Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Evil Dead Rise 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 22, 2023

I'm not the world's biggest Evil Dead fan by any stretch, with my lifetime experience limited to a few stray viewings of Sam Raimi's original three films during my teenage and twenty-something years... and that's pretty much it. I certainly don't have them memorized, nor have I seen later installments yet such as the 2013 remake or even a single episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead. So I actually breathed a small sigh of relief knowing that Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise is more of a spiritual continuation to the long-running franchise than a new sequel, one that required no deep knowledge of its lore to enjoy or understand. Nonetheless, this blood-soaked exercise in claustrophobic horror feels like it achieves a decent balance of appealing to die-hard franchise devotees, total newcomers, and people like myself (AKA "somewhere in the middle") by retaining its peaks and valleys while throwing in more than a little harmless fan service.

Truth be told, the weakest stretch of Evil Dead Rise is actually right up front: a dull in media res opener -- concerning two cousins and of their boyfriends on a lakeside cabin retreat gone wrong -- that's only kinda-sorta resolved during the film's closing moments. (The less you think about it, the better; it's not very well-acted, effective, or even relative to most of the story, and I damn sure hope it ain't the proposed setup for a sequel.) Luckily it's over soon enough, and the real story begins with the world's edgiest single-parent family: tattoo artist Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her three kids, aspiring DJ Danny (Morgan Davies); sarcastic Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), who's one buzz cut away from using they/them pronouns; and precocious Kassie (Nell Fisher), who attaches spears to her doll's head. They're living in an apartment building only David Fincher could love, it's due for demolition in a month, and they're paid a surprise visit by Ellie's estranged sister Beth (Lily Sullivan), a groupie guitar technician who just found out she's pregnant.

Trouble has long been brewing for this unconventional family unit, and now you can go ahead and add "supernatural entity hell-bent on death and destruction" to the list. Upon returning from a last-minute pizza run, the kids are terrified by an earthquake that rocks the city and leaves a large hole in their apartment building's parking garage. The curious Danny crawls in to explore and finds an abandoned vault will all sorts of relics inside, including a creepy-looking book that might be valuable and even a few dusty records (presumably for sampling!). Ellie, Beth, and their neighbors are happy to have the kids back safe and sound, but shit goes down quick once Danny and Bridget pry the book open and play their new records, the second of which features a creepy backwards incantation. After a power failure occurs and an unseen force takes control of Ellie's body, she's violent towards her family, briefly comatose, and soon awakens in a ghastly new physical form, ready to unleash all manner of revenge for bringing her back into the world.

Evil Dead Rise does a number of things extremely well once its oddball opener is out of the way, not the least of which is its overall mood and tone, which is effectively oppressive and fully commits to a quickly-building sense of dread as its story unfolds. At a mostly sleek 97 minutes, it feels paced just right for a story that's essentially stripped down to the bare minimum for character development and extraneous details. (One could argue that it doesn't help us care about the affected family, but I'd argue that wouldn't have helped much.) Viewers will feel an uncanny amount of dread as key and supporting characters are maimed and outright killed, and often done so with practical effects and buckets upon buckets of fake blood that are practically franchise staples at this point. Subtle -- and not-so-subtle -- references are made to previous horror classics, from several Evil Dead entries to genre staples like The Shining. Yet none of its highlights stand out as strongly as Alyssa Sutherland's central performance as Ellie: she all but steals the show with a truly committed take on her character that's equal parts likeable, horrifying, and sympathetic.

Small portions of Evil Dead Rise keep it from achieving greater success. Garden-variety horror clichés are on board, such as a few bone-headed decisions (one character listens to a record on over-the-ear headphones while a demon knowingly lurks), obligatory jump scares, and "don't go in there" moments, as well as the aforementioned bookend segments and personal pet peeves like its overuse of young actors. But by and large this is a decent effort for the franchise and genre, with its existing strengths also supported by fine cinematography, effective music and sound design, and a running time that doesn't wear out its welcome once it gets going. This 4K combo pack from Warner Bros. offers a great A/V presentation but no extras. A separate Blu-ray combo pack is also available.

Evil Dead Rise 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Evil Dead Rise is what I like to call David Fincher Dark™, with near-endless black levels that require careful contrast and lighting to maintain proper bleakness without letting anything important get lost in the shadows. And while these 1080p/SDR screenshots don't convey an accurate appearance of what you'll see on a properly-calibrated 4K/HDR setup, rest assured that Warner Bros.' UHD does a fine job with what can only be described as extremely difficult source material. (Just imagine watching this kind of movie on DVD or SD/HD streaming platforms -- it'd be a complete mess.) And while WB's included Blu-ray does a surprisingly respectable job with the source material, this 4K disc beats it in every conceivable category. Perhaps the biggest difference is in shadow detail and black levels, which are rendered cleanly here with almost no perceivable levels of crush or blooming, while adjacent colors also "pop out" nicely thanks to its careful HDR grading. This isn't one of the more showy uses of high dynamic range, by the way: vivid highlights arrive during a handful of oddly-lit scenes, or anything involving fire or buckets of fake blood, but for the most part it's driven by careful color separation and improved black/white grading, including fluorescent lights and other sources that stand out in a sea of darkened interior shots. Fine detail comes and goes by design... but it all falls within appropriate boundaries depending on the lighting and visual intent, so don't go in expecting a slick and showy experience and you'll find this to be a satisfyingly accurate visual treatment of Evil Dead Rise that's worth the extra cash.

Evil Dead Rise 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Armed with a full-bodied Dolby Atmos mix, Evil Dead Rise goes all-in on its oppressive sonic atmosphere during critical moments, heightening tension with excellent use of side, back, height, and LFE channels to maintain its claustrophobic atmosphere. Early highlights arrive during the rushing low-angle opening credits and a handful of teasing jump scares while returning thereafter at predictable moments, from an earthquake that leads to the Book of the Dead's discovery to the absolute terror that arrives in its wake. A handful of creative sonic touches dot the landscape, from periodic playback of several ancient records -- through speakers, headphones, and one by unconventional means -- to distorted vocals that writhe and twist around the frequently wide sound stage. Other moments, such as a climactic showdown in the apartment's parking garage (where one character is later somehow able to video chat with no reception issues), operate on quiet-loud dynamics with tension ratcheted up to its highest levels. From start to finish, it's an effectively merciless mix that's rendered faithfully to bring a theater-grade audio experience home.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are offered during the main feature.

Evil Dead Rise 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release ships in a dual-hubbed keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork, a matching matte-finish slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. Somewhat shockingly, no bonus features are included.

Evil Dead Rise 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise is a solid spiritual successor in an enduring franchise with no real prerequisite knowledge needed, making it an accessible entry point for new fans but familiar enough to satisfy seasoned vets. It does a number of things extremely well: the pacing is tight (aside from the bookending segments, which are frankly pointless), Alyssa Sutherland's performance is bananas and, perhaps most importantly, it commits to the ultra-bleak atmosphere and doesn't skimp on the gore. Other elements keep it from scoring higher, but in my opinion it's the rare modern horror continuation that actually does what it sets out to do. Warner Bros.' 4K combo pack offers a predictably strong A/V presentation, but the complete lack of extras is a bummer. Still Recommended to the right crowd.