Film Review: Evil Dead Rise (dir by Lee Cronin)

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In the latest Evil Dead film, an earthquake hits Los Angeles, shaking an apartment complex, destroying the fire escape, and screwing up the elevators. It also leads to a part of the basement parking lot collapsing, revealing a previously concealed chamber. Three siblings — teenagers Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and their younger sister, Kassie (Nell Fisher) — enter the chamber. Danny finds several vinyl records and a book that is bound in human skin.

Now, personally, if I found a book that was bound in human skin, I would not pick it up. I mean, that’s just creepy! Honestly, the only reason why someone would bound a book in human skin would be to let the world know that the book is something evil. But Dany is stupid, so he takes the book back to the apartment where he and his siblings live with their mother, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland). Danny not only opens the book but he also plays the records. The second record features a priest reciting an incantation and soon, all Hell breaks lose. It doesn’t take long before Ellie is dead and then possessed by the Deadites. Soon, the entire building is full of possessed people and it falls to Ellie’s wayward sister, a “groupie” named Beth (Lily Sullivan), to protect the children from the demon that is inhabiting their mother’s body.

Evil Dead Rise has been described as being the “second Evil Dead film without Bruce Campbell” but that’s not quite true. Along with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell served as an executive producer on the film and he also provided the voice of one of the people heard on the vinyl record. As Campbell is heard telling the priest not to read the incantation, it’s totally probable that the voice on the record is meant to be belong to Ash Williams. Evil Dead Rise definitely takes place in the same cinematic universe as the previous Evil Dead films. This isn’t like one of David Gordon Green’s snooty Halloween films. Evil Dead Rise is not ashamed of its heritage and, indeed, it’s full of visual references to the previous Evil Dead films. Yes, an eyeball is swallowed. Yes, there is a huge amount of blood spilled in the film, with the film’s main characters literally getting drenched in it. Yes, a boomstick is fired. And yes, there is some chainsaw action towards the end of the film. Beth says, “Come get some,” at one point and it’s a crowed-pleasing moment. The characters are all named after people who were involved in the previous films. At a time when so many sequels and reboots seem to resent the films that came before, Evil Dead Rise does not hide its heritage.

That said, while watching Evil Dead Rise, it was hard not to miss the slapstick anarchy that Raimi and Campbell brought to Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. Evil Dead Rise plays up the horror of the Deadites and it is one of the rare horror films where you truly do come to feel like any character, regardless of how innocent or likable, could die at any moment. But, to be honest, the Deadites aren’t that interesting without Sam Raimi’s hyperactive visuals and Ash’s over-the-top mix of machismo and stupidity. Without the humor and the destructive glee of Raimi and Campbell, the Deadites are just another group of mean-spirited demons. Without Ash and Raimi’s kinetic camerawork, the film focuses on the Deadites and the film sometimes feels a bit generic as a result.

Which is not to say that Evil Dead Rise is not an effective survival horror film. The apartment building is an appropriately claustrophobic location and the sibling rivalry between Ellie and Beth brings an interesting subtext to the film’s story. When the possessed Ellie taunts Beth, it’s obvious that Beth is hearing everything that she’s always suspected her sister thought about her. Defeating her possessed sister is as much about Beth conquering her own insecurities as it is about defending Ellie’s children. Even if it’s not quite to the level of Raimi’s films, the blood-drenched finale achieves a horrific grandeur that bring to mind the best of Lamberto Bava’s Demons films. Evil Dead Rise is a well-made if occasionally generic chapter in the Evil Dead saga, though it’s impossible not to miss Rami and Campbell while watching the film.

Maniac Cop 2 (1990, directed by William Lustig)

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Jedadiah Leland

Maniac Cop 2 picks up where the first Maniac Cop ended.

The NYPD thinks that the undead maniac cop Matt Cordell (Robert Z’Dar) has been destroyed but he is actually still alive and killing civilians and cops in New York. He has even teamed up with a serial killer named Steven Turkell (Leo Rossi, ranting and raving like a pro). Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) and Theresa Malloy (Laurene Landon) both return from the first film but both of them are killed by Cordell before the movie is even halfway over. Maniac Cop 2 is not playing around.

With Jack and Theresa gone, it falls to Detective Sean McKinney (Robert Davi) and Officer Susan Riley (Claudia Christian) to discover what the rest of the audience already knows, that Cordell is seeking revenge against the system that abandoned him in prison. The new police commissioner, Ed Doyle (Michael Lerner), is determined to cover up what happened but Cordell is even more determined to have his vengeance. Working with Turkell, Cordell heads to the prison where he was unjustly incarcerated and murdered.

