The classic horror franchise, Evil Dead, has returned with a new face and some old scares. Evil Dead Rise takes the franchise in a little different path while still paying tribute to the iconic history of the franchise.

According to IMDB, “‘Evil Dead Rise’ tells a twisted tale of two estranged sisters, played by Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan, whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.”

There were some really scary moments in the new film, with a ton of blood too. While it is not as campy as the original films, Evil Dead Rise still finds a lot of ways to honor Sam Raimi’s vision.

Lee Cronin does a solid job of introducing these new characters, placing them into situations where they are clearly making poor choices and creating frightful moments of horror as they face their potential fate. I did find myself both yelling at the characters for their choices and hoping beyond hope that they were going to escape from it.

I found this film to be far better than the reimagined film from 2013. I hated that film because all it felt like was an excuse to bring the gore. While there was plenty of blood and gore in this now Evil Dead movie, I never felt as if it was here just to gross out the audience.

I especially found myself rooting for the kids in this story. I thought they all did a sensational job with what they had to deliver. Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies and Nell Fisher did some excellent work building their characters and providing the depth of emotion for each sibling.

There may not have been much more to the horror than just the terror that it created, but that does not mean this is not a worthwhile movie. Evil Dead Rise knows what it is and it does what it needs to do to deliver some scary moments and a film full of tension and suspense. I am very pleased that this franchise went in this direction, able to still provide the nostalgia of the original films while carving out a place for itself among the horror films of today.

4 stars