It’s a tale as old as time. Horror is making a killing at the box office. The latest success story in the genre has beenEvil Dead Risedirected byLee Cronin. The fifth cinematic entry in theEvil Deadfranchise has brought the Deadites back in satisfyingly brutal fashion with both audiences andcriticscontinuing to chant their praises two weeks after the film’s April release.Riseisso close to crossing $100 millionat the worldwide box office and now Cronin has released new concept art for the film highlighting its most chilling moments.This includesRise’s haunting title card.Cronin previewed the images by saying, “Nothing on screen inEvil Dead Risehappened by accident. It took meticulous planning with an incredible group of talented people. And concept art was the entry point into our world. Here’s a little taste.” The four images in question are of the title card, the moody Los Angeles street outside Ellie’s apartment building, a close up of the crumbling apartment building itself, and theblood elevator. Fans ofRiseare sure to notice that these are exact shots ripped from the film. Usually concept art shows a very vague sense of what the final shot looks like and rarely is it ever this detailed. However, these simpleatmospheric set-upsmake you understand whyRisewas so successful. It knew exactly what kind of crazed monster it was from the start and never took its blood-soaked foot off the gas. The brilliant opening cabin sequence that leads into one of the greatest title cards in horror history, literally raising the Deadites up from hell to spread their “infection” to the world, is forever burnt into the skulls ofEvil Deadfans forever.
However, the opening scene is just a taste of the Deadites' renewed power. The main storyline follows two estranged sisters Beth (Lily Sullivan) and Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) as they reunite after many years apart. However, that dreaded reunion is short-lived once Ellie’s kids find theNecronomiconunder their apartment building. This causes the Deadites to take possession of Ellie’s soul. Beth has to survive and save her sister before the Deadites completely take over.Riseis all about the horrors/fears that mothers live out on a daily basis. The story successfully takesEvil Dead’s staple horror from its traditional cabin in the woods setting to the urban jungle of a claustrophobic apartment building. Cronin uses this opportunity to shoot the film like a gothic haunted house monster movie with this concept art perfectly enforcing the film’s unbearably weighty atmosphere.
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The new setting also let the filmmakers reinvent classicEvil Deadshots like the Deadite POV. Like the beloved2013 reboot,Riseis a love letter to the franchise and has a lot of great horror references to other genre classics likeThe Shining. The blood drenched elevator is the biggest example of that. Cronin just knows what makes horror fans tick and, whether its people getting bloody cheese grater tattoos or chilling lines like“Mommy’s with the maggots now”,Risehas started a cultural movement. Arguably for the first time since the 90s,Evil Deadis back at the center of the pop culture conversation.
Evil Dead Riseis in theaters now. While fans wait for the film to cross its next major box office milestone, you can view theRise’s concept art and trailer down below.
