Review: EVIL DEAD RISE (2023)

 

Welcome back to BlazinBlue's Review with a new review. Today, I have the pleasure of getting to talk about Evil Dead Rise. Now as you may know if you've been following around here long, Evil Dead is one of my all time favorite franchises. Yes, I grew up watching the Elm Streets among other horror franchises. But it was the Evil Dead series that really landed for me alongside the Scream series. 

I mean what is there not to like about this series? The first three films and TV show had a kickass hero with Ash Williams. He is a Michigan made hero. When you look at the horror genre, it's cool seeing all of the variety in terms of our heroes. But when it's someone from your home state, it's just even cooler. 

At this point, this franchise has had five films now, a successful TV series, and multiple video games. That's pretty dang good track record. What's even better is that if you look at the films, there isn't one that's not enjoyable. There is always something that helps make the film solid. And honestly a lot of that is down to the characters. 

After the success of 2013's EVIL DEAD from Sony, I was ready for more. Ash Vs. Evil Dead was a nice, don't get me wrong. I really appreciate it for what it did. But I wanted to see more Evil Dead films. Sadly, we weren't able to get more of a straight forth sequel to that 2013 film. But honestly, that's okay. 

Evil Dead Rise was written and directed by Lee Cronin. The absolute nice thing is that with this installment, it brings the franchise back home to New Line Cinema. Originally, this film was to be directly sent to HBO Max. But after some very successful screenings, Warner Discovery realized that they had something on their hands. I won't lie I do have some various issues with HBO Max, but at least with this installment it alleviated my doubts that they'd screw things up. 

With this go around, we have a twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable. 

Just reading that synopsis alone with no spoilers, it honestly brings Resident Evil 7 vibes to my mind. With that game, there was an absolutely large part of it that just oozed Evil Dead vibes. It's probably why it was the first entry that I played all the way through. 

This is a film that definitely does not need spoilers. It makes one go into the film and judge it on its own merits. It's also one of the reasons that I decided to forgo the theater experience. When I went and seen the 2013 film, it was in a packed theater. It was a great experience. But it did pull some weight on my thoughts for that film. With sitting down and watching Rise on a 70 inch screen, it still was able to give me a bit more of a theatrical experience than I've had before. 

First off, I will say that I really dug Evil Dead Rise. I had no idea what to expect. I had managed to stay away from anything on social media regarding it. I even went as far as staying away from trailers for the film. I knew that I was going to give the film a watch no matter what. I wanted to be surprised. Would it have Campbell return in some fashion as Ash? I know that Campbell, himself, has said that he was ready to move on from the character. But he's still heavily involved behind the scenes. And honestly that's something that helps the film. 

Lee Cronin has delivered an extremely solid film. I applaud the approach that was taken. It caught me off guard quite a bit. One of the big swings that was taken was the focus on a family. Yeah, we get a small little taste of what we usually have for an Evil Dead experience. Cabin in the Woods, Check. Evil creepy clock from Evil Dead II, check. But then, things shift to the more urban setting of the apartment building. This is the Die Hard of the Evil Dead films in a sense. 

The characters that we are introduced to in this film are all pretty solid. The largest focus is on the family - Beth (Lily Sullivan), Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), Kase (Nell Fisher), and Danny (Morgan Davies). It's incredibly ballsy to have a horror film with children in it. Now, I definitely think the film hit a lot different for me than the 2013 film. As a parent, I definitely found myself wanting to protect everyone. If I had to make one nitpick with the film, it's that we are not given enough time with the characters. But that may also be a strength because with what time we are given, I was able to still care about what happened to them. 

The setting of the apartment building is something incredibly interesting. It's a bit of a breath of fresh air. I do wish that we could have seen more with it. How many other tenants are there? I know they establish that the building is going to be closed down in a month. But it just feels like that may be there to keep the character count down. However, the use of the peephole throughout the film is incredibly cool. There's one sequence that will literally go down in this franchise as one of my all time favorites. It's just so damn cool seeing events unfold in the hallway. 

