Rated R At suburban theaters
Before a preview screening of his new “Evil Dead Rise” Lee Cronin, the Irish writer-director, pops up in a short, direct address to moviegoers. He reminds everyone that this is meant as entertainment – and it’s going to be gory!
And that, indeed, is one promise he has no trouble delivering.
“Evil Dead Rise” begins at a picturesque lakeside cabin in the woods where the tranquil setting is all too soon shattered by a demon-possessed visitor that leaves corpses in its wake.
Jump to a day earlier where, in a spacious apartment in a run-down LA building, we meet harried single mom Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), her three kids – rebellious teen Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), blond, adolescent, would-be deejay Danny (Morgan Davies) and young, innocent little Kassie (Nell Fisher).
Ellie’s sister Beth (Lily Sullivan) shows up on a quick break from her job as a rock group’s technical crew to discuss her pregnancy. But before Ellie can note, “Beth, it’s always about you,” an earthquake strikes, the power goes out and proverbial Hell is about to be loosed.
The kids on a pizza run lose the dinner and discover a big hole in the parking garage. Naturally, despite being warned about “after shocks,” Danny climbs down to discover not just an old bank vault but a religious site where he retrieves LP records from 1923 and, just as we’d expect, the notorious Book of the Dead.
When Danny plays the record, nasty invisible demons are unleashed. All too soon a contorted mom, resembling some kind of demented overgrown insect, is the first victim. She bounces from every surface in the elevator. In her kitchen, she grabs a knife and tries to slaughter anyone and everyone who is near.
The gorefest has begun! No one is spared, even the two, well-meaning concerned neighbors.
All this has absolutely nothing to do with the 1981 Sam Raimi original starring Bruce Campbell (although both are among the executive producers). That “Evil Dead” mocked its horror movie tropes with laughs.
Cronin’s repetitive strokes include bringing horrifying, flesh-destroying knives, scissors or speeding drills extremely close to the next victim’s face, only to be thwarted at the last minute, and pumping up the volume whenever a quick shock to what soon seems an overly familiar zombie-style slaughter is needed.
This is not a movie where the cast gets to make its mark. Completely covered much of the time in “blood”, they get high marks for simple fortitude. Even if no one can really escape the possessive demon. Or the handy chainsaw.