The Evil Dead franchise has been going on since the first movie in 1981 created by Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-Man trilogy (2002-2007). The newest entry to the franchise is Evil Dead Rise, which was released on April 21. The movie was enjoyable overall, but lacked some key elements. So, overall the movie is just a little above average.

The film makes a change from the other Evil Dead movies (apart from Army of Darkness, 1992) by changing the setting from the isolated cabin in the woods to an old apartment building in LA. The plot follows Beth (Lily Sullivan) as a woman who visits her sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her three kids (Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, Nell Fisher) during a time of crisis. She gets caught up in a survival battle between flesh-possessing demons, or “deadites” unwittingly summoned by the oldest child Danny (Morgan Davies). 

The movie had some strong elements, such as excellent cinematography by David Garbett. Also, there is a lot of gore for hardcore horror fans, such as during scenes where the survivors fight off the “deadites”. Finally, Sutherland does an exceptional job in playing the main antagonist ”deadite” of the film. She gives a convincing performance on becoming possessed that leads to her children covering their eyes in horror and fear. Her role is comedic and frightening at the same time. 

While the movie has moments that cause audience members to tense up in their seats,  more could have been added onto the horror.  Developing the characters more would have made the audience care more when harm comes to them. 

Evil Dead Rise could be watched as a standalone film, as it doesn’t have any continuity to the rest of the films. This leaves the opportunity for a new generation of people to get connected to a beloved franchise. Despite the lack of  in-depth characters, which makes the film less terrifying, certain scenes will leave viewers flinching in horror.