*This review contains spoilers*
Lee Corrin’s “Evil Dead Rise” features loads of action and is bloody as ever, while still maintaining thematic consistency with the central paradigmatic premise of the comedic horror antics of the “Evil Dead” franchise: it allows itself to have fun! “Evil Dead Rise” stands on its own and no background knowledge of the prior films is needed (though it would help you get the references scattered throughout). The film features loads of excellent Easter eggs that reference previous films such as a group of Deadites shouting “Dead by dawn!” at the protagonists of the film, Beth and Kassie, and features the franchise’s two most iconic weapons: a shotgun (or “boomstick” as Ash would call it) and a chainsaw which Beth wields at the end of the film. Despite this, the film tragically falls short is in its decision to center the all-too-serious and misplaced subplots of motherhood and pregnancy.
The film opens with a scene of a group of young people staying at a cabin in the woods. We are told that one of the girls is sick. At first, the viewer believes that the all-too-familiar “Evil Dead” formula- i.e. a group of attractive young people staying at an isolated cabin in the woods will find the “Book of the Dead” and die to the Deadites- will be demonstrated once again. However, the scene at the beginning of the movie is brief and cuts to Beth sitting over a toilet at a grimy punk rock venue taking a pregnancy test with a look of worry and regret on her face. Beth’s discontent with her pregnancy foreshadows her desire to have an abortion. The film once again quickly cuts to Beth waiting outside the door of her sister’s rundown Los Angeles apartment. We quickly find out the two sisters are not on the best terms and are struggling with their own issues.
Ellie’s partner has abandoned her and her three kids without giving any particular reason, and Beth did not answer Ellie’s calls during the time she needed her sister. Therefore, the sisters decide they should talk, preferably without Ellie’s three kids in the apartment listening in. Ellie asks the kids to go pick up a pizza, and it is then that Beth confides in Ellie and lets her know that she has made a mistake and needs her sister’s help to fix it. This feels familiar, the quintessential family drama narrative, but what makes the relationship between Beth and Ellie feel authentic is that there is not one obvious antagonist in the relationship. They both have faults, but both remain relatable despite their faults. Thus, at this point in the film, the central plot does not seem to be motherhood or pregnancy, or any Deadites, but the troubled relationship between two sisters who do, despite it all, love one another.
However, after the sisters resolve some of their issues and the kids get their pizza, an earthquake occurs. This is when the authentic horror plot of the film begins: Danny, the eldest of Ellie’s three children, finds the “Book of the Dead” and plays the priest’s vinyl on his turntable, releasing the Deadite demon spirit into Ellie. The movie then becomes about survival and the stakes are raised high. However, some of this dramatic tension is lost because instead of allowing the movie to just be about the Deadites, the film continues to try to find a place to fork in the ethics of pregnancy.
Once Deadite Ellie kills everyone on her apartment floor besides Beth and Kassie, Kassie tells Beth, without knowing she is pregnant, that she would be a great mother. This moment of sentimentality comes across undeserved and contrived, moving from the central plot of horror, to what feels like a weak attempt at moving Beth’s character from wanting an abortion to keeping her baby. Of course, later in the film, Beth’s decision changes, and she shares the news with Kassie. Beth’s transition from wanting an abortion to desiring to have the baby feels under-explained and sudden. It isn’t clear what inspired this character development.e Are we just supposed to assume that watching her Deadite-turned-sister kill her whole family inspired some innate motherly desire within her? Or perhaps getting the opportunity to defend Kassie from Deadites has transformed her from woman to mother. Eh, I’ll pass on these superficial representations of what womanhood is.
Ultimately, I was left wondering why movies that are awesome often reduce their women protagonists to issues primarily concerned with “womanly” things. It is almost as if Cronin needed to hear that the struggle in the woman subject’s life supersedes the private sphere. In other words, motherhood and pregnancy are not all that womanhood is!
In “Evil Dead Rise,” Ellie’s family arbitrarily finds the Book of the Dead, and therefore, Beth just so happens to be pregnant and Ellie just so happens to be a mother. In other words, the Book of the Dead could have ended up in the hands of anybody. It is not as though the Deadites sought out Beth in particular in order to teach her a lesson about the value of life and pregnancy, though it at times feels like this. However, despite this criticism, I really did enjoy the film.
There are plenty of beautiful shots, references and creative kills. The tension and love between Ellie and Beth is both relatable and painful. However, next time, I feel that allowing women to express themselves outside of their relationship to motherhood would work in favor of the story. Both Beth and Ellie’s individuality is not necessarily bound up in their ability to rear children. I hope that the next film in the franchise eases up on heavy-handed and gendered stereotypes, and revs up the gore, blood and fun. After all, killing Deadites and working to reverse the Necromonicon’s curse amongst an absurd amount of blood is what makes any “Evil Dead” film great.