Evil Dead Rise opens in theaters on April 21. Writing and directing a sequel to a beloved horror franchise is no cakewalk, despite how easy Lee Cronin makes it look with Evil Dead Rise. His continuation of the iconic series about Deadites and boomsticks is as vicious as Fede Alvarez's stupendously malevolent 2013 remake/sequel, opens the door for future entries to explore the lore in exciting ways, and owns its place in the series as a standalone horror bombshell. Cronin's ability to make signature Evil Dead staples his own (like the whooshy "Demon Vision" camera zooms made famous by Raimi) makes Rise its own three-headed beast. It's aggressively scary, it's sickly hilarious, and it's a stone-cold killer. Rise finds a comfortable middle ground between 2013's rip-your-heart-out Evil Dead and Sam Raimi's more humorous trilogy of sequels. Cronin's special effects team challenges the whole series’ nastiest mutilation scenes with gnarly practical effects as swallowed glass protrudes from bo...
