268: Evil Dead Rise (2023)

SPEAKER_01 0:04

It was really giving teamwork makes the dream work, you know? Yeah. One big happy family. Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hack or Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. I will now commence reading aloud The Book of the Dead. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash. Totally killer, pun intended. We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're reading these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the classic horror connoisseur Sean.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

You should have seen your face. It looked like you were gonna shit out a brick sideways.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

And the paranormal paramour Binks. I'm not a groupie, you psycho bitch. Grab your chainsaws, folks, because we just got back from what some might consider the most intense horror movie experience of the year. We're talking about a film that explores the ultimate nightmare scenario, being trapped with your own flesh and blood as you fight to survive against demonic possession. This newest installment in the Evil Dead franchise is one that fans have been eagerly anticipating for the 10 years that have passed since this last movie. In that, we saw a reimagining of Sam Raimi's original film, which featured familiar elements, a group of friends at a cabin who discover a suspicious book, an incantation that summons demons, and utter chaos and carnage. This week we're mostly ditching the cabin in the woods and moving to an apartment in the city. Director Lee Cronin's film follows two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons. As they fight for their lives, they face the most nightmarish versions of family imaginable. This movie is not for the faint of heart. It used approximately 6,500 liters of blood in its production, making it a non-stop gore fest that had our theater audiences on the edge of their seats until the end credits. Buckle up Dead Eights, because this week we're ascending to new horror heights with Evil Dead Rise. What were you all expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Well, I will say, based on the trailer alone, I was expecting this one to be balls to the wall insane. Like gory and brutal, and the kind of gore and violence that makes you want to look away.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Yeah. And actually for me, it was like a more serious rendition. I guess expecting the 2013 reboot since they took it to a very serious turn with the franchise. I figured that from the trailer we were going to get something similar, but with even more gore and grit. But I was still nervous going into this theater because I've just been so tainted and led astray by Evil Dead 2 that I almost thought to myself, is this gonna take a turn again, you know? But I I think that after going and seeing it, I'm feeling differently.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Ooh, not the franchise trauma really impacting you.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

It really did. Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

It really has. I watched the trailer for this a few times to just wrap my head around what this was going to be like. Now, given the tattoo gun and the cheese grater shots that we see in the trailer, I expected extreme brutality. Now, not terrifier extreme, but like mainstream studio extreme. So I thought it would be even more brutal than let's say like the Saw movies. I expected intense amounts of gore, but I also really thought that there would be unrelenting sadness based on the scope of the characters in the trailer. But I also had this idea that there would be certain lines even this film wouldn't cross. And I've seen this twice now. So once at an early screening on Tuesday, you'll hear about that. In B sides, we're joined by our staff member Ripley to unpack what that watch experience was like. And I saw it again now for opening night. For the most part, I got what I expected, but I was wrong about the lines that this movie drew. There was absolutely a moment where I thought, all right, all bets are off, right? It's a particular kill that was difficult for me to see, but it really punched me in the stomach the first time I saw it. Not in a way that was irredeemable, but it was just a moment of ugly. And then I had this incredible tension from the moment it started. And while I think the stakes this movie raises justifies that tension, it really just made for a movie that is entirely captivating.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Yeah, absolutely. Definitely some intense moments. I actually had some confusion after that opening scene and how they were gonna tie everything together, to be honest. I did love the opening sequence of the movie. And not to give it away, and it's not really giving anything away, but I loved how they opened it up with that nostalgic cinematography work with the camera moving through the woods. And I felt actually a lot throughout this movie those no, why are you doing that moments where you know it's a good horror movie when you get those reactions out of its audience?

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Which I think is so interesting because I think people going into this who are such fans of this franchise could hear that and worry that it's no, why are you doing this to this franchise? But for you, it was just the investment in the characters and the experience of what was happening on screen.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Absolutely. Yeah, like let's clear that up. Like it's definitely the reaction to what the characters are doing in the film, which makes it fun and it makes you invested in the film. It's definitely not a oh no, don't ruin the franchise.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Which is exactly how I felt too. I honestly left the theater thinking, man, I had some empathy for some characters and very little for others. Overall, I felt like so invested in these characters, way more than I have in a majority of the franchise, if not every single one of the movies. So that's a nice change for me. I I generally was just feeling impressed by the film. I was looking away at certain scenes from just like, ee, that's that's rough to watch, shocked in others. And quite frankly, it was just like a range of emotions that so far throughout the franchise, I've had only felt that kind of range from the original, which is a good sign.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Man, that is a good sign. I think, especially considering how totally similar this can be to the 2013 film, I still think that there's some pretty stark differences.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

But thinking of how this movie has evolved from the original up until now, it is so incredible to see the absolute trajectory that it's on. And let me tell you that despite getting what I expected for the most part, I was actually surprised by so many things in this movie. And I think two of which really stand out. One, how tolerable the gore was for me, in spite of how intense it can be. And usually there are things that can happen in a movie that I just think are so gross that it triggers my gag reflex. There was no shortage of disgusting things in this movie, but I was still like, oh, cool, all right, this is fine. Because I think it was done so well and it was crafted so beautifully. And then the speed at which things got going while balancing enough time for me to become really invested in the family themselves. I know that folks who have seen this movie have either thought they cared a lot about the family or they didn't get enough time with them to really care at all. But for me, there was a perfect balance to understand who everyone is and buy into it enough, probably to just like project my own sibling dynamics onto this family and and really become invested.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Yeah, I'd have to agree with you on that. Like, I think the investment in the characters was perfect. I feel like they didn't spend too much time kind of just going slow and building character development and all of that before getting into the nitty-gritty. I think there was a really healthy balance. I I loved the flow of the film. I I really didn't have any real disappointments other than one specific thing, which I can't talk about until the second half. What I was mostly surprised about was how many nods or Easter eggs there were to the original Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 films, which we'll dive into those specifics later on as well.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Yeah, absolutely. And actually, another surprise is just in general how many Easter eggs they have to other films as well. When we left the theater, I know Chris had mentioned that to me, and I was like, wow, really? And was like nodding off some movies that I hadn't even caught. So I think that that's just incredible that they were able to also do that, which is pretty prominent in some of these franchises. You always have those Easter eggs, right? Not in so much in the one-off movies, but I think it was so subtle, so great how it was delivered. And kind of going back to what you were saying in terms of characters and character development, I guess sometimes I I kind of went back and forth on whether I find that a disappointment or not, because sometimes I like movies that I can really invest myself in the characters and I get a good like meat and bones to it, right? Like a really good moment where I can buy in, I know who they are, I can see myself in them. But I've come to the conclusion that I think with Evil Dead, you can't expect that. You know, when it comes to Bruce Campbell and how he does Ash, it's so quick in the way that Sam Raimi did his character development, where it's just enough where you are rooting for the guy, but don't really need to know his whole life story. And in this one, I think it's very much the same. We don't need to hear the whole life story of these sisters, but we know that they're sisters. We know how they are, we know how the family is, the dynamic of the children, etc., just enough to feel like, all right, let's go, let's see how this plays out.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Yeah, and I think like when you look at the development that they did have and the investment that you got out of the characters, the it it was really well done because then there's movies where there's no character development in some of these horror films or slasher films where you find yourself just rooting for the kills. Like you're just like, yeah, I just want I don't care who goes, I don't care about these characters, I'm just here for the kills. And in this one, you actually do care about some of these characters.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

