The new “Evil Dead” sequel “Evil Dead Rise” has become the newest horror hit, taking the deadites and warping them in to the inner city. There the book of the dead is cracked open and the deadites emerge to wreak havoc in a run down apartment building. While the setting of the apartment building isn’t often used, when it is implemented, it can be very effective. Here are five Apartment centered horror films you should watch after “Evil Dead Rise.”
Candyman (1992)
Streaming on Redbox, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video
While not completely centered on an apartment tenement, the majority of “Candyman” and its mythology involve a lot of exploring of apartment buildings and run down apartment complexes. Bernard Rose transforms the run down tenements of inner city neighborhoods in to artifacts that tell the twisted tale of Candyman, the hook handed entity. The apartment tenement becomes a huge aesthetic from the first act, allowing for some really evocative terror and suspense.
Shivers (1975)
Streaming on Tubi, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video
David Cronenberg’s horror film is set in an isolated apartment tenement where an experiment involving a biological organ becomes a parasite that turns its victims in to violent, sex crazed maniacs. As the parasite spreads among the various apartment dwellers, the remaining survivors fend off against the growing horde of sex crazed monsters anxious to spread the parasite. While by no means a demonic film, director Cronenberg weaponizes sex as a horror device, successfully.
#Alive (2020)
Streaming on Netflix
The original Korean zombie thriller is a fantastic survival horror film that finds young Joon Woo trapped in his apartment. When a zombie apocalypse rears its head, he realizes he’s all alone without any means of escaping. He finds a new motivation to survive, when he discovers that someone across from his apartment is also alone and doing their best to survive. “#Alive” is an intense horror movie set primarily an apartment and is filled some top notch zombie grue.
[REC] (2007)
Streaming on Redbox, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video
The closest thing we have to a companion piece to “Evil Dead Rise” is this 2007 found footage horror classic. We follow a beat TV reporter who tags along with a fire brigade as they answer an emergency call at a local apartment tenement. Much to everyone’s horror an inexplicable infection begins to spread among the tenants in the building, building in to a full on siege of horrible demons. [REC] is a surefire adrenaline dose. And the remake is pretty darn good, too, I guess.
Demons 2 (1986)
Streaming on Plex, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu
This is the ultimate demonic possession film set in an apartment building. “Evil Dead Rises” owes a ton to the follow up to “Demoni.” This follow up is set in a locked up apartment building where a birthday party turns in to a full on siege of infectious, clawed demons. As the night stretches on, the tenants try to find a means of escape and fend off the growing hordes of merciless monsters. This is a top notch follow up that will definitely be the dessert to the feast that was “Evil Dead Rise.”