Film Review: EVIL DEAD RISE (2023): A Terrifying, Bloody and Tense New Entry in Popular Horror Film Series

Evil Dead Rise Review

Evil Dead Rise (2023) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Lee Cronin and starring Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, Mirabai Pease, Richard Crouchley, Anna-Maree Thomas, Noah Paul, Billy Reynolds-McCarthy, Jayden Daniels, Tai Wano and Mark Mitchinson.

Evil Dead Rise feels like the bloodiest movie ever made. It’s also one of the most disturbing horror films of all-time. Filmmaker Lee Cronin may just be trying to outdo Sam Raimi who created the original The Evil Dead picture back in 1981. Cronin does build tension satisfactorily in his new film although if not for the last 10 or 15 minutes, I’m not sure I would have recommended the movie as much. A last minute series of scenes (which are bloody beyond a reasonable doubt) save the picture and make it more palatable in retrospect.

The film opens with a pair of girls at a getaway cabin. One of the girls, Teresa (Mirabai Pease) is reading Wuthering Heights while her friend, Jessica (Anna-Maree Thomas) seems to be possessed by some demonic force. Jessica seems to know the exact passage Teresa is reading and it’s a very freaky scenario, to say the least. A guy Jessica has brought with her (Richard Crouchley) ends up beheaded and Jessica basically rips the top of Teresa’s head off. Jessica rises up and the title of the film is displayed. Then, we go back in time a bit to a different location in a building in California.

We meet a struggling mom named Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her “groupie” sister, Beth (Lily Sullivan) who could be pregnant. Ellie has several kids and her husband has abandoned her although he sends money for child support. Ellie’s youngest daughter, Kassie (Nell Fisher), uses scissors to cut her doll’s head off when we meet her. Kassie’s two siblings are Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols). The three kids go out to get pizza when an earthquake strikes. In the broken ground that soon surrounds them, Danny finds the dreaded book which is a staple in these Evil Dead movies. This book is the key to true evil, doom and gloom. It comes alongside a vinyl record that plays nonsense although when played backwards, the words spoken on it will certainly creep one out. Did I mention the kids drop their pizzas in the middle of all this?

When Ellie gets possessed, she starts to become very frightening, indeed. She ends up in a bathtub and then eventually locked behind a door and, in one scene, she tries to get Kassie to open that door and let the demonic Ellie out as she is pretending that she’s really turned back to normal. No such luck, though. Ellie is really in bad shape and she’s a demon who wants nothing more than to take her kids with her to hell and back. Or something like that.

This film is full of scenes that are almost impossible to watch without flinching. From an attempt to take out a character’s eye to drilling a key character through the head, this movie has no boundaries. Watch the scene where a possessed Bridget starts to eat glass. The chewing sounds of the glass are enough to make one squirm. This film is on a mission to deliver one of the goriest pictures ever made and is pretty successful at doing that.

It wouldn’t be a fair review without explaining how effective this film’s ending is to the overall quality of the picture. In fact, the movie’s success is entirely contingent upon the last pivotal minutes of the film. The ending is a blood-soaked series of scenes that will give any prior Evil Dead film a run for its money. This conclusion is effective in terms of being terrifying to the greatest effect possible. A couple of Ellie’s kids join her in attempting to go after both Kassie and Beth who fight back with a vengeance. Especially Beth. There’s a chainsaw involved and that may be enough information to know what to expect.

While the performances are all good, the standouts are the two lead actresses, Sullivan and Sutherland whose characters had an unusual bond before the demon took Ellie over. Sutherland has plenty of effects to make her frightening and she is the quintessential creepy possessed mom. Watch the scene where she chooses her next victim by stating, “eeny, meeny, miny, etc.” Yes this demonic woman has a sense of humor too. Sutherland plays a role that will certainly be a highlight in the Evil Dead franchise. Sullivan is really tough and compelling in her part as the aunt who must do whatever she can to try to save the children. She doesn’t consider herself a groupie either contrary to the beliefs of her sister, Ellie, and the demon that possesses her. Nell Fisher is also a bright up-and-coming child actress as Kassie. Fisher certainly had some disturbing scenes to play which must have been very difficult for the young actress.

One must keep in mind that this film is strictly for hardcore horror fans. It’s unimaginable given the graphic nature of the film that someone who likes romantic comedies would find this film appealing. Evil Dead Rise has a very specific audience who will admire the film. Newcomers to the franchise must be warned that this is one movie that goes for broke with more excessive gore than most other recent films. However, the last minutes of the movie are jaw-dropping and put the movie over the edge as one of the most tense Evil Dead pictures ever made.

Rating: 7/10

Leave your thoughts on this Evil Dead Rise review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, and Flipboard.