Oh yes, there is blood. Buckets and buckets of blood. This is a film that is not for the squeamish. I tend to not be squirm while watching a film. But there were some sequences that I couldn't help but do so. The transformations that happen in

 the film are definitely different. There's one that I found myself repeating "No, No, No.".  It worked so well. 

The best thing that happens is that Lee Cronin plays up on the fact that there are three Book of the Dead's. This was something that originally set up in Army of Darkness. It felt like a complete throw away then. But now, it firmly establishes that EVERYTHING IS CANON. Every single installment. Hell, I'll even throw Ash Vs. Evil Dead in for good measure. So, we have Ash's Book of the Dead, the 2013's Book of the Dead, and this film's Book of the Dead. Each one adding more of a different flavor to everything. It's honestly making me want to have a replica of each book for my collection. The Deadites in this film do feel a little similar to the 2013 ones. However, Cronin delivers a delightful curveball in the final act. 

EVIL DEAD RISE is a film that delivered in spades. It surprised and made me squirm. Would I be interested in seeing another installment? Yes, I absolutely would. This firmly establishes that the Evil is Everywhere now. So the possibilities on where things could go next is pretty endless. It kind of blows the doors wide open for the franchise. And that's delightful to see as a fan. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Chainsaws. 

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Hail to the King: Celebrating The 30th Anniversary of Army of Darkness

 

    All right, listen up. Who forgot to mention that it was the 30th anniversary of Army of Darkness? I had planned on talking about the film already. But now it seems even more appropriate to do so considering that. Well, I guess I should start from the beginning. If you haven't seen my thoughts on the other two Evil Dead installments, you can do so here and here.

    It was around the summer of 2000. Hey, I finally remembered when I received the first Evil Dead on VHS for Christmas. Talk about selective memory. My Dad and I had caught the first Evil Dead on Sci-Fi channel one afternoon. We enjoyed watching it even though I had it on VHS. It was interesting seeing a more bare bones version of the film considering back in this time Sci-Fi edited their films for content. It seems like nowadays they are able to get away with showing a lot more. It was just one of those fantastic days of leaving the TV on Sci-Fi for their movie marathons. At that point, we hadn't known anything about Army of Darkness and hadn't bothered checking the guide to see what was next. Imagine our surprise when the Universal Logo began and we saw Bruce Campbell on the screen again. 

    By that time, we had seen Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. So we were well versed with Bruce Campbell's acting. Heck, I was first to point him out in Evil Dead. So when we saw that he was in this film, we both were ready to check it out. The opening was a bit confusing though as at that time we hadn't seen Evil Dead 2 nor did we know that it existed. So it just felt like something had happened that we hadn't seen on screen at the end of the first Evil Dead. Funny enough that later that October I'd come across a VHS of Evil Dead 2 and help change that. 

    I remember on that first watch I wasn't sure what Army of Darkness was trying to do. It was a dramatic shift in tone from the first Evil Dead to this. But that didn't stop us from missing anything. Thinking back on it now, it honestly gave a very grindhouse feel to the film. I loved it though. There was so much slapstick in the film that you couldn't help but appreciate it. Bruce Campbell's performance as Ash is absolutely fantastic. He's a pompous ass that pretends to be so sure of himself amongst the 'primitive screwheads'. Yet when the times get tough, his first instinct is still to run. 

    Army of Darkness was a complete riot. It instantly became a favorite of mine. I appreciated the hell out of the effects that were done by KnB in it. A lot of them still hold up so extremely well too. They aren't afraid of stepping over the edge into slapstick. That was something that felt so fresh and unique when compared to other films. It was just allowing itself to be downright fun. Ash gets the hell beat out of him by skeleton hands in a graveyard? Hell yeah. He has to fight a bunch of mini hims? That ended up becoming one of my favorite segments. Just when I thought that Ash couldn't be more of a goof, he goes and misspeaks the words that wise man told him to remember. "Klatu Verata Nik--. Definitely an N-word." It's pure gold and at that time was my favorite installment. 

