[Official Thread] Evil Dead Rise

[MaidOfKandar]

Great review! Thank you. Can you tell more about the content of the vocal cameo? Is it really a known character or could it be a random person?

No problem; a lot of this is in the pre-press so it's not a huge spoiler but:

Spoiler: Spoilers

Bruce is on the record that Danny plays that he took from the vault. Bruce/"Ash" can be heard trying to warn the expelled/radical priests during the recorded incantation scene that it's impossible to turn the Nec's magic into something positive and not to read from the book. He specifically says: "It's called 'the Book of the Dead' for a reason!", He is not disguising his voice at all. The way Cronin plays it it could be Ash or it could be some random guy or a Williams antecedent, which was his apparent intent. You can also hear clips of it on the Make-yourself-into-a Deadite website on the movie's official UK website.

To make this make sense you have to wonder how Ash ended up in the 1920s, which is obviously perfectly plausible via time travel, but him never mentioning it is uh.

Further sourceage on this.

Yep, what you said!

 

[MaidOfKandar]

Curious if anyone has pointed out that all the character names are references to past cast/crew members?

Spoiler: Some spoilers

The chick who gets scalped in the prologue/postlogue is named Teresa (as in Tilly); Danny and Kassie, naturally, could be for Hicks (RIP) and DePiva/Wesley. Bridget could be for Bridget Hoffman, the woman on the original Evil Dead posters. Mr. Fonda may be named after Bridget Fonda, Linda #3 in AOD. Two kids who want to hang out with Bridget and watcha ANOES movies with her are named Scott and Jake (for the two ED/ED2 characters, natch). That's about it.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

Spoiler: Two details I forgot last night - both go on the meh-to-bad category

* I forgot to talk about how muddy/dark the cinematography, but this is a Movie Studio problem and not a Lee Problem.

* Y'know, if you're going to build an entire movie around the cheese grater, maybe in the actual movie its entire involvement shouldn't be two extremely brief shots, as if you were afraid of pissing off the MPAA?

ETA: Box Office update: It pulled in $2.5 mil in previews last night; that's half of what Mario took in, but it's slightly over the $1.9 million the remake did in the same time time period. So likelihood it will beat Mario is low, but likelihood it'll take $20 mil in its first weekend is slightly higher. Will it have legs for the weekend and afterward is the question, and will depend on word of mouth, as most of the feedback I'm seeing is pretty mixed. We'll also have to see what the Cinemascore is, too.

 

[Muzzlehatch]

No problem; a lot of this is in the pre-press so it's not a huge spoiler but:

Spoiler: Spoilers

Bruce is on the record that Danny plays that he took from the vault. Bruce/"Ash" can be heard trying to warn the expelled/radical priests during the recorded incantation scene that it's impossible to turn the Nec's magic into something positive and not to read from the book. He is not disguising his voice at all. The way Cronin plays it it could be Ash or it could be some random guy or a Williams antecedent, which was his apparent intent. You can also hear clips of it on the Make-yourself-into-a Deadite website on the movie's official UK website.

To make this make sense you have to wonder how Ash ended up in the 1920s, which is obviously perfectly plausible via time travel, but him never mentioning it is uh.

Further sourceage on this.

Yep, what you said!

Thanks! Just listened to the clip on the website. I would love a sequel in this setting and with this tone. ED combined with early 20th century old school Lovecraftian / gothic horror.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

Thanks! Just listened to the clip on the website. I would love a sequel in this setting and with this tone. ED combined with early 20th century old school Lovecraftian / gothic horror.

THAT would be fun!

 

[DyD]

The movie is opening here in Brazil this weekend as well, but I'm afraid it's gonna take a little while for me to get to watch it. Living in a small brazilian town over an hour away from any decent movie theater sucks.

 

[mhb2862]

Spoiler: Some spoilers

The chick who gets scalped in the prologue/postlogue is named Teresa (as in Tilly); Danny and Kassie, naturally, could be for Hicks (RIP) and DePiva/Wesley. Bridget could be for Bridget Hoffman, the woman on the original Evil Dead posters. Mr. Fonda may be named after Bridget Fonda, Linda #3 in AOD. Two kids who want to hang out with Bridget and watcha ANOES movies with her are named Scott and Jake (for the two ED/ED2 characters, natch). That's about it.

Beth could be Embeth Davidtz and Ellie could be Ellen Sandweiss. Maybe that's a stretch, but that's still a lot of characters named after series actors.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

Beth could be Embeth Davidtz and Ellie could be Ellen Sandweiss. Maybe that's a stretch, but that's still a lot of characters named after series actors.

Those are good catches. I'm going to guess that not every single one is, because man, that means almost every character in the movie was reference named!

 

[Nick el Ass]

Off to the theater here soon, and will report back once it is over and I'm able to gather my thoughts. Btw, the seats for the showing have filled up even more... but I didn't sleep well last night in anticipation of going back to the theater after not going since late 2019 (not just to see an Evil Dead movie).

