Review of Evil Dead Rise (2023) by Plasticsquid — 17 May 2023

At times Evil Dead Rise feels like an OK entry to the Evil Dead franchise and at other times it feels like any other generic possession horror movie that doesn't really match the soul or feel of the original movies. It flipped back and forth a bit too much for me.

Cinematography and sound design were pretty solid. Sometimes it felt a little too clean and crisp for such a frantic franchise, but that's probably me nitpicking. Overall they were great.

The characters felt pretty flat overall, an exception for me was Alyssa Sutherland (Ellie, the mother) who did a pretty decent job. The rest of the characters felt unmemorable. I just didn't feel much of a connection to any of them and there wasn't much development or performances that stood out to me. Some people are crying about an all-female primary cast or "woke" kid characters, but that had zero impact on why I wasn't very impressed. All of that weird, political pontification is irrelevant in my opinion.

There wasn't a lot to the story and the writing/dialogue wasn't particularly impressive. A lot of it felt average at best. At times the film relied too much on predictable jump scares and not the kind of horror that sticks with you. The original movies found a way to weave in a demented sense of fun or goofiness along with moments of trippy psychedelia that were absent in this iteration. It picked up a bit more at the end, but I had hoped for more of that throughout the movie.

Some of the CGI was spotty in certain scenes. Part of why I loved the originals so much involved the craft and effort put into a lot of the special effects, gore, and action. This felt a bit more dialed in when it comes to these aspects.

Overall, it was a little better than the average possession movie I see these days, but a little below average when you consider the franchise it's a part of. There were some decent nods and references to the originals, but it didn't quite have the same spirit - the execution felt a bit off. I would maybe give it a 6.5 if I could, but will lean more towards a 6 given the options available to me. It's worth a watch if you're a big fan of Evil Dead and also if you're a casual horror fan. I'd maybe wait until it's cheaper to rent online or when it lands on a streaming service though.