Not sure how to feel about this one, folks. Evil Dead Rise is the second ED film to eschew the presence of Ash in favor of a more Necronomicon-focused story. Think of it as a Saw film without Jigsaw - not bad but not exactly what I love about ED. The film is scheduled for release later this year on HBO Max and is directed by Irish director, Lee Cronin. His only other feature is 2019’s The Hole in the Ground, which I didn’t see.
The official synopsis from Warner Brothers is: In Evil Dead Rise, a road-weary Beth pays an overdue visit to her older sister Ellie, who is raising three kids on her own in a cramped L.A. apartment. The sisters’ reunion is cut short by the discovery of a mysterious book deep in the bowels of Ellie’s building, giving rise to flesh-possessing demons, and thrusting Beth into a primal battle for survival as she is faced with the most nightmarish version of motherhood imaginable.
I have no idea where the skyscraper image on the posters came from, but there aren’t exactly a lot of skyscraper apartments in Los Angeles. I was hoping for a Towering Inferno style film, but the images on the posters could be misleading.
I’m happy that Raimi and company continue to mine new talent for the series. I was pleasantly surprised by Fede Álvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead film, so maybe this one will be decent. We’ll all just have to wait and see.