How Evil Dead Rise Honors Sam Raimi’s Original Evil Dead Movies

Evil Dead Rise honors Sam Raimi’s original movies by keeping what already worked in the series, but also moves the franchise into new, somehow even more taboo-breaking territories. Directed by series-newcomer Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground), Evil Dead Rise moves the demonic action from an isolated cabin in the woods to a Los Angeles apartment building, despite having actually been filmed in New Zealand. Originally intended to be released exclusively on HBO Max, Evil Dead Rise releases in theaters on April 21, 2023, following a premiere at SXSW in March, showing that Warner Bros. Pictures has a lot of faith in the film.

Despite not encountering the same level of pushback from the MPAA as previous Evil Dead movies, Evil Dead Rise’s incredibly positive reviews show that the film has all the groovy gore that fans expect; Lee Cronin estimated that over 1700 gallons of fake blood were used on Evil Dead Rise. The positive reaction to Evil Dead Rise proves that Lee Cronin’s new approach to the franchise paid off, while the film still honors Sam Raimi’s original movies. Evil Dead Rise manages this by sticking to the filmmaking lessons that Raimi learned on The Evil Dead while also pushing the franchise forward.

Evil Dead Rise Is Just As Lean & Mean As The Evil Dead

In particular, reviews for Evil Dead Rise have praised the film for being character-focused while also having lightning-fast pacing. In an interview with TheWrap, director Lee Cronin explained his “lean” approach when editing Evil Dead Rise. Cronin stated that he wrote the film’s opening section as a “taste” of the horror so that he could take some time to introduce a “lovely family” before “things… go bad“. Evil Dead Rise is a relatively short movie, at only 97 minutes. This, however, is a series staple and makes Evil Dead Rise the longest-running film in the franchise. However, that was not always the case.

The initial cut of The Evil Dead, created by editors Edna Paul and Joel Coen (of the Coen Brothers) alongside Sam Raimi, was rumored to run anywhere from 97 minutes up to two-and-a-half hours, according to The Evil Dead Companion. Sam Raimi then cut the movie down to its familiar 85-minute runtime, from what Bruce Campbell alleges was a “mountain of footage” in his 2007 autobiography If Chins Could Kill. Thus, Evil Dead Rise continues the fast-paced nature of the Evil Dead franchise.

Evil Dead Rise Continues The Franchise’s Taboo-Breaking Nature

One way in which Evil Dead Rise outdoes the other Evil Dead films is its choice of victims. In every other Evil Dead movie, the victims of the Deadites are all adults. However, in Evil Dead Rise, many of the leading characters are children, threatened by their own possessed mother. Many horror movies shy away from placing children in true danger. Evil Dead Rise, by contrast, relishes breaking that taboo. Evil Dead is no stranger to controversy: The Evil Dead was considered a “video nasty” in the UK and was briefly banned. Evil Dead Rise honors that legacy by pushing the boundaries even further than before.