31 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 7: EVIL DEAD RISE (2023)

 Nothing like a mother's love. And I do mean NOTHING.

An earthquake in the Los Angeles area opens a sinkhole beneath a building slated for demolition, and within the sinkhole is a bank vault that has been sealed for a century. Returning to the building with the evening's pizza meal, the hole is discovered by a tween boy and his older and younger sisters. Against the warnings of his elder sibling, the boy enters the vault and opens a chest containing the Book of the Dead and a recording made by the priest who sealed the vault. The kids go up to their mother's apartment, where the mom and her sister have been catching up on their less-than-ideal situations, and when the boy retires to his room he unseals the book and plays the recording. A sadistic and unstoppable demonic entity is promptly unleashed, and a battle for the souls of the family and those of the building's remaining residents begins in earnest.

This latest installment in the four-decades-old EVIL DEAD franchise shakes things up by eschewing the usual cabin in the woods location, transplanting the proceedings to a rundown tenement building that somehow manages to be just as remote as any lakeside retreat. It's a bleak setting for an ultra-bleak scenario in which all bets are off when it comes to anyone's survival, with the stakes being raised by adding three children into the mix. The story is basically the same as the other EVIL DEAD flicks, but minus the humor of the first three, so the tone is one of utter hopelessness from the get-go, with no laughs to relieve the considerable tension. I'm a lifelong seasoned horror junkie, so I am a hard room to shock, but there were moments of gore and nastiness in this one that made me shriek at what I was witnessing. The characters deserve none of what they go through, and though they give it their best, there is simply no way to defeat the entity, and it is one very mean motherfucker. The possession of the mother comes first, and she is just downright terrifying. By far the scariest of the titular creatures seen thus far in the franchise, she is utterly relentless and actively revels in the torment she wreaks upon her family.

I'm glad the filmmakers kept the proceedings firmly in R-rated territory, yielding what is arguably the bloodiest installment to date. If you came for blood, gore, and agonizing violence, you will not be disappointed. I very much recommend EVIL DEAD RISE for any and all who are tired of toothless so-called horror crapped out by studios who keep things "safe" in order to get the almighty teen dollars at the box office. Not a feel-good movie in any way, this one's a solid winner for those who can take it rough.

Poster for the theatrical release.