And that's the crazy thing. I wanted the kills to keep coming, but I didn't actually want them to happen. I was suddenly wishing, wow, I hope this becomes suddenly far more widespread than any ounce of marketing for this film has indicated, especially given how the movie starts. For for some reason, when I saw the trailer, I thought that the actual beginning we get of this movie that we see in the trailer happened at the end. Like I thought it was something that was like building towards it, and I think it's a really interesting way to start and then conclude the movie. Yeah. And the way that they approach the narrative storytelling is really cool. But let me tell you that that character development is exactly what makes this movie frightening in a very different way. And I didn't I didn't find it frightening in the classic way of like I was jumping out of my seat. It wasn't even something that I think made me particularly squeamish. For most people, this thing is riddled with jump scares, and they're pretty effective. Like my girlfriend was like freaking the fuck out watching this movie, and like at one point it actually knocked some popcorn on top of me. Oh wow, it was absolutely hilarious. But both of my watches got a lot of reactions out of people. For me, the real fear was the emotional consequences and the ramifications of what we get and what plays out between these characters because it's that kind of thing that makes you think, fuck, would I do anything differently? I don't think I could.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Right. When you're put into that scenario, I'd have to agree with you. I think this film has some really gruesome scenes. I didn't think the jump scares were effective for me. I guess I could see how they may be effective for other people. I didn't think that a lot of these scenes made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, but it is truly an evil film to behold.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

Yeah, and when it comes to the jump scares, it's hard to say whether it was the sound design that scared me or the actual jump scare itself. I was I got caught maybe like twice towards the end of the movie. But really, what scared me the most out of this, nothing to do with jump scares, had everything to do with the cinematography. There were some shots in this film that were so creepy that I'm like, ooh, this is good. Like, wasn't expecting this from this movie. And quite frankly, the scariest thing of all for me was Alyssa Sutherland. She was destined to be this mom, like she was destined to be Ellie, the main character. Wow, she knocked it out of the park. And quite frankly, her jaw structure alone is a fright to behold. Like, it's nuts.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Honestly, she is hauntingly beautiful and terrifying at the same time. And let me tell you this here's what I love about this experience. When you're watching this, you're gonna get the feel and the energy of other horror films like Wreck, Quarantine, The Shining, The Thing. Then we have moments that harken back to other movies like Jaws, Carrie, Jennifer's Body. But it's so cool because it has a lot of moments that tie directly back to the rest of the Evil Dead franchise. And there's so much of text. I only caught a few. I'm sure Sean was like a kid in a candy store with everything that he was picking up from there. What I really enjoy most of all though is how it does that without feeling like it's a rinse-repeat of any of those movies, and it even then still feels like it's a very different approach than the rest of the franchise while still honoring the spirit of it. And for me, thinking about the pendulum swing from the original film down through Army of Darkness to the complete seriousness, the the makes people sick discussing levels of gore that you get in 2013 and how just how dark it was while bringing the pendulum back a little bit more in the direction towards a little bit of that dark comedy. For me, this was like the best approach it could have taken.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Yeah, absolutely. I I think this one definitely has an original take on a classic tale that has been remade, but not reimagined or taken further, if you will, like until now. And I think, yes, I think it does it really well. It's not recycled, it doesn't feel reused, it's not the same old, same old. You know, the only thing that you know we're missing is just reimagining the previous film in two seconds.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Which honestly, I was so glad we didn't get. Thank you. Finally, I do all right.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

You know, one thing that I want to bring up in terms of like originality, we're talking about how, in terms of the franchise, a thousand percent agree this is something fresh. This is very like women-led, you know. Wow, love it. But one thing I want to say about the movie in comparison to just overall in the horror genre is from the trailer, it's pretty evident it's gonna be centered around a mom, a mom and her kids, right? I feel like in horror, there are plenty of movies that are centered around motherhood, it's a big staple in the horror genre. And so, in that vein, I wouldn't say it's the most original thing out there for sure. And the dynamic of sisters, that whole bit. I don't know what I was expecting in terms of plot, because I knew that kind of going in. I was thinking maybe they will change it up a little bit more, give me something a little bit different when it comes to motherhood, really peel back the layers, and I and I liked it. Don't get me wrong, but that part isn't so original for me. However, the fact that they bring something that's pretty relevant and pretty prevalent in horror as well into Evil Dead, wasn't expecting it, think it's a great decision. And uh, like you said, Chris, while doing something that's very fresh and out of the box for Evil Dead and still making it a little bit campy, a little bit funny, just enough not to ruin it, is is pretty impressive for sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Okay, but speaking of hearkening back to some other moments of this franchise, the ending in a lot of these movies has been particularly great. Some of them hit for me, some of them are just uh the 2013. I think I particularly appreciated considering who we have left standing at the end. I gotta say, this one this one stuck the landing completely. Did the ending do it for you?

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Yeah, I would say so. And the thing is that we love a good frame story, you know. We we see some serious creativity with this ending, I think. I did not foresee that couple scenes towards the end there. We talked a lot about the nods to a lot of horror movies. One of my favorite horror movies is referenced in that ending, and I was here for it. So, so much so that we watched it with Ripley and she like was hitting me on the side of my arm, like, you saw, you saw, and I was all here for it. So I think it finished it with a bang. I agree that in other Evil Dead movies the endings are lackluster. This one for sure landed.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Yeah, the ending I loved. I I was wondering how they were gonna tie it all together, and I know we can't give anything away now, but later you'll know what I mean. Other than that, it was a really good ending, and to your point, like a creative way to leave it open for the franchise to continue. And I think that's really just the way that they did it was was super creative and super different, like something that I haven't really seen in other horror movies before, or at least not frequent enough to to notice it.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

See, that's what's interesting. It does employ a tactic that you can find is is very common in filmmaking, it's very common in cinema. There are a bunch of movies that do it, but I think this one does it way better.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

Maybe that's it.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

It it really does it with a masterful approach. But look, we we talked about a lot so far, and I think we have to start making our way towards our ratings so we can actually give ourselves a good solid recommendation. Now, before we do, Sean, how would you describe the insanity that is the gore score?

