Is it time to rejoice that there is a new Evil Dead film in theaters or should you skip and watch the original films?
There was a ton of anticipation for EVIL DEAD RISE. It has been ten years since we got a proper EVIL DEAD film in the theater (we had the ASH vs EVIL DEAD show but nothing else, film-wise) and the trailers looked really good. The theater where I saw the film was sold out for the rest of the night and I was really excited. I was about to see a new EVIL DEAD film in the theater, and in a Dolby Cinema nonetheless.
Let me preface the rest of the review with this: I am a huge EVIL DEAD fan. My first exposure to the series was seeing ARMY OF DARKNESS in the theater with my father (RIP) and having a great time with the film and with him. After watching ARMY OF DARKNESS, I knew that I had to see the films that came before so I went on the hunt. I found EVIL DEAD 2 pretty easily at my local Blockbuster (which was weird because the film was unrated and Blockbuster hated those kinds of films in the 90s.) and I LOVED it. Finding THE EVIL DEAD was a bit more challenging. When my local video store (R & R Video) moved from Glenwood into Homewood, I sparked up a friendship with the owner. He knew I was a big movie hound and would try to stock films that he knew I would want to see. One day, he was placing an order and asked if there were any films I wanted to see that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I said, “Yes, THE EVIL DEAD”. He called me a few weeks later and told me that he was able to get the film in and I was able to watch it later that day. I saw the remake on opening day and loved it.
I also own every film on just about every media format out there (VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, 4K blu-ray, and digital. I have bought these films so many times over the years that I should be named an Executive Producer on the next film.
Now, that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the newest entry. EVIL DEAD RISE.
The film opens with a scene that has almost nothing to do with the rest of the film (I say almost as the film ends with how the opening scene is set up.) A few friends are out at the lake when one of them becomes a deadite and scalps her friend. The woman sitting next to me grimaced during this scene, so I figured we were in good hands. I didn’t particularly like this opening but the title card is pretty cool.
The film then moves to an apartment complex with the biggest halfways I have ever seen in a film or in real life. There is no way that the builder of a building like this would want to build hallways that big as it would take away from a lot of potential space to build more apartments in the space to get more money from people. These hallways are so big that if you put them all together in a row you could fit another two or three apartments per building. That’s a lot of missed money just floating there. Maybe that is why they are going to tear the building down.
To say that this apartment is big is an understatement. Nothing about this building felt right like everything was off just a little. I know that I am talking a lot about the apartment the film takes place in but it took a lot of my attention away from the melodrama that was playing onscreen. The other thing that took me out of the film multiple times was the fact that the male son in the film, the one who plays a record with the incantation on it, looks like Jonathan Brandis.
For those who don’t know who Jonathan Brandis is, here you go: Jonathan Brandis was an actor who was around my age. He was a heartthrob who was in all the teen magazines in the 90s. There was JTT (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), James Van Der Beek, and Jonathan Brandis. The dude was everywhere. He killed himself in 2003 after his role in HART’S WAR, his supposed “break thru” role, was shortened to basically a cameo.
I know that you are also wondering who Jonathan Taylor Thomas is. Well, he’s an actor who was also a heartthrob in the 90s. He started on HOME IMPROVEMENT with Tim Allen where he played Allen’s son. He also made a bunch of family films in the 90s. Films like MAN OF THE HOUSE, TOM AND HUCK, and I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. He was also young Simba in THE LION KING (the good one not the “live action” one). He quit acting in the early 2000s to focus on school. When he came back, people didn’t care so he didn’t stay around much longer after that.
Ok. Oh, and James Van Der Beek is the “I don’t want your life.” guy.
So, the rest of EVIL DEAD RISE consists of one terrible character doing something to another terrible character. These characters are terrible people but they are terrible characters. I never got on any of their sides. I didn’t care whether they lived or died. I know that sounds mean but it isn’t. They didn’t give me anything to care about. Everyone was nothing but a cliche. The Latino guy is religious. The New Zealand guy loves guns and smokes like a chimney. The girl who is an expert with sound equipment is able to get sound equipment to work with no electricity. You know, nothing but cliches.
The gore is really good. That is one of the very few positives that I have about the film. Most of the gore we are seeing is done right there on set and it works. It isn’t particularly “scary” or disgusting but it works. I didn’t squirm like that lady did even when a character uses a cheese grater on another character. It was impressive but it didn’t have any effect on me. The director said in an interview that the film was made to make people puke in theater but I never felt that way with any of the gore in the film. The gore seemed “old hat”. A “been there done that” version of gore. It was impressive but it held no weight.
The sound design was some of the most annoying I have seen in a long time. The film is what I call a "pots and pans" film. What I mean is, take the version of the film that is in theaters, and strip out all of the foley work. Now, take the film into the kitchen with a microphone. Take out every pot and pan you have in your kitchen out of the cabinets. With the microphone recording, play the film and throw the pots and pans on the ground at random intervals. The sounds you make in the kitchen will sound better to the ear than the foley work in EVIL DEAD RISE.
While watching EVIL DEAD RISE, I got really bored so I watched the audience. Besides the one woman who squirmed during the opening scene, there wasn’t one time when people squirmed. In fact, there wasn’t much noise from the audience. The theater was surprisingly quiet. The film was LOUD but the audience wasn’t. Usually, when you see a horror film in the theater there is audience participation. I am not meaning people talking but people would jump at a jump scare or you hear people yell out a bit when something shocking happens onscreen, but not at my screening. People’s bodies jerked during a few jump scares but that is a natural reaction to something it isn’t expecting. No one made much of a noise at all during the film. It was very weird to see and (not) hear. The theater was a dead zone.
I was out of my seat as soon as the credits started playing. I wasn’t the only one to do this either as most of the theater got up when the lights went up. There were a few who stayed but they were the very few.
EVIL DEAD RISE should have been a contender for “Best Horror Film of 2023”, not a contender for “Worst Film of 2023.” The film is a paint-by-numbers film from everything like the scares and the filmmaking to the way scenes were shot. Sure, the director was trying a lot of different camera moves at whatnot but it didn’t really add up to anything. The film is loud and empty. There is nothing for me to latch on to. A film should not do this. EVIL DEAD RISES is one of the worst films of 2023. It is horrible.
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