Wow… So…much…blood. Evil Dead Rise is a new addition to the cult horror franchise started by Sam Raimi in 1981 that spawned two sequels a remake and a TV show. The film is not a direct sequel or prequel but just simply advertised as a new addition to the series. The film starts Alyssa Southerland (Ellie), Lilly Sullivan (Beth), Morgan Davies (Danny), Gabriele Echols (Bridget), and Nell Fisher (Cassie), and is directed by Lee Cronin. The film is also produced by Evil Dead veterans Sam Raimi & Bruce Campbell. After being on the road working as a guitar technician, Beth goes to see her sister Ellie and her three children ( Danny, Cassie, Bridget), in their high rise apartment in a very rainy Los Angeles to spend some time and get some advice on a pressing issue. After an earthquake, creates a hole in the basement parking garage of the building, Danny discovers a hidden room, with crosses hanging from the ceiling, a record player, paper documents… And a black book that is locked by teeth. After Danny opens the book and plays a recording, translating incantations from the book, all hell breaks loose, and now a family must find a way to survive and escape the apartment from a demon possessed Ellie. Lets get into this blood soaked claustrophobic horror, that’ll make you sick to use a cheese grater for quite some time.

Evil Dead Rise is a total banger of a horror movie. First off the performances from the main 5 characters are all great but particularly Alyssa Southerland as the demon possessed mother is the standout. There are only about 20 minutes or a little bit more where she is playing a normal character, before the evil spirit takes her over and than the majority of her performance becomes ex physical and terrifying as she climbs walls, brutally attacks her family and other tenants in the building, and speaking in different tones. A great deal of credit goes to the makeup department for Rise, to create the terrifying look of Ellie and the gory effects that other characters go through as the horror deepens through the runtime. Lilly Sullivan as the younger sister Beth does a really good job portraying someone trying to reconnect with her sister and family while also struggling to find an escape for herself and her relatives from the horror lurking in their walls. The three younger actors do a great job here as well but one in particular makes a few decisions that may have you throwing your fists in the air but oh well, someone in a horror movie has to be the one who makes the decisions the audience hates. What’s most impressive is that this movie, only has 1 jump scare early on and the rest of the film relies on building heart beating tension and suspense to keep you squirming in your seat. And last but not least… this movie is SUPER, SUPER, SUPER gruesome and violent. Evil Dead Rise might be one of the bloodiest horror movies I have seen in a really longtime and the great part about it, it uses the gore to actually help make the movie even scarier which I have not seen the many horror movies be able to do successfully. The kills in this movie are epic and some of them may have you laughing (I know I did for one of them), and some may have you looking down at the floor waiting for it to be over. Oh yeah and if your someone who is sensitive about kids in peril than be warned, this movie doesn’t give a shit about the kids, I will just leave it at that. There are two sequences that looked like it took a page out of two other horror classics, The Shining, and The Thing, but not directly copying but I enjoyed the thought in my mind when watching it. The great thing about Evil Dead Rise id that you don’t need to be familiar with the rest of the franchise to enjoy it. I went in without seeing any of the previous movies, but after how much fun I had with this one, I am definitely giving them a watch.

Overall Evil Dead Rise is a really solid horror movie and will surely help keep the franchise in the eye of Hollywood, and will surely produce more entries in the future. Horror movies can really be elevated when the cast is solid, and that is the case here with the two female leads. Do not go into this movie if you are not a fan of gore, because the bloodshed is relentless. You have about 30 minutes from when the movie starts to take a breath and get ready, because after that, its no holds barred, and gives you no time to relax…And no one is safe. Definitely check this out if your a fan of the Evil Dead movies or just a fan of horror in general. 9/10.