Buckets of blood and the Book of the Dead and chainsaws? It’s an Evil Dead movie, of which there’s no negative movies in the horror series. The team that’s been there since the beginning, starting with the film of 1981, The Evil Dead, producer Rob Tapert and executive producers Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell (who played original protagonist Ash Williams), reunite for Evil Dead Rise.

The fifth film is directed by director Lee Cronin, who updates the cabin-in-the-woods style to include an apartment situated in Los Angeles branded a “condemned dump” that will soon be destroyed.

It’s there where single mum Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) lives with her three children: teenagers Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and her daughter Kassie (Nell Fisher). The estranged sister Beth (Lily Sherwood) appears in the middle of the night in the middle of the night. This is where the plot becomes confusing – her arrival is shortly followed by an earthquake which creates a massive hole in the parking garage. Danny visits the garage and picks up some vinyl records and the Book of the Dead.

The building was once an old bank, but there’s tons of religious memorabilia within the rubble, such as the huge cross of Jesus Christ. What’s the connection between this and other things? We’re not certain if it’s is it something to do with an insurance deposit box. Do we care? We don’t really care.

Danny is the one who opens the Book of the Dead and plays the records (listen out for an aural appearance from Campbell) that will unleash the demonic Deadites that come to possess Ellie.

The film becomes a bloody scream that delivers a frightful, shivering entertainment that makes you think, “This is what I wanted!” The film gives people who love previous Evil Dead films something newly claustrophobic with the action taking mostly inside the apartment along with the corridor and unreliable lift. Yet, you don’t need to be a fan of the previous films – this is watch-through-your-hands horror at its finest.

There are some amazing little nuggets that reference the original films, such as choking on an eyeball, creepy nursery rhymes, or even using silver tape to wrap up wounds. There’s also a massive allusion to The Shining’s “elevator of blood” sequence, and how could anyone not love that?

Even though Evil Dead II is viewed as a comedy-horrorfilm, Evil Dead Rise is more of a gorefest that is all-out, although it does have its moments, like when Ellie, the dispossessed Ellie informs her children that she’s now “free from the titty-sucking parasites that eat your flesh. “…

Sutherland is a scene-stealing actor as Ellie Sutherland, who required very little prosthetics to enhance certain areas that accentuate her facial features. Her performance is absolutely amazing as she endangers her children and sister, wielding knives, a tattoo gun and the cheese grater to cause many of the more venomous attack.

When it comes to the finale, Ellie is terrifying enough by herself and does not need anything else “extras” she’s given in this episode. There’s nothing more effective than less in the realm of horror. However when Evil Dead Rise full movie plays with real depth and determined determination to live by Sullivan who revs the chainsaw and shouts, “Come get some,” her own take on Ash’s “groovy” is all that can be to be forgiven.

After scrapping together the funds, the trio embarked on the creation of the fun, ingenious film that would eventually with a number of sequels, an off-broadway musical and a niche, but adored TV show. For those who are serious about horror they will love the Evil Dead might not be thought of as being particularly creative or sophisticated, but fans of the body horror genre would surely fight to make it look like good fun anyway.

I’m pleased to report I’m pleased to report that Evil Dead Rise upholds the legendary status of the classic, and holds its own as a standalone feature.

Evil Dead Rise is refreshingly simple — a family due to be evicted from their would-be-Airbnb-goldmine apartment in the shell of a dilapidated ex-bank become subjected to a night of sheer terror after the teenager Danny (Morgan Davies) discovers a mysterious vault that houses — you guessed it — the Necronomicon.

From a plot point of view There’s nothing particularly original or innovative happening from a plot perspective, but trust us when we say it does not matter. Because, at the end of the day, Evil Dead Rise is an amazing film with plenty of fun and gore to keep you on the edge of your seat without much need for any actual plot.

The white-knuckle atmosphere of Evil Dead Rise can be created instantly when audiences are in a tense opening POV shot. The film causes discomfort right from the start, and does not let up throughout the rest of the film’s running time. Its opening scene is unprecedented, and doesn’t outstay its time. When the bulk of the film really begins, you’ll forget that it ever occurred.