Lee Cronin’s “Evil Dead Rise” begins seemingly a few miles down the road from that infamous cabin in the woods, where the original onslaught of explosive gore, decapitations, oozing fluids and monster mashing took place.
Following the amusing opener, which utilizes the franchise signature of an angry whirl of a POV shot and offers an arresting visual marking a great title design, the real movie begins.
We meet Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), a single mother raising two children in a badly run-down apartment complex. Ellie’s sister (Lily Sullivan) shows up just in time to help out, particularly after an earthquake unearths the Book of the Dead.
As a horror film set in a high-rise building, this barely capitalizes on the location. Longtime fans of the Sam Raimi-directed trilogy,...