The tenants of a dilapidated high rise deal with Deadites in Lee Cronin’s gloriously gleefully gory Evil Dead Rise. The 2023 film arrives with a new Arrow LE 4K UHD in January 2026.
The Film
Is there any series that goes harder with pure rushes of adrenaline, gore, and just non-stop terror and black-tongue-in-cheek humor as Evil Dead? Five entries in, Evil Dead has killed it since 1979, when Sam Raimi and some friends scraped together a handful of dollars and made a hell of a horror film, banked on ingenuity and held together with pure gumption. Two sequels, one remake, and a 3 season TV show (that I still need to see) later, we return to another knock-out in writer-director Lee Cronin’s adrenaline rush of Evil Dead Rise.
After an awesome woods-based prologue that seems to be Irish writer-director Lee Cronin, who made the very different but very good Hole in the Ground in 2019, saying, “I know how this series works, now come along with me to a new world of gods and monsters.” After this slam-bang opening, which provides one of my favorite title reveals ever (creates such energy. My heart raised with glee), we get a new setting: a crumbling LA highrise.
Even with the new location in a populous city, that doesn’t mean the claustrophobia of the terror of being cut off is removed; it’s perhaps even heightened, from the isolation among the crowds. When stuck on the top floor of a dilapidated building, there are fewer places for our family and their neighbors to go when the elevator is out, and the stairs are blocked. It’s a bad situation to start, made worse by those pesky Kandarian demons out to make sure everyone is dead by dawn. Those everyones? An incredibly well put together family unit. Beth is visiting her sister Ellie, who lives on the top floor of a soon-to-be-demolished building with her three kids. After an earthquake reveals a long-hidden vault containing a book no one should open and a set of tapes no one should listen to, the book is opened, and the tapes are listened to (one featuring Bruce Campbell!), Latin is read, and…. You know what happens from here.
And what happens is a high-octane, gross, gooey rendering of body parts in nasty ways. Like Hellraiser from the previous year, led by Marty Supreme supporting firecracker Odessa A’Zion, Evil Dead remixes the series so far, but also feels fresh. It’s Evil Dead through and through: possessions, blood, new instruments of torture, and even more blood; but it’s also a fresh take on the material. The blood flows with amazing effects, mostly practical, with a few CG touches to meld together physical work. Even with a cast of children, it didn’t hold back. Gore hounds wince at how mean and surprising it can get. Deadites delight in destroying their hosts bit by bit, torturing the souls and those around them. Evil Dead Rises gleefully pays off everything expected from it and more with a dark, disturbing run at body-ripping.
The limited cast is fully game. All are amazing; Lily Sullivan as Beth, Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie are astounding adults and props for excellent young actors: Gabrielle Echols and Morgan Davies as the older siblings, and New Holly Weaver on Stranger Things, Nell Fisher as the young. They have great chemistry – they feel like a true family unit (with great touches of production design to give their life a story in the set; seeing the age height marks of the kids makes a sadness), and it pays off with unbridled pizzazz and gleeful energy.
On that production design, I applaud how well Cronin and team have put together the film. From the astounding set, getting everything from a tight location (on soundstages, but it looks so real), with a disturbing and engaging look. Sound has always been a major production value in this series, and Peter Albrechtsen gets it. I love the method of hearing the passages. Magnificent. It all comes together with a rocket burst of gleeful mayhem.
I really can’t believe HBO nearly dropped this onto HBOMax. Test screenings showed the power of the film and how over-the-top crowd-pleasing it is. I can’t wait for the next Evil Dead this summer, and Lee Cronin’s next film, The Mummy, is also coming this year!
The Package
Arrow puts together a fine package. A standard case holds the 4K disc, looking like one of the records from the film. The sleeve is reversible with original art and new art by Waldermar Witt. It contains a two-sided poster with both art choices. The slipcover is of the new art. Also included is a booklet.
The Presentation
The 4k Dolby Vision looks fantastic. With a practical effects-laden release like this, it’s awesome to see it so detailed. I can really dig into the makeup. Damn, it looks great. The detail of the location, again, that fantastic production design, comes through with crispness. Could be a great example disc. The soundscape also roars through the 5.1 and Atmos options. Also included is a descriptive track. Subtitles are English only.
The Features
Arrow puts together an impressive package. Evil Dead Rise has had a few releases before this one: a barebones 4k, and store-specific ones that have some features. I know the commentary is from one of those. I presume everything not marked as New on Arrow’s website (and thus here too) has been featured elsewhere
Audio commentary with director Lee Cronin and actors Alyssa Sullivan and Lily Sullivan
A jaunty discussion between the director and his leads is a great talk of the film from the ground up, how all these moving pieces came together to create a great film. The trio is having fun revisiting the film, and so am I.
Interviews: All are new
Listed below individually, but writing about a collective. There are so many (whoo hoo), but I don’t want to overload you with a few lines about each. I assure you I watched and took notes on them all. All are solid interviews, coming from their specificities. The four actor ones talk of their specific actions and all the weird shit they had to do. Polti talks about bringing all that weird bloody shit to life with mostly practical. I loved how Albrechtsen’s was presented, especially since the soundscape is such a big aspect of Evil Dead. All heap so much love on Cronin for a great set, script, and environment to have an awesome film.
-Come Get Some: actor Lily Sullivan (16m)
-Mommy Deadite: actor Alyssa Sutherland (17m)
-The Deadite’s Daughter: actor Gabrielle Echols (15m)
-The Levitating Dead: actor Anna-Maree Thomas (11m)
-Conjuring Deadites: make-up effects designer Luke Polti (13m)
-Chopping Up Deadites: editor Bryan Shaw (14m)
-Sonic Possessions, sound designer Peter Albrechtsen (14m)
-Music to Swallow Your Soul, composer Stephen McKeon (13m)
The Sound of Evil Dead Rise, a 2023 interview with Cronin and Albrechtsen by Glenn Kiser, director of the Dolby Institute
A great Q&A was presented after a preview showing. Cronin and Albrechtsen do dig into sound, as Dolby Institute and all, but give a great overview of the film and questions about making it work. (52m)
Raising a New Evil Dead featurette (from 2023)
Brief interviews and looks at the making of the film. A little EPK-like like but I liked it. Wish it were longer. (8m)
Behind-the-scenes Video
Behind the scenes from Cronin’s phone, showing some set-ups. Wish I had more of this. Interviews are great, but seeing how the sausage got made is bread-and-butter for this sort of film. (4m)
Ghost Train (2013)
A short film from Cronin. Bleak! I can see how this led to The Hole in the Ground. The kind of short that is not only very good, but also shows an incredible promise for a feature director. (16m)
Gallery
Concept Art, storyboards, and still shots.
Rounding out the on-disc features are the theatrical trailer and 4 minutes of TV spots.
Booklet
Featuring writing by Michael Gingold. I’ve not read what’s in it, but I like Mike’s work, so I’m sure it’s great.
Final Thoughts
I’m so glad Evil Dead Rise finally gets a release I feel good about picking up. As a special features junkie, I squirm at buying barebones even if I loved the movie. And I loved Evil Dead Rise. Arrow gathers a great collection of interviews, with an awesome commentary, and I loved seeing the short that got Cronin attention. On the film itself, a perfect new Evil Dead: adrenaline and gore! And it looks top-notch, show off 4k level.
Groovy.
