With the recommissioning of yet another ‘Mrs Browns Boys Christmas Special’ it’s easy to think that Evil Dead Rise might be a documentary about the return of the alleged comedy series and anyone thinking that is in for the most gruesome of surprises. Evil Dead Rise is the fifth in the horror franchise that started over forty years ago by Sam Raimi and has not missed a beat since.
Raimi , having moved onto massively budgeted Marvel films has chosen well with the directors to continue the series and Evil Dead Rise has Irishman Lee Cronin helming the chaotic carnage. For the first time though the franchise moves away from its notorious cabin in the woods origins albeit starting off there momentarily before setting up an outstanding bit of imagery for the titles before heading off to downtown LA replacing the cabin with a run down apartment block where the tenants have been given a month to leave before the block is razed to the ground. One of the last occupants is single mum Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) with her three children : wannabe DJ Danny (Morgan Davies) middle child Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and cutie pie youngest Kassie( Nell Fisher). The introduction of children to the series immediately up the ante because in a series so renowned for its gore are the film makers really going to put them through the same that has befallen Bruce Campbell and co in past films? They are visited by their aunt Beth a rock group technician that her sister Ellie regards as little more than a groupie come to visit after a long tour.
It’s not long before the kids find the Book of the Dead after an earthquake in the basement reveals a hidden vault where it has been safely locked away until now along with a load of vinyl record recordings of the demonic incantations. Pretty soon Mum Ellie is a possessed Deadite and the three kids and their aunt do their best to avoid the most gruesome atrocities being perpetrated upon their persons and this being an Evil Dead film they really are the most gruesome and with the film using an estimated 6500 litres of fake blood you know what to expect.
Written by Cronin also he’s put together an absolute rollercoaster of gory mayhem akin to that of the second film and he’s gleefully included a number of Easter eggs for the eagle eyed fan and a few nods to The Shining too. Horror franchises like any other are prone to the laws of diminishing returns but that’s not the case here – the horror, once it starts, never lets up with a whole series of shrieking set pieces and ghastly gore that makes this one of the year’s best horror films to date.
We chat to director Lee Cronin about the making of the film and reveals a few secrets…..
Here’s the Evil Dead Rise trailer…….
