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WARNER

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Lee Cronin
Cast:
Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies
Writing Credits:
Lee Cronin

Synopsis:
Two estranged sisters see their reunion 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.

Box Office:
Budget:
$15 million.
Opening Weekend:
$24,504,315 on 3402 Screens.
Domestic Gross:
$67,233,054.

MPAA:
Rated R.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio:
English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby 5.1
English Descriptive Audio
French Dolby 5.1
Latin Spanish Dolby 5.1
Castillian Dolby 5.1
German Dolby 5.1
German Descriptive Audio
Subtitles:
English
Latin Spanish
Castillian
French
Chinese Simplified
Korean
German
Czech
Danish
Finnish
Norwegian
Swedish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 96 min.
Price: $39.98
Release Date: 6/27/2023

Bonus:
• Blu-ray Copy


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
-LG OLED65C6P 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV
-Marantz SR7010 9.2 Channel Full 4K Ultra HD AV Surround Receiver
-Sony UBP-X700 4K Ultra HD Dolby Vision Blu-ray Player
-Chane A2.4 Speakers
-SVS SB12-NSD 12" 400-watt Sealed Box Subwoofer


RELATED REVIEWS


Evil Dead Rise [4K UHD] (2023)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (June 26, 2023)

With a worldwide gross of $97 million, 2013’s horror reboot Evil Dead broke no box office records. However, with a low $17 million budget, it turned a nice profit.

So why did it take a decade for the film to produce a sequel? Apparently due to development issues, but 2023 finally brought Evil Dead Rise to screens.

Beth (Lily Sullivan) tours with rock bands as a guitar technician. Newly – and unhappily – pregnant, she visits her estranged single mother Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) as well as nephew Danny (Morgan Davies) and nieces Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and Kassie (Nell Fisher) in their condemned LA apartment complex.

This awkward reunion gets literally shaken by an earthquake, and when Danny explores an exposed hole in the decrepit building, he discovers some mysterious artifacts. These bring a demonic infestation to the site that threatens the family.

As noted, the 2013 Evil Dead turned a nice profit, and Rise did even better. It stayed with another small $15 million budget and brought in $146 million worldwide.

One assumes that total ensures the studio won’t wait another decade to produce the next Evil Dead. When one appears, I hope it works better than the erratic Rise.

I went into Rise with greater than average expectations, mainly because I thought the 2013 reboot worked well. In a genre littered with a lot of fairly lousy movies, it packed a reasonable punch.

Also, Rise received consistently positive reviews from critics. Add to that good audience marks and I figured Rise would extend the franchise in a compelling manner.

It doesn’t, and part of the problem stems from the film’s plot, or lack thereof. Rise offers a basic introduction to the characters and then consists of little more than creepy scenes and graphic violence.

The movie tosses Beth and family at us with only minimal exposition – and by “minimal”, I mean “nearly non-existent”. We know Beth got knocked-up by some unnamed dude, and we know Ellie’s struggling clan recently got abandoned by her husband.

Want anything more than that? Sorry – no soup for you, as this becomes the essential extent of the film’s exposition and development.

Of course, no one goes to horror movies with hopes of rich, three-dimensional characters and intelligent narratives. Fans care more about tension and graphic gore for the most part.

Which can work. Heck, Sam Raimi’s original 1982 Evil Dead didn’t boast anything more detailed or deep than this and yet it worked.

But Raimi’s flick boasted a gonzo spirit and a sense of inventiveness Rise lacks. It comes with the supernatural elements of the series but otherwise plays like a fairly standard horror film devoid of anything remarkable.

Just as scary movies don’t need terrific characters/narratives, they also don’t require genuine inventiveness to succeed. Even with the predictable traits that come with most flicks in this field, a well-executed effort can succeed.

Rise just feels far too preoccupied with gore and gross-out material for it to prosper. Actual fright and tension take a backseat to nasty visuals.

That tendency makes Rise seem longer than its 96 minutes, and it feels awfully redundant much of the time. We find a never-ending parade of ugly violent scenes that fail to demonstrate much purpose or drama.

It would help if we maintained any real interest in or attachment to the characters. We don’t, and the movie fails to make any of them interesting enough to carry the story.

Rise also continues a horror trend that I find tedious: the “violent teaser” at the start. Too many genre flicks open with “previews” of the terror because those behind them worry that if they wait too long for jolts, audiences will lose interest.

This technique can work, but it now feels like a crutch. A well-made movie would build drama organically and not need to throw gore at the audience right away.

In the case of Rise, the “teaser” seems even less purposeful because it doesn’t really connect to the main narrative. It takes place at a secluded lake, a choice that toys with the audience because we expect Rise to visit that setting ala the first two Raimi movies as well as the 2013 reboot.

However, as noted in my synopsis, a condemned LA apartment building becomes the primary location for Rise. The prologue eventually connects to the plot, but just barely – and it does so in a way that feels more like a nod toward the next film in the series than a necessary story-telling element.

I will acknowledge that Rise achieves a level of brutality uncommon for modern horror flicks. Many pull their punches in a variety of ways, but this one goes down some darker than typical paths.

And I’ve definitely seen many less satisfying genre films than Rise, as even with its flaws, it manages to remain moderately involving. Still, it doesn’t turn into anything particularly memorable and it becomes a disappointment after the thrills of the 2013 reboot.


The Disc Grades: Picture B+/ Audio A-/ Bonus F

Evil Dead Rise appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a high-quality presentation here.

Overall sharpness worked well. Some low-light shots could feel slightly soft, but the image usually seemed accurate and concise.

Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects marred the proceedings, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws also failed to become an issue.

Like so many modern movies, Rise opted for a heavily orange/amber and teal palette. Trite as these may seem, the disc reproduced them as intended. HDR added presence to the hues.

Blacks felt deep and dense, and shadows – a major factor in this often dimly-lit tale – seemed smooth. HDR gave whites and contrast extra oomph. I felt pleased with this image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack fared even better. Whereas most horror movies tend to stick with creepy ambience and the occasional jolt, Rise took matters to a higher level.

Of course, it did still offer a lot of the aforementioned creepy ambience and jolts. Nothing here reinvented the scary wheel.

However, Rise simply upped the audio ante. It used all the channels in a highly active and vivid manner that added real impact to the proceedings.

General environmental material seemed well-placed, and a large variety of supernatural/terror elements popped up around the spectrum on a frequent basis. This wound up as a more involving than anticipated soundscape that benefited the movie.

Audio quality succeeded as well, with speech that seemed natural and concise. Music displayed the appropriately ominous vibe and showed appealing range.

Effects delivered a real kick, with clean elements that showed deep bass when necessary. This turned into a well above-average soundtrack for a horror movie.

How did the 4K compare to the Blu-ray version? Both came with identical Atmos audio.

A true 4K product, this disc offered improvements in terms of definition, colors and blacks. Expect a nice jump in quality here.

No extras appear here, though the set includes a DVD copy. It also lacks supplements.

After the high quality of the 2013 reboot, I hoped Evil Dead Rise would continue the series on a positive note. Instead, I got a largely narrative-free collection of scare moments without much real impact. The 4K UHD offers very good picture and terrific audio but it doesn’t include any bonus materials. Hopefully the next Evil Dead movie will rebound after this disappointment.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of EVIL DEAD RISE

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