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Yeah, well, this one was a wild ride, my friends. There are scalpings, shredded flesh, impalements, and much, much more. The gore in this film is heavy and it does not disappoint. This one is getting a severe gore score for sure.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

And what about the animal report?

SPEAKER_02 17:55

You know, I was scared there for a moment for sure, because there is an animal in this film, and I was not happy about it at first, but guess what? I'm happy now. It's a safe bet. The animal is safe.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Let's go ahead and get into our ratings then. Evil Dead Rise 2023, now showing in theaters. Is it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_00 18:16

All right. Well, this movie was intense to say the least. It was brutal, it was gory as hell, the cinematography was great, the sound design was on point. The effects and the gruesome scenes in this film, along with the nods to the original films and other films, is enough to give this one a well-earned slash.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

And look, I think we know by now, the Evil Dead franchise and I have a love-hate relationship. And by that I mean it seems like the Evil Dead movies that everyone loves so much, I actually hate. But here we are, almost 40 years to the day from when the original Evil Dead movie released, and I feel like I'm completely back on the franchise's good graces. This movie is a continuation of its tenure predecessor in its balance of like seriousness, but still that light can't be horror. All the while, there are plenty of nods to the original Evil Dead movies and even or other horror films, like we've talked about Agnauseum. But I think one of the greatest things about this is that this is a female focused Evil Dead, which is a fun change of pace for this franchise. And I'm bought in completely, so it's a slash for me.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

I love what I'm hearing so far, and I actually have not been able to stop thinking about this movie since the first viewing. It has been persistent in my subconscious, it's unrelenting, but also somehow restrained, while also being somehow delightfully unhinged. It's it's dark, it's gloomy, but it hits you with just enough comedy. And I love the direction that we're going with seeing the Deadeye impact on people beyond Ash. Because let's be real, there's only one Ash. There's no replacing Bruce Campbell, which I think is part of the struggle that I had in some moments with the 2013 reimagining. Listen, this one is as good as it gets for this franchise for me, and it's a slash, baby. Now, with that, Evil Dead Rise 2023, now playing in theaters, has earned a universal slash. You heard it here. Go check it out. Then join us in the second half so we can unpack in the spoiler zone together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

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SPEAKER_01 22:43

Welcome back, folks. You're now entering the spoiler zone for Evil Dead Rise, which has earned a universal slash. Now we have a lot to get to here, but before we get into the specifics of our ratings, let's go through the kills.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

So we have a total of 11 kills in this one. And for me, I wouldn't say that the kills are what makes this film as gruesome as it is. For me, it's really the shit that happens after the possessions that really gives you the goods, aside from maybe a couple kills for me. But I gotta ask, what were your favorite kills?

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Man, it's gonna be a a bundle of kills all at once, but it's gotta be the neighbors. That whole scene was so insanely cool and fun and creative. The way that they just launched people left and right, and just seeing it from the lens of a fisheye and obviously from a door, like very new for Evil Dead, was giving very found footage, which I'm you know, I got a little guilty pleasure for. So I was genuinely surprised by that, but also the brutality of it because my little boy Scott, he got his arms ripped off. That shit was nuts.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Yeah, man. Let me tell you that that was the moment where I was like, all bets are off. They're willing to kill this cute ass little kid, Scott, who was just, you know, acknowledging how shitty some of the nightmare on Number Street movies are. But for me, that one in particular was a rough one. Perhaps because I have this like really sensitive spot for a lot of the violence that happens in in our school systems, right? And I think also like I'm concerned about that because my sister's a teacher. It's also this element of I have nephews who are the age of the kids who were in Sandy Hook when those events took place. Yeah. So anytime, like I think, especially looking through the peephole perspective and seeing this poor little baby run down the hall. Like, this is a very young life that we're talking about. He's running down the hall. You hear the struggle, you hear the scuffle, you hear the the the pleas. And then just to see his body launched, it's brutal. And I think it's a testament to the rest of the quality of the film that that didn't fucking ruin it for me. Because, man, that was like a punch to the gut, that poor kid. He wasn't my favorite kill, but that was one of the more sobering moments in the movie. I'm gonna go with one that's a little bit more silly and one that I think is on brand for the Evil Dead franchise. And it's gonna be Jake, who choked to death when some random shit flew in his mouth. Specifically, Gabriel's See No Evil Eyeball. I have such a repulsion for shit flying into people's mouths in this franchise, but here was a moment where it was camp, that camera following the eyeball straight into his face, seeing him choke, low-key hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Oh, yeah. It was great. It was a great nod to the original films for sure. One of my favorite kills was also, in a sense, a nod to the original films, and that was Ellie's possession in the elevator. It was brutal. The way she was thrown back into the elevator, and then the recreating or reimagining, rather, of that infamous tree scene from the original films, but done in a much better way with the cables of the elevator. There's nothing offensive here. It's just brutal. It's evil. That's the way it should be done. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

It only took them how many fucking movies to get this shit right? Seriously.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Honestly, honestly, honestly, finally, the misogyny is gone. Ugh, what a relief.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

It's terrific. Believe women. Okay, but also, let me tell you that I was in an elevator this morning and I was just looking around up above me to the sides, and I was thinking, fuck, that must have been painful.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

It must have been. It's just the whole scene was just trying to put yourself in those shoes and like being thrown into the elevator, you you feel this presence, you're hearing some weird shit. All of a sudden, you feel like your hair moving, and then your earring gets ripped out. And like, come on, like that was like if that shit happened to me, fucking just just kill me now. Like, I don't want to be a part of any of that.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Take me out, but then to also know that she was surviving enough to beg her sister not to let it take her babies. Yeah. To think about the fight and resolve in this woman, yeah, to know that she really held the fuck on there for a while. So intense. But can I also give an honorable mention to the scalping?

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

The scalping with just a small bit of a hair strand, because I was definitely watching that. I was like, that was just a small little bit of hair, and she ripped that thing right clean off.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

So that moment, and especially when we see her walking down the pier and the scalp plops onto the onto the deck. I was like, where the fuck could this possibly be in this movie? So for us to have gotten it at the very beginning, I was like, how the fuck are we gonna get to the rest of the movie now? How do you go from the lake to the city? How do you go from the city to the lake?

