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Bloody buckets, the Book of the Dead and a chainsaw? Yes, it’s an Evil Dead movie, of which there really are no bad films in the horror genre. The group that’s been around since the beginning, starting with 1981’s The Evil Dead, producer Rob Tapert and executive producers Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell (who was the original character Ash Williams), reunite for Evil Dead Rise.

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

It’s where single mom Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) lives with her three kids, teenagers Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and her youngest Kassie (Nell Fisher). The estranged sister Beth (Lily Sherwood) shows up out of the blue in the middle of the night. This is where the plot gets confusing – her arrival is shortly followed by an earthquake, that creates a huge hole in the parking garage. Danny goes down there and grabs some vinyl records and the Book of the Dead.

The building was once an old bank, but there’s loads of religious items within the rubble, such as a giant Cross of Jesus Christ. How do these things tie together? We’re not certain if it’s something to do with an insurance deposit box. Do we care? Really.

Danny unlocks The Book of the Dead and plays the music (listen to hear an aural appearance by Campbell) that unleashes the demonic Deadites who take over Ellie.

Following Evil Dead Rise stream , the film is a constant bloodbath that delivers a frightful, shivering fun that makes you go, “This is what I wanted!” The film gives fans of the Evil Dead films something newly terrifying, as the action takes mostly inside the apartment along with the corridor and unstable 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 wonderful little nuggets that reference the original films, such as choking on an eyeball and creepy nursery rhymes as well as using silver-colored duct tape to cover up wounds. There’s also a huge allusion to The Shining’s “elevator from blood” sequence. And how can anyone not be enthralled by that?

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

Sutherland is scene-stealing as Ellie she only required only a little prosthetic to highlight areas on her face. Her performance is absolutely amazing as she endangers her children and sisterby utilizing knives, a tattoo gun and an ice grater to deliver one of her most visceral attack.

In the final showdown, Ellie is terrifying enough by herself and does not require anything else “extras” she’s given in this episode. There’s nothing more effective than less when it comes to terror. Yet it is when Beth is played with real depth and tough determination to make it through by Sullivan and Sullivan, cranks up the chainsaw and shouts, “Come get some,” her own take on Ash’s “groovy” is all that can be accepted as a blessing.

After scrapping the money together they set off on their creation of the campy clever feature that would ultimately producing a series of sequels, an off-Broadway musical and a niche, but beloved TV series. For serious horror fans they will love the Evil Dead might not be thought of as being particularly creative or sophisticated however, fans of body horror films would be fighting to defend it as good fun regardless.

I’m delighted to say that Evil Dead Rise upholds the tradition of the infamous classic and also holds its own as an independent 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 overly imaginative or innovative happening here, but believe our word when we claim it does not matter. Because, ultimately, Evil Dead Rise is an amazing film with plenty of gore and schlock to keep you on the edge your seat, without the need for a narrative.

The mood of white-knuckle violence in Evil Dead Rise can be set instantly when audiences are confronted with a whiplash-inducing first POV shot. It causes discomfort right off the beginning, and does not let up throughout the remainder of the movie’s run. Its opening scene is perfectly unique, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. When the majority of the film really starts to move, you’ll forget it took place.