    Then in 2003, I remember hearing that Army of Darkness would be released on DVD. I had seen the previous DVDs on the shelves of the Theatrical cut and then the Director's Cut. But for the life of me, I couldn't push myself to picking them up. I waited. Then I finally picked up The Boomstick Edition, it was something that was a pretty fantastic release. I mean it had commentary and some behind the scenes. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be. A extremely nice upgrade from the VHS. It sat on my DVD shelf alongside the Book of the Dead Editions of Evil Dead 1 and 2, which those surprisingly held up very nicely over the years. 

    I still hadn't fully understood what was up with the film. It felt like there were still some things missing from the film. Everything I had seen on that Sci-Fi channel airing wasn't in either of these two versions of the film. I still found myself loving the film even more. It still was something fun to throw on and find something new. Eventually, I began to understand exactly what was going on. There had been a third cut of Army of Darkness that was never released at that point - the TV cut. I had seen an unofficial fanedit that attempted to provide the three different cuts on one DVD. It was a solid job and interesting to watch. But the quality still wasn't the greatest. 

    Then Shout! Factory released what many consider to be the definitive way of watching Army of Darkness - their Collector's Edition. Now, this was a set that seems to be pretty outstanding. It provides all three different versions of the film - so that you can watch whatever version you'd like. It had fantastic special features for the film as well. And many consider the transfer on that to be outstanding. Unfortunately for me and my collection, it's a set that is still managing to elude me. I haven't been able to find it. I'm hoping some day I'll be able to add it to the collection. Till then, I have the Primitive Screwhead 'Cashgrab' Edition that was released by Universal Pictures. 

    Over the years, I still find myself returning to Army of Darkness. I know that when it's time to introduce my son to the Evil Dead franchise, it'll be with Army of Darkness.  It's a film that is just so damn enjoyable and in my opinion, a perfect film. It knows exactly what it is. It never falters or questions itself. It's a tribute to Ray Harryhausen with its fantastic final battle between Ash, The Primitives, Henry the Red and Evil Ash and his Army of the Dead. It's a tribute to the Three Stooges with its many hilarious gags. And its about a man finally coming into his own to save others. Honestly a pretty solid lead-in to Ash Vs. Evil Dead. 

Rating: 5 out of 5. 

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"Something Out There In Those Woods": Evil Dead turns 40

Okay, I found myself thinking about where to begin with this. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that I should share my story of how I was introduced to the wonderful world of Sam Raimi's horror opus. So let's begin shall we...

It was Christmas of 1999 or 2000. I can't exactly recall specifically when. I just know it was around that time. But my family and I had gone to my Grandma's for the holiday. 

It was around 5:30 in the morning. I was up already cause it was Christmas. Back then, it was easy for me to get excited about the holidays. (I didn't know that would be the last Christmas my family would be all together.)

So, we wake up my sister and parents. My Grandma was already awake and had started making pumpkin and pecan pies for the dinner later. So, the living room was full of that wonderful smell. 

We passed out the presents. Every one was ready to start opening. Back then, we would take our time doing this and going one person at a time. That morning, I had already started opening the presents. 

At that point, there were some of us that were ready to go back to sleep (my sister). So that tradition went out the window. 

I made it through the typical Christmas presents - couple of Goosebumps books, shirts, socks. I had my last three presents. Judging by the shape of them, it was easy to see that it was VHS tapes. I opened the first one and it was Robocop. Great film and one I had seen multiple times. The second one was John Carpenter's Halloween. I would no longer need to keep track of when AMC or Sci-Fi were replaying it. The last tape was one that I would never forget.

I peeled the wrapping paper off to uncover a man standing in front of a woman, protecting her from skeleton arms. See the above poster for a good example of that vhs cover for EVIL DEAD.