SPEAKER_00 27:46

Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

I don't know if I was imagining some kind of dream sequence situation. That shit was gross, that shit was wild, I wasn't mad at it at all.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Yeah. See, I was wondering the same thing. Like, how how is this going to play out? Or how is it gonna tie together? Because once they jumped from that opening sequence or that opening scene to the city, I was like, none of this is matching up for me, so I don't know how this is gonna happen, which was great how they tied it into the end. But I also want to talk about Bridget's death or Bridget Bridget's possession.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Bro, she was giving Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

True. I didn't actually catch that until you just said it, but yes, I see it. I see it. It was just okay, chewing on the wine glass and seeing the glass poke through her throat was insane.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

It was the I don't like having things inside my tummy. Do you, Auntie Beth?

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

Ugh, fuck.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Oh, and the way it was said, it was just so evil. Oh gosh. Oh gosh. And then, of course, right after that, we get into the cheese grating, which was I mean, that was one of those moments where I was like, as soon as that touched the skin on the leg, I was cringing. Like I was like, oh no, I cannot watch this. This is gonna I can feel the pain of that happening.

SPEAKER_02 29:11

But but can I be honest? I almost thought that it was gonna be a little worse than it actually was. Because although it was definitely cringe, I thought that what we were going to see like on the leg was gonna be a lot grosser. Now I know how insane I sound. I have seen Terrifier recently, so I there's that, but I don't know. Is it just me? I thought it was gonna be a lot more intense. I certainly wouldn't want a cheese grater being scratched on my leg.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

For sure. But I don't know. So here's the thing I I think I expected the same. So, you know, you're gonna hear about this patrons in B-side when we talk about the early release screening and some of the the gifts that they gave to people who are in the audience. One of them was a pack of candy that's mom's legweenie, and it is strands of like a sour candy straw. That's what I was mentally expecting to be on the inside of that, right? And we get a little bit of it, we see some of the flesh, but when it goes to show you what's on her leg, it's more like a little scratch than anything. For the amount of pain that was there and the performance that Beth was giving and that Bridget was giving. Yeah, I really expected it to be like deep cavernous, just like wounds. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

Which I'll say it's kind of like a double-edged sword there, because if it was extremely like sunken into the skin, is that very practical? Like, could you actually be able to do that with a cheese grater? Maybe not. And therefore, if that's the reasoning why it looked just pretty, for lack of a better word, basic, then I'll then I'll give them that because I think in total the the movie does a good job of like not taking it too far extreme. But yeah, the the cheese grater, I was like, oh, this is gonna be like flabs of skin coming off of that thing. But I guess you know, that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

It looked like scratches, like a little bit of shaved parmesan, a little shaved parmesan.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

A little shaved parmesan for sure.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Okay, but how did you feel about her getting the Scream 2022 Terra special with a knife through the hand?

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Loved it. Loved it, and that was a massive knife, so that was a lot. But I was here for it, you know. Unfortunate because she was she's a woman in STEM using her hands to, you know, maneuver things and used tape, like the clear duct tape to help with that wound. Man, that in and of itself, infectious, horrendous, disgusting, painful.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

Hey, you gotta stop the bleeding, you know.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

She managed.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

You really do. And let me just actually correct the record because I completely forgot it wasn't even a knife, it was a fucking shard of glass from a broken mirror. Shard of glass. Damn, bro. This family got fucked up. Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

It did. No one was safe in this film.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Nobody, but fucking you know who was safe? Staphney. Staphney was safe. Staffne, the real fucking MVP, just really giving it to Bridget.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Yep, yep. Staphne pulled through, really came in clutch.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

And I knew it was gonna happen, though. The moment that I had a sharp edge, I was like, oh, we haven't seen the last of Staphney, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

There is no reason to be very distinct and clear that the end of the staff is sharp as fuck. It's like, oh, she's gonna have her moment to shine, that's for sure. So I'm here for it. I have one, I would say pretty major kill that we have to mention, and I loved the reference. Now that I think about it, I didn't even mention in my scoring, I said earlier that my one of my favorite films was referenced in the ending. I didn't say my favorite video game is referenced in this ending because the way that these Deadeites combined themselves and became essentially the Rat King from The Last of Us, for those that have played the game, especially part two.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

That's what that was giving, all combined and like just looking like one big blob of I don't even know what. I was like, I'm here for this. This is new, this is fun, this is scary as fuck.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

Yeah. For you, it was giving rat king. For me, it was giving the thing.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Ah oh yeah, the thing for sure. That that was a wild sight to see for sure. When when I saw at first, I didn't know what I was looking at, and then when we got the close-ups and you saw like you saw Ellie's head up front, and you saw all these other bodies and arms sticking out. Oh my gosh, what I don't know. I'm throwing a grenade at that thing.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

Yeah, it was really giving teamwork makes the dream work, you know?

SPEAKER_00 33:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

One big happy family.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Yeah, that's what that was, quite literally. Metaphorically and literally, and give it was giving love thy neighbor.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

So much subtext to this, honestly. Super important.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

I loved it. And it reminded me a little bit of Halloween ends with the uh, you know, the just shove that thing in there. Just make sure you get real nice and chopped up and grinded.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

A little bit of Tuckerendale versus Evil, too. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

Oh, another comedic, you know? Oh, just fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

It just doesn't fucking stop. It really doesn't fucking stop. Yeah, it definitely doesn't. Okay, I do have one qualm though.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

I know that you know we're still lingering in the deaths here, but this is a qualm I had with the visuals. Caleb's decapitation. I didn't mind it, but for it to have been a quick flash, I I think we could have done without seeing his face because I think somehow it didn't quite look like him. And I feel like typically when we see decapitations, obviously you know it's a dummy, obviously you know it's a doll. Sometimes I feel like it's more successful in looking like the person. The quick flash of it was like, okay, this is obviously not a real head. And I think that was the one tiny moment that really had that kind of effect on me.

SPEAKER_02 34:54

Which I think is not great placement though, because it's at the beginning of the film. So if you see that, that kind of sets the tone of like, oh, practical effects, but they're not looking so great. But happy to say, definitely gets a lot fucking better. So that's a relief, at least.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

I mean, look at how we get Ellie's head with a fucking chainsaw through it at the end. It's like, bro, what happened? Did y'all film this last and had no budgie left? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Could be. I I didn't pay attention to that as much. I feel like that scene or leading up to the end of that scene was one of one of the cooler visual moments for me in the film. So the beheading for what it was, maybe they shouldn't have shown the face because it didn't look quite right. But what ensued afterwards with Jessica like floating out of the water with the Evil Dead Rise title behind her, like, such a cool way to open the film. That was one of the coolest visuals in the film.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

Absu fucking Lutley. It reminded me of the same satisfaction I got seeing the Friday the 13th, 2009 in theaters when you get the whole Friday the 13th movie before the Friday the 13th movie, and when you finally get the title card, it's like fuck, we're in for a ride.

