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“Evil Dead Rise” not only serves as a continuation and homage to Raimi’s original vision, it’s also paying respect to Italian director Lamberto Bava’s 1986 sequel, “Demons 2.” Cronin makes the well-guided decision to take The Necronomicon (and its inevitable victims) out of the forest and place them in an apartment complex, in the same way that Bava moved from a movie theater in “Demons” to a high-rise apartment building.
The switch proves to be just what the “Evil Dead” universe needed, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a risk to take away one of the fundamental aspects and settings of the series. Raimi practically invented the cabin in the woods subgenre, which, at this point, has grown a little stale. While that wasn’t necessarily the case when Alvarez’s “Evil Dead” hit theaters, the transition to the city immediately breathes some new life into the Book of the Dead.
Focusing on a struggling family instead of a bunch of college kids is also highly effective. When Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), a single mother of three, is suddenly and viciously possessed and turned into an extremely powerful Deadite, watching her go after her own children is absolutely horrifying. It’s Sutherland’s twisted contortions and acute comic timing, however, that allow her to tap into that deranged sense of fun that fans have come to know and love about “Evil Dead.”
Cronin’s direction and editor Bryan Shaw’s quick cuts also come remarkably close to matching Raimi’s signature style without ever co-opting it. Without a doubt, the real hero of the film is Ellie’s younger sister Beth (Lily Sullivan) who steps up to take on the threat and, of course, pick up the chainsaw when the time comes.
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