‘Evil Dead Rise’ early review promises you’ll need a cigarette after experiencing its brutality

We’re just a few days out from Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise beginning its theatrical run, taking the Evil Dead franchise in an entirely new, non-linear direction. Originally, sometime before 2019, plans were in place to produce sequels for Evil Dead (2013) and Army of Darkness (1992), as well as a fourth season of Ash vs Evil Dead. Eventually, those projects were scrapped and Sam Raimi announced that a standalone installment would be replacing prior concepts. Both Raimi and Bruce Campbell were tasked with executive producing, while Lee Cronin was eyed to direct.

Although we’ll be mourning the severe lack of Ash Williams, Evil Dead Rise offers up some fresh faces in Beth, Ellie, Danny, Bridget and Kassie, portrayed by Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols and Nell Fisher, respectively.

Over on the r/horror subreddit, u/PriestofJudas shares a brief summary of Evil Dead Rise following a pre-screening. The aforementioned user describes the film as “relentless,” mentioning that “once the horror starts, it doesn’t stop.” They also called it a “homage to the whole series” and “some of the best gore of the whole series” to boot. The post was given the fitting title “believe the hype” as comments came swarming in to express excitement for Cronin’s latest venture, especially after the filmmaker previously worked on 2013’s Ghost Train and 2019’s The Hole in the Ground.

He might not be a household name just yet, but if this review is anything to go by, it looks like Cronin has a bright future ahead of him in the horror realm, even if the eventual debut of Evil Dead Rise doesn’t meet everyone’s expectations. Honestly, though, we’re pretty certain it will. If there was ever a doubt that Cronin would be amping up the fright and the gore, just take one look at the trailer — that tells you all you need to know. And from what we can gather, the film itself is much worse. But what more could you want from an Evil Dead property?

Evil Dead Rise arrives in theaters on April 21, 2023.