SPEAKER_00 36:13

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

Except this one has more of a ride than that movie did.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

That intro was phenomenal and really told me, like, okay, Bianca, you're actually gonna like this movie, thank God. And I was like, oh, thank God indeed, because it wasn't looking so great for a while there. The order of which I've seen these Evil Dead movies is also extremely questionable and made a big difference. For me, the the favorite visual overall, I've mentioned it a few times, is the cinematography, the camera work. There are a couple things that I noticed that I thought were super cool, like the way that they change the method of filming. So, what I mean by that is like it's such still shots in certain moments. Then we have like a hand camera, I guess, to like film moments of franticness and worry and concern. It really felt like they were trying to be very clear on how to express emotion by the way that they were filming certain scenes and the camera that they were using. Like, yeah, you know, again, I go back to the fisheye lens, is one particular moment in emotion of like nervousness. You are the family watching outside that door, and it's scary and it's weird. Then there's the the double focus to feel like what's actually happening. My God, I was not anticipating this from an Evil Dead movie. Yeah, it was super cool.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

But I think that's what's so cool about this movie's approach to preserving the spirit of the franchise while also paying honor and homage to Sam Raimi as a whole, because you have these moments of completely wild cinematography, but also the restrained refinement that shows the evolution of the franchise. And I think obviously I'm right there with you. Favorite visual, the cinematography as a whole is immaculate. Sean, you mentioned earlier that familiar image of a low perspective navigating through the woods, except it's a fucking drone. Come on, man, it's so good.

SPEAKER_00 38:02

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

I love that. We got the callbacks to other horror movies like The Blood Elevator from the Shining, uh, the visual callbacks to Evil Dead with the chainsaw, the boomstick, Henrietta's Pizzeria, come get some.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 38:16

Uh, the eyeball tradition of you know, things flying into the mouth. But even then, the absolutely beautiful way that they play with depth, right? Like we get the shot of Bridget turning on the stove and the flames lighting her face very, very dimly. We get the shot of Bridget in the sheet creeping through the apartment. And then we get Ellie climbing down from the vents behind Beth in the background. All of it is just so fucking stunning that it's like, no matter how gross the gore is, I can't help but be completely enthralled by it.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

Yeah, that there was just so much visually, uh it just like everything we're talking about is inevitably gonna be part of our favorite scenes because there's just so many cool things. And yes, when you look at what's the best visual element, it's hands down the cinematography. So we're we're all aligned on that for sure. It just so well done. Like I and for me, some of the scenes or shots that I really liked were specifically when Danny is reading the book and the vinyl records playing and the way that whole scene was shot. And to your point, Chris, you could see the paying like honor to Sam Raimi and those inspired shots. Like, I loved all of it, it was so good. And and I thought the nod to the shining with the bloody elevator scene was just so beautiful and so stunning. And I know that's weird to say in a horror movie because blood spewing out of an elevator, how could that be beautiful and stunning? But it fucking was.

SPEAKER_02 39:43

So that was my f one of my favorite movie nods. So obviously, it's Stephen King, it's the shining. Man, it was incredible, absolutely incredible. And I wanted to go back a little bit to but what you're both are saying in terms of cinematography, specifically how you were talking about depth, Chris. One moment that just came to my head right now that stands out to me has a little bit to do with lighting too, right? Like I feel like the collaboration of these departments and these teams was so, so good. Like there's a moment where she's in the hallway where she's doing the eeny meeny miny mo thing, right? And I think in a typical, you know, horror movie, we always see scenes like that where it's a dark hallway and maybe there's just a hand being pointed out or something, or maybe like a little small faint look of someone's face. But somehow they manage to just still give us like of her figure. You see most of her face there while it's still being dark. Like it wasn't like they were purposely trying to do the typical everything is dark, but you just see the hand and then she's gonna jump scare out. No, you saw her there, just very dark. It was so realistic. I just was really blown away by it all, absolutely. And going into obviously our favorite scenes, because you're right. I think a lot of our favorite scenes are gonna have to do with how phenomenal that cinematography was. I said the camera work, right? My favorite scene was overall, really, the mom being in the bathroom. That whole thing was just absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

And even though we see a lot of it in the trailer, I didn't expect that in the actual movie I was gonna love it as much because I felt like a lot of it was given away in the trailer. But there's a particular moment when she's exiting out the bathroom and it's just her side profile, her smile, like yo, I can't talk about it enough. But Alyssa killed it. That girl slayed this fucking role and the way that she walked out of that bathroom, that sinister smile, the side profile, she just tiptoes her foot out, like kind of like creeping and crawling out of there in a different way, like a ballerina, which another nod, maybe in some ways. I don't know, just me, whatever. But gosh, I loved it. I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

Okay, so we've talked about a couple really great scenes already, but let me tell you that one of my other favorites among those that you've named is the opening scene. Oh yes, because of how much it it sets the tone for what we're about to get, the power of this opening, and specifically for me, the moment that really did it was when we have Jessica suddenly sitting upright and she's reading Wuthering Heights. And we had already seen a little bit on the page of where she was, and you're thinking, why the fuck are we seeing this? And I'm like carefully trying to pay attention to what it's saying because I'm like, oh, is this gonna be like foreboding and ominous?

SPEAKER_02 42:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

But no, it's to point out that she's fucking reading the book, yeah, and then we get back to the page and it's just like this look of terror on Teresa's face. I honestly loved it so fucking much, and that brutality with the scalping, the plopping onto the deck, and just tearing these characters apart, to see her rise and to know, especially as we have this being the ending of the movie as well, to know that the beginning is the ending in the final outcome, to know that this is spreading, to know that she wasn't the source of the Kendarian demons that is now going to impact everyone else, but rather she is what's gonna carry on in the next few movies, most likely.

SPEAKER_00 43:17

Yeah. Fucking outrageous. The way they did that was super well done. I I agree, that's one of the greatest scenes in the film. That scene and one other one were the only two scenes that actually got me close to feeling that kind of like hair standing up on the back of your neck. So, yes, when Jessica is sitting up and then reading the passages, that was one. The other scene that did that for me was when Ellie is in the hallway and and Cassie and she's approaching the door and she's singing the song, and it's super like it's just so creepy. And then she's like playing off of her, trying to convince her to let her in, like the whole sequence of that scene. Was so terrifying and chilling. It was just I oh my gosh. I can't even put words to it.

