You’re Gonna Love Why “Evil Dead Rise” Stumped me as a Reviewer

I feel wholly unqualified to talk about this movie. I’m still gonna try!

What’s the Point?

Typically, I feel like if I watch a movie, even if it’s a middle film in a franchise that I haven’t watched yet, I still feel like I can talk about the movie a little. Like, even if I’m picking up a review of an adaptation of a book I feel like there’s something or another I can talk about.

But Evil Dead Rise feels like a completely independent genre. It’s not just ‘a movie’. It’s not just a film in a series with a strong cult following, or a movie with a specific cultural impact or a legendary director/creator. It’s all of that, innit? It’s like, not just a movie in the horror genre. It’s a subgenre in and of itself.

We can talk gore, we can talk possession, we can talk about zombies, we can talk about torture porn, we can talk about trauma horror, we can talk about Catholic horror, but where the fuck does Evil Dead fall? I haven’t seen a single film in this franchise, but either through the zeitgeist or through Red Letter Media being utter fanboys, I kinda get that the series is its own thing in a very unique way.

Hell, people on Reddit had totally polarizing opinions either as longtime fans or just unqualified losers who think other people want to hear their opinions. So I mean… the fuck am I doing here, y’know?

A Pointless Effort

Let me try anyway, ok? Bear with me. Rawr.

The film Evil Dead Rise is a short story stretched to a justified feature length. Alyssa Sutherland, who everyone’s agreed was amazing, plays a demon undead lady who tortures her three kids and pregnant sister. The film is gory and disturbing, and relishes in putting its characters through the absolute wringer. The movie culminates in an absolutely grotesque volume of blood and fleshy practical effects. People who don’t have the patience for extreme violence of that sort will find the climax, and maybe even large parts of this movie, to be campy and extravagant, but that’s when you have to recognize that the identity of the series is based on camp.

Depending on how invested you get in the film, there are some genuinely frightening moments and visuals, and if you can turn off your brain and believe in the gore effects, the gore is pretty decent too. It’s a bit more disturbing considering there’s two underaged kids who are attacked, tortured, killed, and then possessed, so kudos to the film for not shying away from the edginess.

If you went into the movie without having done any research, and if you’ve been keeping up with my reviews lately, you may feel like this type of horror film rings a bell.

Indeed! The director of Evil Dead Rise is none other than our favorite headliner, Lee Cronin, of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy fame, who made Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.

So I guess I don’t really know how to rate this movie. I liked The Mummy because it was a little unique in its concept, but it’s largely the same movie as Evil Dead Rises, which is a large extension of the other Evil Dead movies (I think). In conclusion, Evil Dead Rises is a 

YMMV

movie if there ever was one. I saw Evil Dead Rises on HBO, but you will not find the other movies in the series on HBO and should instead consider sailing the high seas.

Wondering how my rating system works? Let me explain!