Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A reunion between two estranged sisters gets 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.
Evil Dead Rise transplants the franchise's demonic possession chaos from the woods to a Los Angeles apartment building, a clever urban twist that generates genuine claustrophobic tension. The plot is serviceable genre fare — estranged sisters, a found Necronomicon, escalating carnage — functional but not especially layered. Acting is competent with Alyssa Sutherland delivering a memorably unhinged possessed performance, though character development beyond the leads is thin. Cinematography is polished and slick for the genre, with some inventive POV shots and good use of confined spaces, but rarely transcends craft to become truly distinctive. Novelty scores low-to-mid: the urban relocation is a fresh wrinkle, but the film otherwise recycles familiar Evil Dead beats — demonic taunting, grotesque body horror, chainsaw climax — without meaningfully reinventing the formula. The ending delivers satisfying genre catharsis with a memorably gory set piece, though it relies on franchise conventions.