Connect with us

Movie Reviews

SXSW Review: ‘Evil Dead Rise’ is a Non-Stop Gorefest Party That Never Lets Up

Published

on

Campbell

Klaatu Barada Nikto! Are the words used to conjure up Kandarian Demons have never let us down. It inspires chainsaws, boomsticks, and fun to explode across participating screens. From Sam Raimi’s game-changing 1981 film to the Starz series Ash Vs Evil Dead. Now, a host of deadites return with the latest blood-soaked experience, Evil Dead Rise. The latest entry in the franchise pumps new life and death through its veins by jumpstarting the film anew.

Evil Dead Rise begins with that familiar POV shot of the Kandarian force roaming the woods. As it picks up momentum, we are suddenly pulled out of the POV to realize that we are looking through a drone’s lens. The shot lets us know that we are in for a new era of the Evil Dead while having a bit of fun with expectation. The sequence brings us to a bunch of vacationing people having fun at a cabin by the lake. The introduction to these folks doesn’t last long before the possession of a Kandarian demon makes its self-known. Scalps are pulled blood is shed and the Evil Dead Rise in the short intro. We are then pulled back to the city a few days before the events at the lake.

Rise

We are then introduced to a small family with mom, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) her two kiddos (Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher), and her sister, Beth (Lily Sullivan) all living in a high-rise apartment building. When a major earthquake manages to open a hole in the floor the small family discovers The Book of the Dead.

It doesn’t take son Danny long to play the vinyl records that accompanied the book. Once again the Evil Dead is set free and within seconds all hell breaks loose and enters the body of mom, aka, Mom.

The familiar POV of the Kandarian forces pushes across the city streets before finding the tenement building. Once inside it doesn’t take long to find its first possession victim, Alyssa. Once possessed Alyssa makes her way back to her family in their apartment home and as you could have guessed it doesn’t take long for souls to begin being swallowed and for blood, guts and viscera to begin flying.

Evil Dead Rise does a great job of keeping its evil foot pressed firmly against the gas pedal.  Once we are introduced to this poor family and their apartment home, the horror, action and fun doesn’t stop coming.

Director, Lee Cronin, (The Hole in the Ground) fits perfectly into the Evil Dead family. He manages to create enough of his own vision of the Kandarian Demon hellscape to make it his own while also giving us cornerstone moments filled with boomsticks, chainsaws, over-the-top horror, and the classic Demon voice that Sam Raimi fostered in his films. In fact, Cronin takes that Kandarian demon voice even further. He manages to create a full-on character by way of possessed Ellie that resonates and becomes more incendiary throughout.

Cronin manages to create that new villainess voice by way of Alyssa Sutherland. The actress goes through the motions going from struggling mother to a terrifying and completely memorable deadite queen. She remains throughout the film. Each scene sees the actress meeting the physical challenges of the role as well as the all-out evil villainess parts of the role with exceeding perfection. Not since Bad Ash has a Kandarian Demon stood out as memorably as Sutherland’s mom breaking Evil Dead bad. Hail to the Evil Queen.

Cronin also manages to create a world that may contain the other two Necronomicon books that we have seen in the past. He leaves room in the story to believe that both Bruce Campbell’s Ash and Jane Levy’s Mia may all exists with their own respective books of the dead. I love the idea that there are more than one Necronomicon in play and the director bravely opens up that possibility.

Rise

Beth (Lily Sullivan) becomes our knight in bloody armor here. Sullivan steps into the blood-soaked role of our new heroine with gusto. It is easy to love her character early on and by the time we see Sullivan bloodsoaked, with chainsaw and boomstick in tow we as an audience are already head over heels and cheering.

Evil Dead Rise is a full on non-stop gorefest party that starts up fast and doesn’t let up for a second. The blood, guts, and fun never stop or give you a chance to breathe. Cronin’s high-rise nightmare is an exquisite chapter in the world of The Evil Dead. From start to finish the party doesn’t let up for a second and horror fans are going to love every second of it. The future of The Evil Dead is safe and ready for more souls to swallow. Long live the Evil Dead.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movie Reviews

Panic Fest 2024 Review: ‘Haunted Ulster Live’

Published

on

Everything old is new again.

On Halloween 1998, the local news of Northern Ireland decide to do a special live report from an allegedly haunted house in Belfast. Hosted by local personality Gerry Burns (Mark Claney) and popular children’s presenter Michelle Kelly (Aimee Richardson) they intend to look at the supernatural forces disturbing the current family living there. With legends and folklore abound, is there an actual spirit curse in the building or something far more insidious at work?

Presented as a series of found footage from a long forgotten broadcast, Haunted Ulster Live follows similar formats and premises as Ghostwatch and The WNUF Halloween Special with a news crew investigating the supernatural for big ratings only to get in over their heads. And while the plot has certainly been done before, director Dominic O’Neill’s 90’s set tale of local access horror manages to stand out on its own ghastly feet. The dynamic between Gerry and Michelle is most prominent, with him being an experienced broadcaster who thinks this production is beneath him and Michelle being fresh blood who is considerably annoyed at being presented as costumed eye candy. This builds as the events within and around the domicile becomes too much to ignore as anything less than the real deal.

The cast of characters is rounded out by the McKillen family who have been dealing with the haunting for some time and how it’s had an effect on them. Experts are brought in to help explain the situation including the paranormal investigator Robert (Dave Fleming) and the psychic Sarah (Antoinette Morelli) who bring their own perspectives and angles to the haunting. A long and colorful history is established about the house, with Robert discussing how it used to be the site of an ancient ceremonial stone, the center of leylines, and how it was possibly possessed by the ghost of a former owner named Mr. Newell. And local legends abound about a nefarious spirit named Blackfoot Jack that would leave trails of dark footprints in his wake. It’s a fun twist having multiple potential explanations for the site’s strange occurrences instead of one end-all be-all source. Especially as the events unfold and the investigators try to discover the truth.

