Evil Dead Rise

Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead “reimagining” a decade ago may have failed, but Irish writer/director Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise is another story — and in so many appealing ways.

From the creative means that one of the three Necronomicons comes into the creaky Los Angeles apartment of single mom of three Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland, Vikings), to how the Book of the Dead’s words are unleashed, this sequel is full of fresh ideas that extend to its laudable commitment to gore.

And we’re talking buckets and buckets and buckets of blood, poured out in increasingly shocking ways as Cronin shows zero interest in following any blueprint of who should survive. Captured through consistently crisply shot scenes, the misadventures as the malevolent spirits overwhelm this overmatched family are visually stunning and never cheapened by ill-fitting special effects.

Playing the clan’s first victim, Sutherland delivers an electric, physically demanding performance that pushes her facial muscles and limbs to their limits, and her committed turn finds ample support from Lily Sullivan (Picnic at Hanging Rock) as Ellie’s guitar tech sister, plus Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, and Nell Fisher as the trio of youngsters.

Atop this firm foundation, Cronin layers tasteful homages to The Shining, The Thing, and other genre forebears, and bookends the film with scenes involving one of Ellie’s fellow tenants, setting up a reasonably intriguing potential sequel. After this promising first foray into the Evil Dead universe, he’s more than earned viewers’ trust in additional installments — and made series godfathers (and executive directors) Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell thoroughly proud.

Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Warner Bros.)