Prior to this year, I had seen all the previous movies in the “Evil Dead-iverse” and enjoyed each of them for varying reasons. Rise seems poised to take the series both back to its roots as well as making it fresh for a new generation of horror fans.
Teresa sits on a weathered dock beside a calm pond reading a book in the warm sunlight. Suddenly she is startled by a terrible sound and an unseen force. As she screams she finds that the evil behind this disturbance in her day is her cousin Jessica’s new dickhead boyfriend, Caleb, flying a drone. Tired of his antics she heads back to their secluded cabin by the pond for some quiet and to check on her cousin as she has recently fallen ill. Jessica is sleeping on the bed as Teres sits beside her and resumes reading her book. Once again she is startled but this time is it Jessica sitting bolt upright reciting the exact passage of the book that Teresa is reading. She then passes out and flops to the floor. As Teresa goes to check on her, Jessica grabs her ponytail and rips her hair clean off essentially scalping her. As Teresa makes her way crawling back to the dock, she finds Caleb and he rushes to see what has happened. Jessica stumbles to the edge of the pier, grabbing Caleb’s drone and pressing it to her face, maiming herself. Caleb, still not understanding ANY of what has just transpired jumps in to save Jessica. All that comes back of him is his head as it flops back onto the deck. Teresa watches helplessly bleeding to death as Jessica slowly begins to come out of the water, levitating above its placid surface.
Beth, a guitar technician for a(n unnamed) band has left her gigs behind for the moment to return her sisters home. She is in need of advice and the warmth that comes only from being around close family. Beth’s sister, Ellie, and her three kids Bridget, Danny, and little Kassie all live together in (what is perceived by Beth to be) a perfect family. Beth recently found out that she is pregnant and she doesn’t know what to do with this news. She doesn’t come empty-handed, though. She brought presents for the kids, Ellie and her husband, Jay. Seeing Jay isn’t around Beth asks what’s up. Ellie has some things she needs to explain to Beth so she sends the kids out for pizza to give her and Beth a little private time. A while later the kids return and as they are about to enter the apartment building there is a massive quake. The quake opens a hole in the parking garage floor revealing an old bank vault, as the apartment complex is built on and around an old bank. Danny investigates the vault and finds an abandoned safety deposit box. Inside the box are old letters and a few old LPs. A bit further into the vault, another box is hidden. One that seems an awful lot like a small casket. One that is surrounded by small crosses and other tokens. Inside the “casket,” Danny finds a very strange book. Danny removes the book. Now the book is in his possession… or is it the other way around?
I will go, and probably have already gone, on record as saying that Evil Dead, and that series, are some of my absolute favorite movies. I have seen 1 & 2 more than a few dozen times. I was one of those kids back in the day that would quote Army of Darkness more than any person should. I’ve seen and enjoyed the first “remake” that came out (a decade ago!). When Rise came out, and based solely on the trailer, I figured I would also very much enjoy this version as well. I was correct. Rise feels in many ways like not only an homage to the first several (complete with all the one-liners you would expect) but it also serves as a reboot of the series. The timeline is told slightly out of sequence thus creating a way for “the evil” to get back, or start, depending on how you look at it, back at the lake. If handled properly a wonderful way to go about things. Seeing as how Sam Rami and Bruce Campbell are both Executive Producers on this film, I will put my faith and trust in their very capable hands to carry this series furth than it ever has before.
There is just so much blood. Once things kick off in Evil Dead Rise there is no stopping the blood-letting. Think of it as holding a bucket under a fire hydrant, there is just no way to hold all that blood and it spills everywhere. Besides the deluge of bodily fluids found here, there are some excruciatingly pain and cringe (not THAT kind) inducing moments here. Evil Dead movies, especially the last two, have never backed away from creating those barely-able-to-watch-the-movie moments. This movie pulls no punches in who becomes a victim and what they have done to them. I was only slightly disappointed there were no “monster moments” during its run time but in all honesty, I didn’t even think about that until the movie had come to a full and complete stop.
Evil Dead Rise is another movie in the long line of films that have kids, especially small kids, directly in the sights of complete terror and torment. This is not my favorite thing. Not just in this movie but in the horror genre as a whole. That doesn’t make it a bad film by any means, in fact, it might make it more compelling, but it just hits me in a different and let’s say vulnerable way. These kinds of scenarios really make me feel uncomfortable, thus making the movie itself more “scary.” Ellie, the mother of the three kids, becomes the main antagonist (this is not a spoiler as it’s ALL over the marketing) for the movie and it really plays up her connection to her kids. There are some really devious ways the script plays with this interaction and I was not a fan. I mean, I was, in so much as it’s a horror movie and a scenario I would never want my own kids to be in, but … well… you get what I’m saying.
Rise is really a great way to end this year’s trek around the horror landscape. Finally capping off another year and also giving me the opportunity to see the movie in general. There have been some really good movies I think both Lucas and I have watched this year. And honestly, I don’t think there were a lot of duds. At least none so bad as to only warrant a one-paragraph “please don’t watch this movie” kind of review. I hope everyone out there enjoyed coming on this journey once again with us, and I hope to see you all back here again next year for (at least my) FIFTEENTH season of 31 Movies For 31 Days.
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