 

[Kain]

I just got back from seeing it. It was good but not great. I liked it a lot better than the 2013 remake. It wasn't bad with the budget they had. Beth, Ellie, and Kassie were all great. It was super gory and has lots of great throwbacks. My only gripes were:

Spoiler

I thought it was odd that by day time, no one else in the building heard or noticed any of the mayhem from the night before.

Spoiler

I thought the Maurauder was disappointing. I wished there were more bodies attached similar to Rotten Applehead from Evil Dead 2.

Spoiler

The Book of the Dead is still in Danny's room. Does this mean a sequel is most likely?

I'm not a fan of the yellow eyes. I hope they go back to white eyes for future movies.

I didn't like the illustrations used for the pages from the Book of the Dead. They were way too cartoony. I don't know why they don't get Tom Sullivan to do the artwork.

 

[Sutter Cane]

I'm back from the theater and it was actually a GOOD Evil Dead movie....Nothing more, nothing less... 7/10


I will not give you a full detailed review, but here's my thought:



PRO:

-Acting is actually good and we did care about the characters. Good choice of cast. (Compare to Fede Alvares's remake and even AVED, this is a win)
-I like the overall ambiance of the movie. A big throwback to the first Evil Dead.
-Good use of references from the ED mythology.


Middle :

Despite of the "Rise" in the title. The movie is actually just another REMAKE. There's absolutely no surprise here. You already know the story from A to Z.


CON:

-Lee Cornin took too much elements from Fede Alvarez's remake. Mostly Deadites looks and their behavior. Unfortunately he did not make this movie his own.
-Un original kills....a lots of Déja-vu, and some could have been good for a Final Destination movie...
-The whole ending and the wrap-up....Wow! That was cheap!...Sorry but it was only a cheap version of Fede's Remake....It was similar on so many points....Chainsaw, raining blood...flipping page that shows the final boss, the marauder deadite...Fede did a thing right onED 2013: The ending was much more satisfying and epic.
-The Wrap-up : Cheesy as...(You know the word.. Don't be like Ash!)

Final Thought:

I could compare the 2013 remake to EDR, but it's a bit more of the same....
What can I say? Lee Cornin did many things better than Fede Alvarez on this one, but the inverse is also true.

Fede version have bad characters, but manage to make a savage introduction and a epic ending.
Lee Cornin have good characters,. The movie comes with a corny intro and a cheap ending (Everything in between is actually very good)

The biggest flaw of EDR is it lack of personality.


P.S : Like the idea or not. It's obvious they will do a "multi-verse thing" with the 3 books....

 

[Nick el Ass]

Spoiler: My Middles

I just got back from seeing it. It was good but not great. I liked it a lot better than the 2013 remake. It wasn't bad with the budget they had. Beth, Ellie, and Kassie were all great. It was super gory and has lots of great throwbacks. My only gripes were:

Spoiler

I thought it was odd that by day time, no one else in the building heard or noticed any of the mayhem from the night before.

Spoiler

I thought the Maurauder was disappointing. I wished there were more bodies attached similar to Rotten Applehead from Evil Dead 2.

Spoiler

The Book of the Dead is still in Danny's room. Does this mean a sequel is most likely?

I'm not a fan of the yellow eyes. I hope they go back to white eyes for future movies.

I didn't like the illustrations used for the pages from the Book of the Dead. They were way too cartoony. I don't know why they don't get Tom Sullivan to do the artwork.

Spoiler: The award goes to Evil Dead Rise for...

Best use of a wood chipper in a movie since Jackie Chans Rumble in the Bronx, and I think it sets itself up well for a sequel after Beth picks up the chainsaw on the way out... but we will see if Lee Cronin gets a chance to follow it up.

I just got home and will have more later when I can put my thoughts into words.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

Spoiler

The Book of the Dead is still in Danny's room. Does this mean a sequel is most likely?

Spoiler: More spoiler

Going to guess it could be found by someone demoing the building. EVIL DEAD: CONSTRUCTION could be interesting

Why HAVEN'T they asked Tom Sullivan? I'm very curious vis that.

@SutterCane - This is my fear; we're going to end up with an even more confusing continuity than we had in the first place, but this is around where I'd rank it; it's a 6/10 for me.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

Spoiler: The award goes to Evil Dead Rise for...

Best use of a wood chipper in a movie since Jackie Chans Rumble in the Bronx, and I think it sets itself up well for a sequel after Beth picks up the chainsaw on the way out... but we will see if Lee Cronin gets a chance to follow it up.

I just got home and will have more later when I can put my thoughts into words.

Looking forward to your thoughts, Nick!

 

[Nick el Ass]

it's a 6/10 for me

Rise has an exceptional cast with great chemistry, and there were moments that got nice reactions from myself and the audience while some were disappointing. So I give it a solid 7.

Spoiler

Ellie punching Beth in the hallway when she arrived kind of set the tone, but I expected more from the cheese grater... and Kassie and Staffanie got the biggest reaction from the audience.