My Grandma asked me what the movie was. I turned and showed her the cover and immediately she just went "I don't remember getting you that.". My Uncle Scott chimed in, "You didn't. But I helped pick it out for him.". She just gave Scott a bit of a look. I thanked them for the movie and was a bit disappointed that had to wait till got home to watch it. 

Immediately the next day after we got home, My mom and sister asked to watch it with me. We began watching it and about ten minutes in - my sister decided to bow out. Her reasoning was that it was boring. Around the thirty six minute mark, my mom walked out of the living room. I was left alone in the dark of the living room as Cheryl continued to attack Linda's ankle with the pencil. 

It was during that time I realized that this was a different kind of film for me. I had never seen anything like it. It's a film that holds nothing back. It throws everything at you. And then it ends in a bleak manner. 

I sat there with my mouth open. What had I just watched? What was the story behind this? I had so many questions and was sure to see if the internet could answer them. 

In my research then, I learned that Evil Dead was made by Sam Raimi and starred Bruce Campbell. It was an indie film cinderella story almost. I couldn't believe that Bruce Campbell was the same guy that was in Hercules The Legendary Journeys and Xena Warrior Princess. Those were my first introduction to him as an actor. Here, Bruce is just starting out and goes through such a journey. It's incredible and gets better with each viewing. I had seen some of Sam Raimi's films. The most well known at that time was Darkman, which I adored. And then there was the icing on the cake was that they were from Michigan. I tend to have a lot of respect and enjoy a lot of things that end up being Michigan made. 

The story was very simplistic. Friends go to cabin in the woods. They discover a book, a dagger, and recording. Evil is unleashed. Survive till dawn. That's roughly the cliff notes version in a sense. 

But what made Evil Dead so much different was it's characters. Ash (Bruce Campbell), the naive everyman that goes through the ringer to become a hero. Scotty (Richard DeManincor) was the jokester or the jock. He never took things too seriously. He was quick to make people laugh or in Cheryl's case make them hate him. Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) is Ash's sister. She felt like she didn't belong there. That she was only there cause her brother was there. It's because of this small bit of doubt that Cheryl possessed that led to her being the first to encounter the Evil. Then there is Linda (Betsy Baker). Linda is Ash's girlfriend. She's there to be the love interest and help motivate Ash into stepping up. These are all of the characters that when one thinks of The Evil Dead, they spring to mind. Honestly, these are immediately who jumps to my mind. Unfortunately we still have Shelly (Theresa Tilly). This is Scott's girlfriend. This is the character that I felt suffered in the film the most. Because she isn't given a lot to do outside of Scotty or being possessed. It's very much a one note character. 

The gore in this film is fantastic. Yes, it's over the top. However, it doesn't reach the levels of over the topness that the sequel reached. This one its very much more grounded. Or it is used in a more cerebral ways (Ash's second trip down to the basement). The biggest standout in terms of the effects in the first Evil Dead is the finale. Ash is there surrounded by the possessed remnants of his friends. He throws the book into the fire. It unleashes an amazing display of stop motion as we witness things decompose. The colors are vibrant in this sequence.

Then the film ends not with a whimper but a scream. The Evil slamming through the cabin as it tries to find Ash. Through this sequence, I found myself thinking of Halloween's ending in a sense. It quickly summed up the events of the film as we are shown the different pieces of the cabin. No matter what Ash did, the force would get him. It's very bleak for an ending. Thankfully we would get more a few years later in Evil Dead II.

With this film, Raimi was able to showcase his filmmaking skills. One of the most well known examples being that a camera was attached to a 2x4 and slammed through the back window and windshield of the Oldsmobile. This POV easily became a Raimi trademark as it was used in subsequent films. Another of Raimi's trademarks were the smash zooms. In this film, I don't remember it used all that much yet. But it'd go on to become a language of this franchise. 

It's easy to see why Evil Dead has stayed over the years. And to many more years as well...

Rating: 5 out of 5. 

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