Long gone are the days when this was a horror comedy franchise.
Evil Dead Rise is a far far cry from the likes of Army of Darkness, the 1992 time travel comedy which for two decades was the final chapter for The Evil Dead.
While there is a perverse humour in some of the more visceral gore and some of the kills are so over the top you can't help but laugh, there isn't many films where Bruce Campbell's catchphrase "Groovy" would be more out of place than here.
In Evil Dead Rise, the traditional cabin in the woods scenery of the last four films has been traded out for a high rise apartment complex. Our hero for the film is Beth, a roadie who has been long estranged from her sister Ellie and her three kids.
When the Naturom Demonto (previously called Necronomicon Ex-Mortis or simply Book of the Dead) rears it's ugly head once again, it's Ellie who suffers the unfortunate fate of becoming a possessed 'Deadite' as this franchise calls them.
What follows for the second act of the film is some of the most cringe inducing, visceral horror set-pieces I've seen since, well the last Evil Dead movie. I'll admit some of this is actually a bit much for me but I can certainly appreciate it's appeal.
In 2013 when the last Evil Dead film came out, I got into an argument with my partner at the time. She wanted to go see it and I straight up refused. There was no way in hell I would ever watch that film. It looked far too scary.
A few years later I watched it in the middle of the day in a well-lit environment and while yes, it was probably one of the scariest films I've ever seen, it's just a film and I survived the experience.
When another film was announced I assumed I would be able to continue living my life with Evil Dead Rise going unseen but exactly one year ago, I started reviewing films for 1News and eventually I was asked about doing this film. I was planning to turn it down, but it was pointed out to me it was filmed in New Zealand so I felt a sort of patriotic obligation to cover it.
Evil Dead Rise has a lot more in common with the 2013 reboot than the original trilogy. There's a lot of dread and darkness, the horror and gore is supposed to make you wince rather than just gore for gore's sake.
Although without giving too much away by the third act there is a bit of the stand up and cheer "f**k yeah" sort of attitude the franchise is known for.
I'm not in any real rush to ever see Evil Dead Rise again, but despite my aversion to some of the horror elements, it is a bad ass film with two fantastic performances at its core from Australian actresses Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland.
The style of horror it's going for won't be for everyone, but even I was converted by the end of it, there was just a few bits leading up to that which I had to watch through cracks in my fingers (although annoyingly the sound design is so frickin' good that even shutting your eyes doesn't give you a break).
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