 

[Morsoth]

Just saw it, and I liked it better than I though! But... my rating would be equal to the 2013 remake.

Spoiler: More info

Another 'cameo' was the paintings of ED2's cabin in the appartment.

The ending was meh... and the whole "One day before" was pointless. I would almost have preferred a chronological edit, ending with the girl jumping out of the lake.

The 3 books thing feels useless... Again, only one book (that change its apparence) would have sufficed. Lee seems to say that the scene in AOD, with the 3 books, define the ones in the Trilogy/series, Mia's book, and Rise's book...

The recording on 78 RPM vinyl is a nice idea, but I agree with Kain, the pages of the Naturom Demonto feels cheaper than the ones from the remake. And, by the way, the more famous 'Necronomicon' name from ED2 and AOD are probably a thing of the past now, and the serirs will probably stick with the more original Naturom Demonto. I wish Tom Sullivan would be back, but maybe there is a reason behind the scenes.

So yeah, a solid 4/5 for me.

Now, I want a 1923 movie with the priests, and a new 'MediEvil Dead' set in the 1300's!

 

[Sutter Cane]

Spoiler: More spoiler

Going to guess it could be found by someone demoing the building. EVIL DEAD: CONSTRUCTION could be interesting

Why HAVEN'T they asked Tom Sullivan? I'm very curious vis that.

@SutterCane - This is my fear; we're going to end up with an even more confusing continuity than we had in the first place, but this is around where I'd rank it; it's a 6/10 for me.

This is also my thought....but at the same time...The Evil Dead Series was always a confusing one in term of continuity....I don't expect logic for the future.

I read in an interview they will not wait another 10 years for the next movie.... I don't really care. I just want Sam Raimi writing and directing another Evil Dead film....

@Nick el Ass



About the wood chipper scene:

It was obvious at the beginning of the movie. I expected more originality from the wood chipper scene. They just did the same thing as many movies. They throw "the big bad villain" into the grinder....

About the scene when Beth pick up the chainsaw:

I know what you are pointing out BUT....something was missing. Beth just took the chainsaw and went away...no close up, not even a dramatic or emotional moment. All this great characters development lead to : "I cleared all levels beat the boss, see you later, good bye". Sure this open the way for more, but the whole scene lead to basically nothing....

About the Cheese grater:

I agree, I expected more from this scene since it was highlighted in the promo. Not as weird as the Xacto scene from the 2013 remake...not even memorable. Unfortunately, it was just a promo stunt.


P.S : About continuity and sequel...The book is still there but...There's still some deadites left in the building upstair...Beth did not killed them all.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

This is also my thought....but at the same time...The Evil Dead Series was always a confusing one in term of continuity....I don't expect logic for the future.

I read in an interview they will not wait another 10 years for the next movie.... I don't really care. I just want Sam Raimi writing and directing another Evil Dead film....

They're apparently writing a book for the franchise with the intent of making it more cohesive, but the cohesion horse left the barn years ago.

 

[Nick el Ass]

This is also my thought....but at the same time...The Evil Dead Series was always a confusing one in term of continuity....I don't expect logic for the future.

I read in an interview they will not wait another 10 years for the next movie.... I don't really care. I just want Sam Raimi writing and directing another Evil Dead film....

@Nick el Ass



About the wood chipper scene:

It was obvious at the beginning of the movie. I expected more originality from the wood chipper scene. They just did the same thing as many movies. They throw "the big bad villain" into the grinder....

About the scene when Beth pick up the chainsaw:

I know what you are pointing out BUT....something was missing. Beth just took the chainsaw and went away...no close up, not even a dramatic or emotional moment. All this great characters development lead to : "I cleared all levels beat the boss, see you later, good bye". Sure this open the way for more, but the whole scene lead to basically nothing....

About the Cheese grater:

I agree, I expected more from this scene since it was highlighted in the promo. Not as weird as the Xacto scene from the 2013 remake...not even memorable. Unfortunately, it was just a promo stunt.


P.S : About continuity and sequel...The book is still there but...There's still some deadites left in the building upstair...Beth did not killed them all.

Spoiler

Everything has a beginning and an end, and for me the reason I can't give this movie a higher rating is that the beginning and the end of Evil Dead Rise feels a bit weird if not a bit disjointed from the rest of it to me. I read a lot of early reviews that praised the movie leading to a high score on Rotten Tomatoes and after a little tempering most people put it were it belongs at about a 7-8 on IMDB and 80ish on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

Spoiler

Everything has a beginning and an end, and for me the reason I can't give this movie a higher rating is that the beginning and the end of Evil Dead Rise feels a bit weird if not a bit disjointed from the rest of it to me. I read a lot of early reviews that praised the movie leading to a high score on Rotten Tomatoes and after a little tempering most people put it were it belongs at about a 7-8 on IMDB and 80ish on Rotten Tomatoes.

Spoiler: spoilers

My final guess is a high 70's critical and the same or audience scores, and it settling around in the 6's on IMDb.