Fifth Film in Horror Franchise Is Groovy

For Evil Dead Rise, the fifth film in the Evil Dead franchise, the action takes place not in a cabin in the woods but in a soon-to-be-closed apartment. Living there is a tattoo artist named Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), along with her three kids, Danny (Morgan Davies), Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), and Kassie (Nell Fisher). They’re soon joined by Beth (Lily Sullivan), Ellie’s sister, who works as a guitar technician. However, their reunion is cut short after disaster strikes.

The horror starts after Danny discovers an evil book and a vinyl record containing some backstory and translations of the book’s passages. He ignores Bridget telling him to leave those things alone and plays the vinyl. To Danny’s credit, he tries to turn it off as soon as the ‘demon resurrection passage’ starts, but by then, it’s too late. An evil force is unleashed upon the building, and starts turning its inhabitants into Deadites, starting with Ellie.

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Callbacks to Past Evil Dead Movies

Warner Bros. Pictures

Fans will be satisfied by the fact that Evil Dead Rise is filled with references to the legendary horror franchise. During the scene where Ellie gets demonically possessed, she’s in an elevator where wires come alive and wrap themselves around her neck and limbs in a manner evoking the trees of past Evil Dead movies. However, there’s no sexual assault this time around, thankfully, and besides paying homage to the past, it also seems to be symbolic. Deadite Ellie’s movement is noticeably more marionette-like than when she was a human.

Several of the characters who get possessed do so in accordance with the book’s illustrations, which comes from the remake. Callbacks to the original trilogy include that trademark POV dolly shot, Deadites saying “I’ll swallow your soul” and “dead by dawn,” and Ash Williams. We won’t tell you where he is, though, so that you can find him yourself (and maybe because we’re afraid of being wrong, but mostly so that you can find him yourself).

RELATED: Evil Dead Rise Director Says Bruce Campbell Is Hidden Somewhere in the Film

Also, as you might have gathered from the trailers and promotional images, Evil Dead Rise doesn’t abandon its rural setting entirely. The film starts at a very different cabin where a hair-raising incident occurs. It’s there to give audiences a taste of what’s coming and provide a couple more callbacks to the earlier installments, but it feels slightly pointless due to how little it has to do with the rest of the movie.

During Evil Dead Rise, it’s stated that the book is one of three volumes of the Naturom Demonto or Book of the Dead, which is something that writer/director Lee Cronin has discussed in interviews. He said that this revelation goes back to Army of Darkness, where there were three books in the cemetery scene. So now each film director, Sam Raimi, Fede Álvarez, and Cronin, have their own book.

That’s blatantly a retcon, as Army of Darkness implied those other two books were decoys. They also looked the same in that film, but don’t anymore. The Book of the Dead in Evil Dead Rise, which one assumes is the book that bit Ash, looks more like The Monster Book of Monsters from the Harry Potter series. But whatever, willing suspension of disbelief and all that. Plus, it’s been like over 100 years. Maybe it got a new cover.

The Gore

Warner Bros. Pictures

Before its release, Cronin mentioned how incredibly violent this installment would be quite a few times. There are certainly some very graphic scenes. The trailer moment that went viral as quickly as M3GAN’s dance scene is a cheese grater not getting used on cheese. However, the film isn’t quite the “rollercoaster of blood” Cronin promised. Of course, take that with a grain of salt (or grated flesh). If you’re a Terrifier 2 fan, your threshold for violent movies might differ slightly from most people’s.

On a related note, Evil Dead Rise and Cronin’s feature-length debut, The Hole in the Ground, are two very different movies. The Hole in the Ground is an original story that, while certainly having some grizzly moments, prioritizes atmosphere and building a sense of dread. Evil Dead Rise is part of an established franchise, and though not lacking in mood or suspense, is dripping in blood. It’s similar to Álvarez going from Evil Dead to Don’t Breathe, only in reverse. Of course, one thing that The Hole in the Ground and Evil Dead Rise have in common is that they’re all about family.

The Family Dynamic

Warner Bros. Pictures

The heart of Evil Dead Rise is family, and the film shows the care and strife that are part and parcel of every filial relationship. For instance, Beth’s flakiness has caused a bit of resentment, as has Ellie telling people that her sister’s a “groupie.” However, that doesn’t stop either of them from showing concern for the other’s well-being when they finally reunite after a long time apart.

In both the original movie, The Evil Dead, and its remake, it’s the younger sibling that gets possessed. Here it’s the oldest, which does play into their dynamic. Per the stereotype, Ellie has always been the responsible one who everybody can rely on, but now Beth has been thrust into the role of caretaker.

With some initial hesitation, Beth ends up taking on the role with gusto. After Bridget and Danny get into a fight over Bridget rightfully blaming him for what’s happened, Beth’s the one that breaks it up. She also forms a dynamic with Kassie that brings to mind Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and Newt (Carrie Henn) in Aliens, especially towards the end.

Evil Dead Rise Spoilers

New Line Cinema

Up until this point, we’ve tried to avoid giving away anything that wasn’t too big of a spoiler or something you couldn’t have gleaned from the trailers. Luckily for us, the trailers give away quite a bit about the movie. The rest of this section is undeniably a major spoiler, but it’s also too important to not go over, so you may want to skip to the conclusion now.

In her very first scene, Beth and the audience learn that she’s pregnant, which is the whole reason she went to visit her sister in the first place. Her pregnancy is also something that the Deadites repeatedly torment her over. However, when Kassie asks, “Are you going to be a mom?” Beth responds, “Yes,” which marks a turning point in both their lives. Because Beth’s not just talking about being a mother to her baby.

RELATED: Evil Dead Rise: A Look at Lee Cronin’s Filmography Ahead of its Release

The final monster of the film continues the family theme, as Deadite Danny and Bridget pull a John Carpenter’s The Thing move and merge with Deadite Ellie. The superfamily then tries to shove Beth into a woodchipper, but Beth turns the tables on them with the assistance of a trusty chainsaw and Kassie. Even though she can’t do much, Kassie does her best to help out when she can, instead of staying on the sidelines completely, which goes a long way in making her a more interesting character.

Before getting sucked in, Deadite Ellie tries to pull the ‘don’t kill me, it’s me’ trick, even referring to Beth by her affectionate nickname. Instead of falling for it, Beth very pointedly responds by saying that only her sister is allowed to call her that. As far as one-liners go, that doesn’t beat “swallow/feast on this,” but it’s still pretty good.

With the rest of the family dead, we see Kassie, her eyes covered, seemingly crying. For a brief moment, it seems like there’s going to be a cruel twist where Kassie gets possessed, forcing Beth to kill her too. That would have been daring. It also might have been too much of a kick in the teeth for Beth, whose whole character arc is coming to grips with motherhood. That might be why the movie doesn’t go there.

What Makes it So Groovy

Warner Bros. Pictures

While some may take issue with Evil Dead Rise lacking much of the campiness that made the early movies so beloved, it’s still very well-made. The characters are actually engaging, and the film somehow made an L.A. apartment feel as isolated as a cabin in the woods. Cronin’s direction was on point, as were the performances of the whole cast. After this, Sutherland may very well join the likes of Jaime Lee Curtis and Katharine Isabelle as a great scream queen who isn’t even a horror movie fan. There’s also some stellar black comedy in the film, even if it’s nowhere near the extent of Evil Dead II.

Produced by New Line Cinema, Renaissance Pictures, Pacific Renaissance, and Wild Atlantic Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures releases Evil Dead Rise on April 21.

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