Theatrical Release April 21, 2023
reviewed by Philip Jean-Pierre
Welcome to the Necroverse! My name for the EDCU (Evil Dead Cinematic Universe)! Revolving around the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, an ancient Sumerian text, and humans making poor life choices, the Evil Dead franchise has wreaked havoc for now 4 movies, giving birth to an unsung hero in the form of the protagonist, Ashley Joanna “Ash” Williams (Bruce Campbell). Now in the fifth movie in the franchise, we have ‘Evil Dead Rise’. If you are here for praise for the nostalgia of the Evil Dead franchise and the Necroverse—I’m really hoping that sticks—that was it. Stop reading now.
Let’s begin. Continuing the saga of humans making terrible life choices around ancient, cursed tomes, we meet Beth (Lily Sullivan) and her children facing typical family struggles: an absent father, estranged siblings, and potential eviction with a dusting of confusion and bewildered children trying to live their best life…awkwardly. When we begin the story, the family is in this state of transition when the “cool but reckless” aunt Ellie (Alyssa Southerland) visits because, once again, she has “screwed up.” This is the backdrop when one of the children finds a cursed book and recordings (voiced by Bruce Campbell) of a black ceremony that unleashes pure evil and chaos on everyone living on the apartment floor.
In what could best be described as folly, Lee Cronin the director who is also the writer, makes narrative choices at the movie’s beginning that add a disconnected scene that feels as indulgent as a selfie in a strip club. While the film is shot beautifully despite the gratuitous abuse of the tracking shots, the story is disjointed and loosely structured around the director’s desire to hurry to the gore, violence, and tension. Sadly those tense moments feel forced and disingenuous. Stemming from a lack of established depth of the characters.
Unlike the other franchises, I was not invested in the story’s characters living or dying. Despite several jump-scare moments and again gore, the movie was sometimes dull, with cliches and rather uncreative displays of the aforementioned “gore.” Sadly, in the sandbox they chose to tell this story in, SAW set a standard for what constitutes gore, and they came up short. As a monster movie, it’s good fun and a legitimate salute to the Evil Dead Franchise. However, as a “horror” movie, it left me bored and checking my watch for when it would be over with no clear idea why I was rooting for these humans to live.
Originally posted on the Geek Girl Riot podcast on idobi.com
