Review Evil Dead Rise – Review on FilmTotaal

Director: Lee Cronin | Script: Lee Cronin | Cast: Lily Sullivan (Beth), Alyssa Sutherland (Ellie), Morgan Davies (Danny), Gabrielle Echols (Bridget), Nell Fisher (Kassie), ea | Time to play: 97 minutes | Year: 2023

James Wan, creator of, among others Insidious in The spell, has had a great influence on the genre, especially in the supernatural branch, with its horror films. There’s even a little detail that’s made it popular: an iconic moment where the title comes into view is happening all the time now. recently brought Smile the name of the movie is extremely strange in the image. Also rise of the wicked dead presents it in an epic way. If you start at the top of the mountain, you have to work really hard to stay there.

Roadie Beth finds out she’s pregnant and turns to her sister Ellie for support. However, the family bond is not as strong as expected, as Beth was unaware that Ellie and her three children had to leave her apartment because the building was being demolished and her husband had run away. The children find a hidden safe containing a sinister book and some records. On that record is a devilish prayer that summons the well-known Evil Dead demons, and Ellie is its first victim. Beth will have to reveal her motherhood sooner than expected.

The trailer promises a gore feast. That turns out to be a disappointment (or a relief if you don’t like watching gory torture), because you’ve already seen the most severe mutilations in the promo. This tone was already set in the previous one Evil Dead, and somewhere that is styled as the original. Gallons of fake blood were also used and limbs were severed. Due to the smaller budget and technical limitations, it wasn’t too bad, but it was there.

Moving the setting from a cabin in the woods to a house in a nearly abandoned and half-functioning building is an effective adjustment. Ellie’s son is a DJ and that’s a good explanation for why she can’t resist putting that dubious vinyl on her turntable later on. The fact that these records and the well-known book have been in a safe for almost a century throws the canon overboard. Of course, there is only one Necronomicon, so all of the above. Evil DeadThe movies never happened. Separate.

Adding to the movie’s title moment, the summoning of demons is also phenomenal, especially thanks to the sound department that can go crazy with audio effects. According to tradition, the one who is possessed first has a harder time, and that is also the case here. Mother Ellie is hit in an elevator by an unseen force. A metaphor for the blow that finally comes after her partner leaves her and her kids, she’s about to be homeless, and then she also has a sister in need on her doorstep.

So it is about a mother who is no longer fit to take care of her children or herself, and a pregnant woman who fears that she will not be a good mother who is forced to protect the children. Better that than no underlying theme, but it doesn’t go very deep. From the moment Ellie is possessed, the plot follows the same path as the previous parts: the first possessed infects more and more others while a smaller and smaller group has to survive.

It’s scary from the beginning until shortly after Ellie stops being herself. The buildup of scares is agonizingly slow and excruciatingly slow, the mystery of how and when everything will go wrong. But once that happens, it’s not so much scary as exciting. You allow Beth and the children to escape, and it is believable that this is a task. Except when the demon convinces the youngest daughter to remove the lock on the door. Typical annoying horror behavior.

rise of the wicked dead it was not made with the intention of showing it in the theater, but directly to one of the streaming services. Because the test audience was so excited, the studio decided to show it on the big screen anyway. Either option is understandable: a good but not fantastic movie that’s cleverly made to impress on more than one TV screen. What the word Rise means is not entirely clear, this is not an origin story as with Planet of the Apes. Either way, it’s a nice addition to the series.