SPEAKER_01 44:06

Honestly, the jeopardy that Cassie was in. And then to see her delicate little body being strangled and held up in the doorway. Yeah. I was terrified for her at a number of moments. And especially knowing that, hey, we've already gotten one kid killed in this movie. What's going to stop them? Like, is this going to be a movie where they kill literally everybody in the end? I was so fucking concerned. But then, you know, let's look back at Ellie in that moment and how she's preying on Cassie and how manipulative she is as a Deadeye. Right. It's absolutely wild. Obviously, we've seen Deadeites be complete assholes. Right. We've seen Ash be mocked and mimicked by so many of these, right? Especially his ex-girlfriend ones in Evil Dead 2. He's literally dismembering her and she's still talking shit to him. But to see how she whips from being so aggressive with Beth to them being so gentle and preys on the manipulation of Cassie by saying, Oh, your dad's here. We're getting back together. We love each other. Right, honey? Blows the fucking kiss. Like does everything she knows Cassie wants to hear. To see her fall for it, but still be hesitant. Like, honestly, the thing that breaks my heart the most about this movie is not only Scott's death, but it is the trauma that Cassie feels. And it's all because of how fucking stellar all these actors portray their roles.

SPEAKER_02 45:37

A hundred percent. There are definitely some characters that I felt sorry for, and it's obviously going to be the younger children for sure. I mean, Cassie's gonna need some crazy therapy because there is nothing like obviously listening to your entire family be put through essentially like a meat grinder. So there's that. Aside from everything else, obviously, that happened to that poor little girl. But that actress for sure knocked it out of the park. We talk a bit about sometimes like child actors, can they do the role really well? Or sometimes, you know, it's great, other times or not. This little girl, she nailed it for sure. She was real sweet. I I think at the end of the day, you can't blame her for opening that door. She's very young. Quite frankly, it was everyone else that was really just where the hell were you leaving this little girl out in the front?

SPEAKER_00 46:28

Like, yeah, why are you leaving the youngest kid by themselves?

SPEAKER_01 46:32

Yeah. Well, to be clear, at this point, Bridget is already turning into a Deadeye. She was being babysat, and then Bridget was the one who walked away. True.

SPEAKER_00 46:42

Okay, yes, true. That's a fair point.

SPEAKER_02 46:45

I don't know. Even more of a reason to have a second set of eyes on that young girl because not only if it wasn't the mom that was gonna get her outside, it was obviously gonna be her sister and the inside that was gonna have her like a snack like that glass.

SPEAKER_01 46:59

So Yeah, I think they just didn't really expect and didn't understand the way this was transmitted.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:06

You know what I mean? Because seeing seeing obviously we had the tattoo gun that went inside the mom, and then with that blood went inside Bridget and that wound on her cheek. Yeah. But even then you would think that Danny would have turned a lot sooner with all the fucking blood he was ingesting from Bridget. There's a number of w of wild things in here that are questionable at best, but I didn't really have an issue with Cassie being left unattended because she is just a little bit older. It wasn't like she was a straight-up toddler.

SPEAKER_02 47:38

Sure, that's fair. Actually, now that you bring up the whole blood thing, I mean Danny Turning was pretty swiftly after ingesting it because they had the whole knife fight or whatever. So that will that's not too bad. However, I think in general, uh Beth and Cassie, I don't care what, that blood and the amount of blood that they had from just the it spewing and them pushing the, you know, what I'm gonna call the rat king essentially into the meat grinder type of thing. I don't know, you would think that something's gonna happen to them, but I'll suspend my disbelief or whatever for that moment, just as much as I'm going to suspend my belief that no one in that entire building heard this incantation. Let's get into Danny for a second, please. Let's let's get into it right now. We're here, we're ready, everyone buckle in. Okay, I've made it clear. Some characters I feel bad for, love them, whatever. Danny, sorry, sorry, fam. You're an idiot. And that's that. And I understand that there are children, they're kids, they're young, they're whatever. Nah, you're old enough to know how to tiki tiki with your DJ set. You're old enough to have your own room. You know what I'm saying? You're old enough to even drive, I guess, to get pizza. So you're old enough to know that you shouldn't be going into a hole, you know, scavenging around, clearly grabbing something that looks like might be protected by a lot of religious work.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:06

Because if that wasn't clear enough, that's a red flag. That's definitely a red flag. And then you go and you put it on your speaker system that is so massive and loud that if you want me to believe that no one in the in that building didn't hear that incantation, come on.

SPEAKER_00 49:21

Well, you know, but so so Danny, curiosity, I I can buy into it. You know, people want to explore. I'm not saying like if I didn't find some cool old shit, like vinyls, some weird vinyls and stuff like that, I would probably want to take a listen. I would probably want to read some crazy looking book like that. I will give Danny credit here. He played the vinyl record, and as soon as the second one goes on and the incantation starts going through, he realizes that this is probably not something that should happen. He does make an effort to try and stop it, and it doesn't allow him to.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

It was a classic case of fuck around and find out if there ever was one. So here's the other element of this, and here's why they did just enough with Danny's character to not make me hate him because he stole the book and he did so to attempt to sell it because he wanted to help out his mom after their dad left. There's that small element of it. But even then, I think of the kids as like the spirit of Ash divided into horror cruxes, and Danny was just the silly fucking kid who played some records he shouldn't have and unleashed hell upon his family. Whereas Beth was the Ash and the survival spirit along with little Cassie to persevere through the franchise. I think the other element for Danny for me came when he's just about to die and he apologizes to Cass. And it was just a really sweet, like you think about like big brothers talking to their little sisters. He really went out with a bang. He really did his best to fend off Bridget and to see him stumble and fall like that, and also knowing that he had had this emotional grappling of realizing yes, it is my fault, fuck, that was rough.

SPEAKER_02 51:18

But that's the part where I wish that maybe just maybe a little bit more of that character development, so that I don't feel just so starkly like, fuck this kid, you know? Because that's kind of what it was giving. It was giving fuck this kid, and especially when he had the audacity to be like it's not my fault, which I understand it's gonna be your instinct to like say that first or to believe that because you don't want to face the fact that um yeah, it is your fault. But ultimately that realization of it not being your fault came a little too late. And I don't correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not like that was said to Bridget or they came to that, you know, that solace together. At that point, Bridget was already a goner or uh or starting to.

