“Evil Dead Rise”
Family drama meets Splatterfest
It quickly becomes clear that something is wrong with mother Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland). So not at all.
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With “Evil Dead Rise” the fifth film from the horror franchise starts on April 27th. Without Bruce Campbell, but with refreshing chutzpah.
In the horror genre, a distinction is often made between ordinary and “elevated horror”. The latter subcategory uses his horror creatures primarily as allegories for very mundane horrors – Ari Aster’s (36) “Hereditary” or Jennifer Kent’s (54) “Der Babadook” are two of the more recent examples. The new strip “Evil Dead Rise”, which will start in German cinemas on April 27, manages a small feat: it marries the well-known “Evil Dead” splatter with an astonishingly profound family drama in a way that is both tragic and extremely bloody.
A family falls apart – that’s what it’s all about
Taking responsibility for something or someone isn’t easy for Beth (Lily Sullivan, 28). She is all the more shocked when she holds a positive pregnancy test in her trembling hands in a worn-out club toilet. She finally seeks advice from her older sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland, 40), who, unlike her, somehow manages to raise three kids on her own.
But even for Ellie, the future is anything but rosy: The dilapidated high-rise building in which she lives is to be demolished in the near future. In addition to her family, only a handful of other people live in the dump. By the way: When an earthquake tears a large hole in the underground car park, a secret room is revealed. A well-known book slumbers inside – and in it pure evil that soon takes possession of Ellie.
Over 40 years of horror evolution
It was 1981 when “Spider-Man” director Sam Raimi (63) created a cult film with a simple, brilliant idea and a ridiculous budget: “The Evil Dead”, known in this country as “Dance of the Devil”. No joke, until 2016 the trashy and charming B-Movie with Bruce Campbell (64) was on the index in Germany. The story about a group of five young people, who make themselves comfortable in a forest cabin in the middle of nowhere, find Lovecraft’s Necronomicon, accidentally summon demons with it and finally maul themselves, was considered too cruel.
With each sequel, the series became more slapstick, the high point in this respect was reached in 1993 with “Army of Darkness”. It wasn’t until 2013 that the “bad dead” returned to the screen – nasty and successful as a remake by Fede Alvarez (45). Ten years later, “Evil Dead Rise” is now based on the new edition’s recipe for success, but differs drastically in a refreshing way.
What initially sounds paradoxical: the film does little and at the same time makes a lot of things new. Everything that needs to be in an “Evil Dead” flick is included. That means: exaggerated gore bordering on farce, nasty body horror once the demon has taken possession of someone – and the obligatory chainsaw.
At the same time, director Lee Cronin transports this well-known formula into a new setting in two ways. Instead of the cabin in the woods, the scene is a run-down concrete block in need of demolition in the middle of Los Angeles. And instead of post-pubescent teenagers and college kids, it’s primarily a single mother with three children and her sister who are at stake.
“No women, no children?”
How the Necronomicon got into the hands of city dwellers is admittedly disappointingly clumsy. Nonetheless, the paradigm shift makes Evil Dead Rise a surprisingly brave film. In “Léon – The Professional” the eponymous killer (played by Jean Reno) has only one rule: “No women, no children”. “Evil Dead Rise” is the antithesis of this imperative. No one – really no one – is safe here.
With few resources, the film manages to give depth to its five main characters. The real-life horror of a mother left to her own devices, whose roof is literally torn from her head. Siblings showing love for each other with small gestures. The (still) childless aunt who has to take responsibility for others for the first time… The most important difference to the previous parts of the series is hidden in his character drawing: instead of longing for the next moment of shock with morbid ghost train fascination, as a viewer you want it glad that everyone gets out of the nightmare alive. The classification FSK 18 can be seen as a spoiler that this wish remains unfulfilled.
With the exception of “Vikings” star Alyssa Sutherland, the film relies on an unknown but highly talented cast. Especially the newcomers Gabrielle Echols and Morgan Davies are recommended for further Hollywood tasks, also in the drama genre. Because if you briefly hide the exuberant splatter, “Evil Dead Rise” has become exactly that – a family drama in which the term patchwork can ultimately be taken literally.
Conclusion:
First of all: Of course, “Evil Dead Rise” is only suitable for genre fans. However, these receive a refreshing and in its consequence courageous work splattered on the canvas. Or as Ash would say from the original: “Groovy!”