Just over 40 years after the release of evil Dead (The Opera of Terror) appears the fifth part of the indestructible saga of the same name. And indestructible is the word, since the films are populated by demonic undead driven by irrepressible murderous impulses. With its mixture of horror, extreme gore and humor ranging from noir to burlesque, Evil Dead Rise (The Opera of Terror. Renaissance) proves to be very faithful to the spirit of the original films, especially the second one, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (opera of terror 2).
It is in this case a quality and a defect: we will come back to it. Everything starts in a promising way during a prologue camped in the now proverbial cabin in the depths of the woods, a disastrous place that has become the setting for countless horror films since the original opus.
Then, the action moves to a decrepit building in an anonymous town where Ellie, a tattoo artist, lives with her three children: the eldest musician Danny, the youngest activist Bridget, and the youngest with a macabre imagination Kassie. Along comes Aunt Beth, Ellie’s perpetually struggling sister.
Soon, and for reasons we won’t say, Ellie finds herself possessed and seized with a furious desire to kill everyone. The sequel alternates, with the regularity of a metronome, sequences of unbridled horror and moments of calm before the storm of gore. It’s expertly executed: Clearly, director and screenwriter Lee Cronin spent a hell of a time crafting each of these horror-comedy, most memorable passages.
This contagious evil
On the other hand, it is just as apparent that the narrative did not enjoy the same care. Narratively, even at a runtime of just over an hour and a half, you can feel the filler; this is evident during periods of calm. It lacks real developments and twists.
Prisoners of the apartment, and the building, the characters do not have much to do, except wait to see who will be the next to be transformed into an evil creature.
In this respect, with his building taken over by a “contagious” disease, Evil Dead Rise evokes as much Demons 2by Lamberto Bava (1986), as the original in the matter, Shivers(Chills), by David Cronenberg (1975). However, rather than taking advantage, like his models, of the presence of various tenants to precisely flesh out his plot a little, Lee Cronin locks himself in a wobbly camera, settling the fate of the said other tenants in a single expeditious sequence. (although technically clever, since it was entirely filmed through the peephole of a door).
The director of atmospheric but predictable The Hole in the Ground has, in fact, simply substituted accommodation for the famous cabin. Except that the anxiety-provoking load is less: in the forest, the isolation is immediately distressing, while in the urban context of Cronin, it is too fabricated, with great reinforcement of earthquakes, collapsed stairs and – obviously – loss of internet and cellular signal.
Joyfully excessive
Apart from those addressed to the films of Bava and Cronenberg, as well as to the previous titles of the saga evil Deadtributes abound, like these sticky insects springing at one point from the mouth of one of the characters.
Towards the outcome, we are entitled, for example, to a long (a very long) wink at shining. At this stage, Evil Dead Rise is resolutely confined to the grand-guignol, again in phase with the original films. Unfortunately, the form that the entity then takes is more ridiculous than frightening, which attenuates the scope of a joyously excessive finale in its carmine overflows.
In short, this is a reverent fifth volume, very well played, very impressive in terms of special effects, but more innocuous in terms of history.