At its 79 minute timelength, and the encompassing broadcast, it’s a bit of a slow burn as the characters and lore is established. Between some news interruptions and behind the scenes footage, the action is mostly focused on Gerry and Michelle and the build up to their actual encounters with forces beyond their comprehension. I will give kudos that it went places I didn’t expect, leading to a surprisingly poignant and spiritually horrifying third act.

So, while Haunted Ulster Live isn’t exactly trendsetting, it definitely follows in the footsteps of similar found footage and broadcast horror films to walk its own path. Making for an entertaining and compact piece of mockumentary. If you’re a fan of the sub-genres, Haunted Ulster Live is well worth a watch.

3 eyes out of 5
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movie Reviews

Panic Fest 2024 Review: ‘Never Hike Alone 2’

Published

on

There are fewer icons more recognizable than the slasher. Freddy Krueger. Michael Myers. Victor Crowley. Notorious killers who always seem to come back for more no matter how many times they are slain or their franchises seemingly put to a final chapter or nightmare. And so it seems that even some legal disputes cannot stop one of the most memorable movie murderers of all: Jason Voorhees!

Following the events of the first Never Hike Alone, outdoorsman and YouTuber Kyle McLeod (Drew Leighty) has been hospitalized after his encounter with the long thought dead Jason Voorhees, saved by perhaps the hockey masked killer’s greatest adversary Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews) who now currently works as an EMT around Crystal Lake. Still haunted by Jason, Tommy Jarvis struggles to find a sense of stability and this latest encounter is pushing him to end the reign of Voorhees once and for all…

Never Hike Alone made a splash online as a well shot and thoughtful fan film continuation of the classic slasher franchise that was built up with the snowbound follow up Never Hike In The Snow and now climaxing with this direct sequel. It’s not only an incredible Friday The 13th love letter, but a well thought out and entertaining epilogue of sorts to the infamous ‘Tommy Jarvis Trilogy’ from within the franchise that encapsulated Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning, and Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Even getting some of the original cast back as their characters to continue the tale! Thom Mathews being the most prominent as Tommy Jarvis, but with other series casting like Vincent Guastaferro returning as now Sheriff Rick Cologne and still having a bone to pick with Jarvis and the mess around Jason Voorhees. Even featuring some Friday The 13th alumni like Part III‘s Larry Zerner as the mayor of Crystal Lake!

On top of that, the movie delivers on kills and action. Taking turns that some of the previous fils never got the chance to deliver on. Most prominently, Jason Voorhees going on a rampage through Crystal Lake proper when he slices his way through a hospital! Creating a nice throughline of the mythology of Friday The 13th, Tommy Jarvis and the cast’s trauma, and Jason doing what he does best in the most cinematically gory ways possible.

The Never Hike Alone films from Womp Stomp Films and Vincente DiSanti are a testament to the fanbase of Friday The 13th and the still enduring popularity of those films and of Jason Voorhees. And while officially, no new movie in the franchise is on the horizon for the foreseeable future, at the very least there is some comfort knowing fans are willing to go to these lengths to fill the void.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movie Reviews

Panic Fest 2024 Review: ‘The Ceremony Is About To Begin’

Published

on

People will look for answers and belonging in the darkest places and the darkest people. The Osiris Collective is a commune predicated upon ancient Egyptian theology and was run by the mysterious Father Osiris. The group boasted dozens of members, each forgoing their old lives for one held in the Egyptian themed land owned by Osiris in Northern California. But the good times take a turn for the worst when in 2018, an upstart member of the collective named Anubis (Chad Westbrook Hinds) reports Osiris disappearing while mountain climbing and declaring himself the new leader. A schism ensued with many members leaving the cult under Anubis’ unhinged leadership. A documentary is being made by a young man named Keith (John Laird) whose fixation with The Osiris Collective stems from his girlfriend Maddy leaving him for the group several years ago. When Keith gets invited to document the commune by Anubis himself, he decides to investigate, only to get wrapped up in horrors he couldn’t even imagine…

The Ceremony Is About To Begin is the latest genre twisting horror film from Red Snow‘s Sean Nichols Lynch. This time tackling cultist horror along with a mockumentary style and the Egyptian mythology theme for the cherry on top. I was a big fan of Red Snow‘s subversiveness of the vampire romance sub-genre and was excited to see what this take would bring. While the movie has some interesting ideas and a decent tension between the meek Keith and the erratic Anubis, it just doesn’t exactly thread everything together in a succinct fashion.

The story begins with a true crime documentary style interviewing former members of The Osiris Collective and sets-up what led the cult to where it is now. This aspect of the storyline, especially Keith’s own personal interest in the cult, made it an interesting plotline. But aside from some clips later on, it doesn’t play as much a factor. The focus is largely on the dynamic between Anubis and Keith, which is toxic to put it lightly. Interestingly, Chad Westbrook Hinds and John Lairds are both credited as writers on The Ceremony Is About To Begin and definitely feel like they’re putting their all into these characters. Anubis is the very definition of a cult leader. Charismatic, philosophical, whimsical, and threateningly dangerous at the drop of a hat.

Yet strangely, the commune is deserted of all cult members. Creating a ghost town that only amps up the danger as Keith documents Anubis’ alleged utopia. A lot of the back and forth between them drags at times as they struggle for control and Anubis keeps continuing to convince Keith to stick around despite the threatening situation. This does lead to a pretty fun and bloody finale that fully leans into mummy horror.

Overall, despite meandering and having a bit of a slow pace, The ceremony Is About To Begin is a fairly entertaining cult, found footage, and mummy horror hybrid. If you want mummies, it delivers on mummies!

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading