University journalists from around the country get an opportunity to talk with some of the cast and crew of the new “Evil Dead Rise” movie. Credit: Alec Fisher, Warner Bros
The newest addition to the Evil Dead franchise, “Evil Dead Rise,” provides a unique spin on the horror genre, bringing into question the strength of family through terrifying times.
The movie is set in a soon-to-be demolished apartment building in Los Angeles, where three kids, their single mother and the mother’s visiting sister are trying to resolve their family issues when an earthquake strikes. One of the kids, Danny (Morgan Davies), discovers a book and a couple of records in an underground area of the apartment building after the earthquake. When Danny figures out what they are, everything turns upside down and the family finds themselves trying to stay alive against chaotic demons.
Early critic reviews give the fifth Evil Dead movie high praise, giving a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95 percent, an IMDb score of 7.9/10 and an Empire score of 4/5. This past week, reporters from universities across the country participated in a roundtable discussion with cast and crew members of the film to get a greater understanding of the movie production.
In a roundtable discussion with The Lantern, director and screenwriter Lee Cronin said with the help of people who had previously worked on movies within the Evil Dead franchise, such as executive producer Sam Raimi, Cronin was able to make something that transcends the narratives of stereotypical horror movies.
“If you’re gonna break the mold, you gotta break the mold,” Cronin said. “The appetite between me and Sam was to tell an Evil Dead story that was something new, something fresh and a little bit different.”
While the first move to separate the film from other horror movies was to set the movie in an urban highrise, Cronin said the second move was to base the story inside of a family.
“There is family touches in previous Evil Dead movies, but this is about going inside the home, whereas people were going to a place in previous movies that was already a little creepy and out in the woods and out in the middle of nowhere,” Cronin said. “This was actually a family sitting at home, essentially minding their own business and the evil comes knocking on their doorstep. ”
Actress Lily Sullivan, who portrayed Beth in “Evil Dead Rise,” said what makes the movie scarier than other Evil Dead and horror films is the many themes and elements that come together.
“It’s so fun to explore the terrifying fear that the sanctity of home is no longer safe and the responsibility of family, and guilt, and playing with all those themes, but then turning up the volume so much more,” Sullivan said. “That’s the beauty of horror, especially Evil Dead. It’s so playful but we’ve just got those themes that are slicing through it, but then you kind of forget it as well and then it just becomes this epic washing machine of obstacles and chaos.”
Diving deeper into how everyone committed to the family aspect of the movie, actress Alyssa Sutherland, who plays the mom, Ellie, said the actors’ off-screen connection helped the process of becoming an on-screen family.
“I feel like actors just kind of get on,” Sutherland said. “We all overshare, we’re all connecting because that’s what actors do, and I feel like this was such a great group of kids and we all just kind of jumped in from the get-go.”
Sutherland said it was one of Cronin’s other films and the unique role of Elliethat piqued her interest in “Evil Dead Rise.”
“What made me want to work with Lee was the script and the role of Ellie because certainly as a woman, I just don’t have roles like that come my way,” Sutherland said. “It’s so rare, but watching his first film, ‘[The] Hole in the Ground’ is what really made me wanna work with him. Watching the performances that he got with the actors that he worked with in that film, I was like ‘Sign me up, sign me up, I want to work with him.’”
Sullivan said her reason for working with Cronin was similar to why Sutherland joined in terms of the freedom of creativity from the script.
“For me, I mean reading the script, it was such a page turner,” Sullivan said. “Just like your childhood fantasies to act out the most absurd things, which is the beautiful thing about the horror genre. The boundaries are limitless.”
“Evil Dead Rise” is set to hit theaters Friday.
