EVIL DEAD RISE

The Evil Dead franchise is one that had very small beginnings yet has managed to spawn several films, a TV show and even a game. It's as iconic as they come amongst the horror greats, a devoted fan base always keen for more hellish stories to be told. Evil Dead Rise becomes the fifth film in the franchise and director Lee Cronin ensures it's as memorable as the others.

After a long journey on the road, Beth (Lily Sullivan) visits her older sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), who is struggling to raise three children alone in a small Los Angeles apartment. However, their reunion is interrupted when they find a strange book hidden in the depths of Ellie's building, which unleashes horrid flesh-possessing demons.

Now, if you've ever seen an Evil Dead film before, you may know exactly what to expect going into this. Even with that in mind, Lee Cronin does a great job in writing and directing such an entertaining and blood-soaked entry into the franchise. A gloriously gory opening sequence set in a cabin/lake (shock!) lets you know what you are in for however, Cronin swiftly moves the action to a Los Angeles apartment, giving the franchise a new setting to thrive in. There's basements, elevators and vents, all utilised in creating absolute carnage.

It's particularly impressive to keep a fresh feeling with another film about reading from an aptly titled "Book of the Dead" and Cronin more than rises to the challenge. At a tight ninety-minutes, Evil Dead Rise absolutely zips by, violence and tongue-in-cheek humour coming thick and fast as a family fight for survival when its matriarch is possessed. Dave Garbett's cinematography does wonders in emphasising the trapped feeling within the apartment complex and the effects department more than earn their flowers with some stellar work, the use of practical effects always great to see. I have to mention the sound design too, every squelch of blood honed in on and every form of mutilation - cheese graters will never be the same again - felt.

Coming to the performances, Evil Dead Rise possesses a cast fully committed to going all in on the hellish carnage unleashed in the apartment. Alyssa Sutherland is the part everyone would want to play in Ellie, doting mother possessed and out to take her children with her. Sutherland is brilliantly unhinged throughout the scenes in which Ellie is possessed which always helps when it comes to these films. Lily Sullivan as Beth is worthy of a mention too, her instincts kicking in to protect her family from such an overwhelming threat and the relief etched all over her face during the finale that takes the use of fake blood to new heights.

Lee Cronin asked the audience at the Prince Charles Cinema prior to the screening whether anyone there was not okay with strong violence in horror films and some people genuinely put their hands up. He sure as hell wasn't messing about in giving them a warning because Evil Dead Rise is a rip-roaring parade of violence, crowd-pleasing in its execution and showcasing that the franchise is in very capable hands if they were to make more.

Verdict: ★★★★