‘Evil Dead Rise’ Rambles Along Until Doomed to Fall

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Rating: 0.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Watching “Evil Dead Rise,” i was reminded of Roger Ebert’s one and only review of “Friday the 13th Part 2.” In that review Ebert found little to stir him on the screen and instead lamented the audience that would willingly go to see the latest in a string of dead teenager movies. I’m reminded that my parents took me to the original “Evil Dead” at the tender young age of seven, so i was used to gore, but this claustrophobic exercise offered nothing to grab onto or to entertain.

For those unfamiliar with what the filmmakers are now calling “the Evil Dead universe,” “Evil Dead Rise” also centers around a creepy book of the dead. If you read the incantations it summons up demons, which possesses the closest body and turns that person into a murderous monster.

Evil Dead Rise
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

After a brief prologue at a rural cabin by the lake, we flash back to a decrepit Los Angeles apartment building. Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) is a single mom of three kids who finds her estranged sister Beth (Lily Sullivan) showing up on her doorstep. She sends her kids out to pick up pizza while the two sisters get caught up. But when they get back, an earthquake causes a hole to open up in the garage.

And that’s where the dumbest of dumb horror movie kids finds the creepy old book covered in flies, and a multi record set of a creepy priest translating the incantations. It doesn’t take long before this dummy cracks open the book and starts spinning records unleashing a spirit that takes control of their mother. From there that’s pretty much it, as they roam around inside their run down apartment and run for their lives from their possessed mother. There’s not much suspense, just gore galore, unless you find horror movie characters making dumb decisions suspenseful.

I didn’t like any of the characters, and also I didn’t even hate them enough to want to see them offed in interesting ways. I didn't like the unrelenting aggressive tone of the film that only wanted to bludgeon its audience … plus it lacked the gonzo sense of humor that made the original Evil Dead films so unique. Instead this has been replaced by a cynical emphasis on destruction.

Scene from ‘Evil Dead Rise’
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Even a change of scenery would have been nice since the confined setting adds nothing to the film. But if you like the image of a woman, soaking wet, with her face covered in blood and wielding a chainsaw, then you may be more receptive to what this film is selling than I was. “Evil Dead Rise” rambles around for a scant 97 minutes, but nonetheless feels much longer.

By SPIKE WALTERS Contributor HollywoodChicago.com spike@hollywoodchicago.com