SPEAKER_01 52:04

No, and that's true, but I think the other element of this is just understanding that like in this moment of shock, some weird shit happened to his mom. And I don't know that there was a whole lot of conscious mathematics he was doing to connect the dots between weird fucking book, something's settling wrong with mom. You know what I mean? Like it feels like it should have been faster, but that's what Bridget was there for. You know what I mean? Like Bridget was the one who was sus about everything. You know, we we think about the fact that Ellie wasn't religious, she probably hasn't raised her kids to have a lot of care for that. You know what I mean? So big a lot of crosses aren't a red flag if you don't believe in it. That's just the reality of it. And I think you know, he was someone who has lived his life a particular way and was unaffected by any of those warning signs. I will say I back you up, Binks, with the fact of why the fuck are you gonna try to open a book that has teeth? I'm just saying, I'm just lots of red flags, bro.

SPEAKER_02 52:59

I I'm running out of ways to try and try and try to be like, oh, maybe, maybe, but I don't know. All right, you guys are selling me a little bit. I'll I'll give the kid a little bit of grace. But at the very least, where Danny I didn't like, Bridget, I was like, you're my girl. You're my girl for sure, because she did her damn best to be like, what the fuck are you doing? And try to keep it together for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 53:24

Bridget was really the smartest one of the bunch. Also, shout out to her great posters, the things that she was making. She wants to be part of a march. She's an active member of the community. She has a lovely poster about feminism on her door. Honestly, I I loved Bridget as middle child, older sister trying to take care of Cassie and really just doing her best to keep it all together. It broke my heart when she was the first kid to go. It really did. I didn't really understand my own sentiments of who I wanted to live and die because pretty early on you get into this spot of fuck, I don't want this really cute family to go through this.

SPEAKER_00 54:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:06

I really didn't want it. But I was almost like, give me Bridget and Cassie and like let Beth go on a sacrifice. I do like Beth. I I really, really enjoy her. But man, when Bridget was the first kid to buy it, I was like, fuck, at least it could have been Danny.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

Yeah, it's it's tough, right? When you think of because you don't want anything, like you said, you don't want anything to happen to the family. You know, we're invested in all of these characters, but when you break it down, right? Bridget, we all love, so naturally, she's gonna go. Danny, whatever he caused it, he's going. But when you think of like Cassie, you can't cross the line of going to the youngest. And then when you think of Beth, she was fucking pregnant. If they went in there and killed the baby within her, that's fucked up. Now, what what they do going forward, if they carry any of these characters onward, and to your points at the end, with all the blood that they got on them from that final kill scene, who knows? Maybe there's a little deade baby inside of her that's going to rip out.

SPEAKER_02 55:12

I wouldn't put anything past this franchise because it's just it comes and goes with me. And would they do it? They probably would, and they certainly could. So there's that. But I was very scared for a moment there when she had her fingernails dug into that stomach. I was like, oh no, are you going there?

SPEAKER_00 55:32

Are you going there?

SPEAKER_02 55:33

Because we're we're on a very fast train here. You already got rid of one kid. I don't know if you're gonna do the uh a baby now. Ooh, that would be a lot. That would be a lot. I mean, they did it in the witch. They did do it in the witch, they did do it in the witch, and Sean was all about it. So you know, there's that.

SPEAKER_00 55:48

I was all about it.

SPEAKER_02 55:49

But talking about Beth, actually, when I was bringing up the whole concept of motherhood, obviously it's a big theme of this movie, especially with Beth grappling with obviously the shock of being pregnant. She goes to her sister immediately. A little bit of that selfishness, right? Where she's thinking about her own issue and how this is a problem, essentially, her being pregnant. Meanwhile, her sister, her problem is that she's already a mother, a mother of three, and doing this by herself, and it meant nothing to Beth. She just kind of glazed over it, right? I thought that was super cool. Like that approach to motherhood in this story was was pretty interesting for sure, especially with two sisters. And it reminded me a lot of Andy Machete's mama and Jessica Chastain's character specifically, because she's got the same grunge in that movie. She's got the same aspect of she has to take care of these two little girls. I bring up this movie often, well, because it I love Andy Machete, and obviously it's it. So there's that. But this character in particular, Jessica Chastain's character, reminded me so much of Beth because it's she's from this scene, this grunge scene, you know, obviously touring a groupie, as she is referenced as, right? Typically motherhood and that scene is is very hard to maneuver. Meanwhile, her sister, a tattoo artist, you know, probably her own version of grunge, is doing it times three. I thought it was so interesting. I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 57:15

I loved it too, especially when you think about not only the arena of what her work is, but the fact that she is a career woman in a male-dominated industry, and she has these goals and ambitions of being the first woman in her career to reach a certain position and a certain level. There was a really a lot that I really, really liked about Beth. But I also love just the disparity between sibling dynamics between one generation to the next. Like there's this moment where Bridget and Danny are fighting with each other and blaming, and and Danny's trying to deflect like this isn't my fault, and Bridget's saying, absolutely it is, and Beth interjects, and she's like, You don't turn on each other ever.

SPEAKER_00 57:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:57

And then to see how she deals with losing her sister this entire time. And that was the shit that really, really hit for me. Because I I'm really close with my sisters. I've never actually, to the best of my recollection, ever actually had a legitimate argument with my sisters. Like I've been a bratty kid, sure, but never had a fight with them. I love them so much. And I know that I would call my sister if I ever got into some crazy trouble. They'd be the first place that I go. And to think of them both as moms and to for me to be the aunt who's sometimes in trouble and like looks up to them. Man, I just that that shit really hit an emotional chord with me. And I I can't say enough about like how incredibly well both of them played off of each other and act in their roles.

SPEAKER_00 58:43

Yeah. The one thing that scared me at first with Beth was when we get we first get introduced to Beth and she's in like the bathroom stall at the venue. I thought they were gonna go in the same direction as the last Evil Dead film where we're going down this like drug path. Oh yeah. And thank God that they did not do that because and it turned into like a pregnancy thing. But yeah, I thought they were going down that same path, and I I just didn't like that angle in the in the last Evil Dead.

