Dead films no doubt know the excitement of watching the hero as he battles the forces of evil – with a chainsaw for a hand. But those films had their time and with 1993’s Army of Darkness, it might be argued that these came to an end. But no, thank you Hollywood, you’ll never let anything die and we got a new chapter in 2013 as well as a television series. And now we’ve got Evil Dead Rise, a film that shares the same name as the aforementioned titles but…that’s about it. Was it worth the wait? Is it more of the same? Or is this just yet another excuse to cash in on an already overdone genre with a familiar title?
We meet Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), a single mom who’s doing her best to raise her three kids: Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), Danny (Morgan Davies) and Kassie (Nell Fisher). Their apartment building is set to close down in a month and they’ll need to find a new place to live. They get a visit from Ellie’s sister, Beth (Lily Sullivan), she’s a sound technician with a band and is now pregnant. An earthquake hits and it opens a hole in the parking garage. Danny explores only to find some old relics along with, you guessed it, the “Book of the Dead” (better known as the Necronomicon). Danny finds a hidden message after playing some records backwards (this goes along with his hobby of being a dee jay), unleashes the evil inside the book which possesses Ellie. She starts to terrorize her own family with Beth vowing to protect them.
Aside from the name, there’s very little (to me, at least) that has anything in common with the original Evil Dead movies. Yeah, we’ve got the Book of the Dead, there’s a scene with a chainsaw and the name – other than that, I was hard pressed to find any similarities (or any pleasure watching this). I think the problem was that there wasn’t really a cohesive plot. Then again a character with a chainsaw for a hand killing demons saying “I’ll swallow your soul.” didn’t exactly win any Oscars. I’m getting distracted. It just felt like a sequence of events. It’s like “Hey, let’s do this in this scene…it’ll be awesome.” Things like that. I found it hard to get any real enjoyment out of the film as it wanted to see how much they could gross out the audience as opposed to entertain them. I realize that this film did get some pretty favorable reviews, but it just wasn’t for me.
Video: How’s it look?
If you like your movies dark, then this one is for you. Arrow’s 2.39:1 HEVC 4K image seems to be the same one used by Warner on their 4K discs. And why not? There’s no use in re-inventing the wheel. Also, the image does a great job of utilizing HDR for a nice, balanced look and feel. And that’s good, as there isn’t a shade of blue in the film. Faces covered in blood, green skin and ugly teeth – if this is something that gets you going, then you’ll be right at home. Detail is sharp, contrast strong and with it being a new film we know what to expect. And it does deliver. I just wish the content behind this nice-looking image had a little more substance.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The film does take full advantage of the included Dolby Atmos mix that, too was included on Warner’s discs. This is mainly utilized for some spacial effects, screams and whatever else the evil spirits circling our speakers want. Vocals are a bit on the soft side, but they take a backseat to the front stage’s piercing mix. Virtually all of the sound is naturalistic, which does give us a nice-sounding atmospheric mix. Turn it up, it’ll make it a bit more enjoyable.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I’d mentioned in my previous two reviews of this title that “…for reasons unknown, this title does not have any supplements.” Well Arrow has changed that and now we’ve got plenty of supplements. So let’s get started.
- Audio Commentary – Alyssa Sutherland is joined by Director Lee Cronin and Lily Sullivan as the trio give us some anecdotes from the set. Cronin, obviously, takes the lead and gives us a decent track. It was worth the wait.
- Come Get Some with Lily Sullivan – Essentially that, an interview with Sullivan who plays Beth in the film.
- Mommy Deadite with Alyssa Sutherland – In the “if it ain’t broke” department, this is an interview with Sutherland who plays Ellie.
- The Deadite’s Daughter with Gabrielle Echols – We’ll call this “part three of four” which is an interview with Echols who plays Bridget.
- The Levitating Dead with Anna-Maree Thomas – Finally, we have an interview with Thomas who plays Jessica.
- Conjuring Deadites with Luke Polti – Makeup designer Luke Polti gives us the lowdown on some of the more practical effects he used for the various “stages” in some of the scenes. Quite interesting, really.
- Chopping Up Deadites with Bryan Shaw – Along the same lines, we’ve got an interview with the film’s editor, Bryan Shaw who regales us with some of his “tricks of the trade.”
- Sonic Possessions with Peter Albrechtsen – Sound Designer Peter Albrechtsen’s comments resonated with me for some odd reason. I don’t really pay attention to sound design, but this one is interesting.
- Music to Swallow Your Soul with Stephen McKeon – Stephen McKeon, the film’s composer, gives us some information about how he approached the film’s musical score.
- The Sound of Evil Dead Rise – This one is pretty interesting. It’s a 2023 interview from the Dolby Institute Podcast with the film’s director (Lee Cronin) and sound designer (Peter Albrechtsen) as they give us a bit more about the film and the sound associated with it.
- Raising a New Evil Dead – Your standard EPK with some behind the scenes footage.
- Ghost Train – Lee Cronin’s 2013 short film is shown in all its 16 minutes of glory.
- Behind the Scenes – Some video shot on the set via a phone by Cronin.
- Theatrical Trailer
- Television Spots
The Bottom Line
I’m in the minority as I wasn’t really feeling this one. Others were. I just felt that I couldn’t relate to any of the characters and that the filmmakers used a previously-existing name to merit more profit. The main drawback from Warner’s offerings was that they were void of any supplemental material, a rarity these days. Arrow’s disc has fixed that with plenty of fodder for fans. If you are one (a fan, that is) then this one is for you. Otherwise stick with what was already out there.
