By Shawn Van Horn
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Last year, Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise was one of the biggest and best horror films of the year, making $147 million at the worldwide box office. Now, it's kicking Deadite ass on Netflix, cementing its place as one of the best entries in the franchise. The Evil Dead films, and the TV spinoff, Ash vs Evil Dead, starring Bruce Campbell, are known for showcasing lots of blood and gore, but predominately — except for the very serious 2013 Evil Dead — with an over-the-top, humorous slant. Evil Dead Rise was different. It was as dark and serious as you can imagine, and nothing showed it more than the shocking arrival of the Marauder. Even The Last of Us' rat king has nothing on this monstrosity.
'Evil Dead Rise' Has a Shocking Finale
In Evil Dead Rise, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) is a struggling single mother of three kids living in a dilapidated Los Angeles high rise. She's lucky that her pregnant sister Beth (Lily Sullivan) comes to visit and help out, but luck runs out when the Deadites are unleashed and possess Ellie. Although she still moves and talks, she's, for all intents and purposes, dead and never coming back as who she once was. Evil Dead Rise doesn't hold back on the shock factor, as two of Ellie's kids, teenagers Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), are killed and possessed as well. It's then up to Beth to save Ellie's last surviving child, a young daughter named Kassie (Nell Fisher).
It leads to a climactic battle in the basement parking garage, with Beth and Kassie hiding from the Marauder, a sickening distortion or limbs made up of Ellie, Danny, and Bridget's bodies that crawls around on the ground. I've seen some sickening-looking monsters in the Evil Dead franchise over the past four decades, but this one takes the bloody cake. It's similar to the Rat King creation in The Last of Us, which is made up of a glob of zombies, and while that is disgusting too, the heartbreak behind the Marauder makes it much more horrifying.
The Marauder Was Mostly Done With Practical Effects
The moment we see that wood chipper in the parking garage in Evil Dead Rise,we know it's our Chekhov's gun, and that something very gory is going to happen there. Oh, does it! The last scenes see Beth and Ellie feeding the Marauder into the wood chipper, unleashing a geyser of blood all around them. It's sick and amazing, and for the most part, it's all real. I can't count the number of times I've been watching a promising horror movie only to have it ruined by some horrible CGI. Thankfully, Evil Dead Rise uses practical effects as much as possible. The effects were accomplished by Odd Studio, a creature effects house, who shared their design for the Marauder online. In an interview with Collider, Lee Cronin said he wanted the Marauder to be as practical as it could be. This was done by using not just makeup, but contortionists and puppeteers as well. Lily Sullivan described the process of filming with contortionists pulling at her in what she said was the last scene completed during filming.
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'Evil Dead' Rise Is a Heartbreaking Film About Family
The Marauder doesn't exist simply to be gross. Like the best horror, there is meaning behind the scares. Lee Cronin told Collider that the Marauder represents the worst possible version of family, with its physical shape saying something about raising a kid, and how a parent might see their own children and parenting. There are two ways to look at the meaning of the Marauder in Evil Dead Rise. How you get there depends on how you look at parenthood in general, or especially in Ellie's situation.
She might be having a hard time in life, doing all of this parenting alone in a disgusting apartment building that's set to be torn down soon, but we see that Ellie is extremely close to her kids at the start of the movie. Now, in death, they remain close as one unit forever. However, parenting in a stressful situation can also feel like a heavy burden. Even in death, parenting is weighing her down — literally. That's not Ellie though. The Deadite may have spoken about how much Ellie hated motherhood, but the last thing the real Ellie told Beth was not to let the evil take her babies. It's absolutely heartbreaking that her last wish didn't come true. Many Evil Dead monsters will make you laugh, but in Evil Dead Rise, the Marauder will make you feel.
Evil Dead Rise
810
R
Horror
A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.
- Release Date
- April 21, 2023
- Director
- Lee Cronin
- Cast
- Mirabai Pease , Richard Crouchley , Lily Sullivan , Alyssa Sutherland
- Runtime
- 97 minutes
- Writers
- Lee Cronin
Evil Dead Rise is available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.