SPEAKER_02 59:16

No, but I I agree. The pregnancy thing is is definitely a cooler approach, and again, it's not like that was gonna be a major plot point in any of the other Evil Dead movies, that's for sure. So it it's something that you don't expect in this franchise, and it's done still in a way where it's not like overtly like extreme. There's a couple nods here and there where it's referenced, but in a funny way too, with the whole tummy thing. Like, yeah, at first it's a it's a great little moment with uh Cassie in the bathroom where you know, like, does your is your tummy upset? You know what I mean? A sweet moment. Then it's another quick, more serious situation or conversation between the two of them again, where she's like, Oh, you'll be a great mom someday because you know how to lie to kids. Oh man. But then it becomes funny because then it's Bridget when she's like, you know, yeah, my tummy hurts. I was like, wow, this is great. It's like everything. Yeah, same, same referencing the same situation in different tones.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:12

But we save the best for last, right? And I know we've we've said a lot already, but Ellie, her performance as a deadite was second to none. Like she was incredible. Probably my favorite deade in the entire franchise.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:27

By far. Honestly, fuck all those Linda's. We got 17 different fucking Lindas throughout this franchise. All we ever needed was one Ellie.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:35

This franchise was waiting for her. I am telling you, Alyssa Sutherland was destined for this. It was destiny. She fucking killed it. All of the Dead Eyes move to the left because this woman will haunt me forever. She is like you said it earlier, Chris. She is so frighteningly beautiful while also being the scariest thing I've ever seen. It's insane.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:02

I am so excited that she is gonna have an appearance on our new podcast artwork. That is how fucking excited I am about this.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:09

Nice. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:11

Oh my god, yes, I couldn't be happier. Man, she dyed her hair red, and I was like, should I dye my hair red again? Oh god, she fucking slays it so well. It's just like her jaw structure is so chiseled, it's scary. And I'm like, man, do I need to like use some gouacia? Like, what do I need to change my skin routine? It's just nuts, it's nuts. Her eyes are like so piercing. Ooh, wow, she killed it, absolutely killed it.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:38

And speaking of characters, the worst part for me in this film was not getting to see Bruce Campbell as Ash in an in-person cameo in the film, but I know that they specifically wanted to break away from Ash as a character moving forward. I don't know if you caught it, but we did get some Bruce as the voice of the priest on the vinyl record playback.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:03

I thought the voice sounded familiar.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:05

It was very hidden. They hinted at it, hyping up the movie, saying that you will see Bruce hidden in the film somewhere, and that is where it was hidden.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:15

Wow. Amazing. I didn't catch that at all.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:18

Bruce is always there.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:19

As much as I can understand why you are disappointed in not seeing Ash, I think I couldn't be happier, especially knowing that, like, okay, the last Evil Dead film still takes place in the same universe. We still have Ash's car sitting outside the cabin. At the end of the 2013 film in a post-credit scene, you have Ash saying Groovy. In this one, I was ready to just completely move away from him. Again, Bruce Campbell is iconic. He's always going to be the lifeblood of this franchise. But let's see a world beyond him.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:53

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:53

And let's see how it impacts the rest of society. For me, the worst part of this movie wasn't truly something that diminished its quality, but it was just when I felt the worst, and that was seeing Scott run down the hall. This poor little child running for his life. That's the kind of shit that, like, depending on who you are, it's just gonna hit you differently, potentially.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

And it makes complete sense. Yeah. I I can see that for sure. For me, the worst part, it's more of like a technicality thing. Because I I do love the sound editing of this film a lot, but man, watching this in Dolby was either a great idea on our part or a really bad one because there were moments where it was, it was just too much. Like Ellie's scream was great, yeah, haunting. Loved that scene. Again, it's the bathroom scene, blown away by it. But also, it almost broke my eardrum. And I felt like the chair itself was shaking. Chris, we mentioned it. I don't know if you're about to say it, but literally my chair, Ripley's chair, and Chris's girlfriend's chair were literally shaking. Chris didn't feel a damn thing, I guess, from this screaming, but I was like, what kind of special movie are we in right now as a SciMax? Like, what's going on? Because this shit is loud.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:05

Holy shit, and I don't want to see this movie in 40. Fuck no.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:08

Oh my gosh. Can you imagine?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:10

I mean, they're gonna spray you so much shit with the fucking blood rain.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:14

It would be insane.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:15

Okay. I need I need I need to do it. I needed to do it. But I didn't feel a single thing, and I can confirm her scream was still as bad. And I say bad in a good way, like it's intense, it's piercing. It was still that same level, even in the regular theater.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:30

Really?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:30

Well, that shit, it was a loud noise notification, and it maybe it was just me and my shitty hearing. It it fucked me up. I'm telling you, loud.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:38

And sometimes Army of Darkness, for example, is but annoying loud. Sorry, Sean. But it's it's it's annoying loud sometimes, especially certain scenes. Well, that we're not reviewing that movie right now. That time came and went, it's fine. Um, but but this time around, it's it wasn't annoying, it's just that it was man, it was crazy loud. A lot of scenes were just super, super loud. Just maybe it could do with a little bit less of that. Just a smidge, just a smidge.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:05

That's fair. I think I'm willing to brave it though to see this movie again, maybe even in 4D. We'll see. I've seen it twice. I'm gonna I'm gonna try it out a third time. And for sure, when it hits streaming, I'm gonna check it out in a double feature with the 2013 Evil Dead. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:22

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:24

I am gonna be re-watching this film already, though. That's uh already set in motion, it's a plan, so I'm gonna be watching it again. But in the future, later on, I definitely do want to do a rewatch of the 2013 one and this one as well, Chris, because the thing with my viewing order of Evil Dead was that I watched the original one and then I watched the 2013 one and then Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness. So 2013 at this point, it's been a few months since I've seen it. So maybe in a few months, maybe some this time October, whatever, I'll do 2013 and then I'll rewatch. Watch this one. Maybe sprinkle in the original. Who knows?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:03

Yeah, look, this one was a wild ride and full of memorable moments and lines. Definitely loving this darker direction the franchise has taken. So I think I will be watching this one again for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:17

Ooh, love that darker tone. I'm so excited. I'm so glad we all had such a good time watching this movie. And dear listener, I hope you had an excellent time as well. Because there you have it, folks. Evil Dead Rise has earned a motherfucking universal slash. Now we certainly had a lot to talk about here, but it doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:36

We want to know what you think. What are your thoughts on Danny's decision? What do you think about Alyssa Sutherland's performance? I want to hear it all. You can let us know by joining in on the conversation by hanging out with us for free in our Discord. You can click the link in our show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:51

And if you've enjoyed listening to us talk about cheese grating human flesh and deep throating eyeballs, consider becoming one of our patrons. Visit patreon.com slash hackerslash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, bonus content, and live shows.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:06

We'll see you next time, folks, and remember, feminism isn't a dirty word.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:10

But everybody dies by dawn.