Maniac Cop 2 is a marked improvement on the first film. Cordell is no longer a lumbering and slow monster. He is now a ruthless, Terminator-style executioner who, in the film’s best-known scene, wipes out an entire police precinct in a matter of minutes. Cordell is so ruthless that he won’t even stop when he’s on fire. His partnership with Turkell adds a new twist to the Maniac Cop saga. Turkell views Cordell as his partner-in-crime but Cordell is only interested in getting his revenge. (Turkell was originally meant to be Frank Zito, the main character from Lustig’s Maniac. When Maniac star Joe Spinell died before shooting began, the role was changed to Leo Rossi’s Steven Turkell.)

Stepping into the shoes of the main investigation, Robert Davi gives one of his best performances. As opposed to the boring heroes of the first film (sorry, Bruce!), Davi’s Sean McKinney is just as obsessive and ruthless as Cordell. Cordell sets fire and McKinney uses those fires to light his cigarettes.

William Lustig has described Maniac Cop 2 as being his best film and he’s probably right. It is definitely the best of the Maniac Cop films and the only one to fully take advantage of its premise.

Maniac Cop (1988, directed by William Lustig)

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Jedadiah Leland

In New York City, murders are being committed by a hulking man dressed in a policeman’s uniform. The NYPD brass (led by William Smith and Richard Roundtree) want to cover up the fact that the murders are being committed by an apparent maniac cop but Lt. Frank McRae (Tom Atkins) leaks the news to the press. With the citizens taking up arms against cops, the brass is eager to frame adulterous cop Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) for not only murdering his wife but also committing all of the murders. Lt. McRae believes that Jack is innocent.

Why is the brass so eager to frame Jack? Maybe it’s because they know that the Maniac Cop is actually Matt Cordell (Robert Z’Dar), a formerly good cop who was sent to Sing Sing on trumped up brutality charges. Cordell was killed in prison but he has now come back to life and is seeking revenge on the police force that he feels betrayed him.

Written by Larry Cohen and directed by William Lustig, Maniac Cop is the first of three Maniac Cop films. While the other two Maniac Cop movies largely work and hold up well, the first Maniac Cop is undoubtedly the worst of the trilogy, with most of the kills occurring offscreen and the action moving very slowly. The film is full of genre vets and Tom Atkins gives another one of this good tough guy performances. Bruce Campbell disappointingly plays his role straight and Robert Z’Dar, as intimidating as he is, is actually underused in this film.

As with most films written by Cohen, Maniac Cop has an interesting political subtext. It focuses on cop brutality and corruption with Cordell becoming a symbol of most people’s mixed feelings about the police. But the Maniac Cop trilogy wouldn’t really come to life until the second film. The first spends a lot of time setting Cordell up as a relentless avenger but there’s not much of pay-off.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films: Special Sam Raimi Edition

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

This October, I am going to be using our 4 Shots From 4 Films feature to pay tribute to some of my favorite horror directors, in alphabetical order! That’s right, we’re going from Argento to Zombie in one month!

Today’s director: Sam Raimi!

4 Shots From 4 Sam Raimi Films

The Evil Dead (1981, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Tim Philo)

Evil Dead II (1987, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Peter Deming)

Army of Darkness (1992, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Bill Pope)

The Gift (2000, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Jamie Anderson)

Horror Film Review: Army of Darkness (dir by Sam Raimi)

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is not going to be a traditional film review because let’s just state the obvious. Army of Darkness is great. Everyone knows that Army of Darkness is great. Everyone loves Army of Darkness. It’s not like you’re reading this review because you need to know whether or not Army of Darkness is a good film.

Now, interestingly enough, not everyone recognized just how good Army of Darkness was when it was first released. A lot of reviewers were confused by director Sam Raimi’s mix of of horror (because the Deadites are scary under any circumstances) and slapstick comedy. Today, we’re used to films and television shows that attempt to mix comedy and horror. Ryan Murphy’s built an entire career out of mixing gore with camp and, as a result, he’s the favorite horror filmmaker of people who think they’re too good for horror. In 1992, when Army of Darkness was first released, mixing horror and comedy caught critics and audiences off-guard. What’s interesting is that 31 years later, Army of Darkness still feels fresh while many of the comedy horror films that followed feel tired.

I think one reason why the film continues to work is because it’s obvious that both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell were truly committed to bringing their demented vision to screen. The film features Campbell as Ash Williams, the S-Mart clerk who, after a night of fighting the Deadites and losing his hand, has found himself in the Middle Ages, captured by Lord Arthur (Marcus Gilbert) and expected to live the life of a medieval slave.

Ash is often described as being one of the dumbest movie heroes of all time but, as this film shows, Ash’s stupidity is also his secret weapon. While others heroes would probably get caught up trying to rationalize or understand the situation in which they’ve found themselves, Ash just accepts it. While others heroes would strategize or try to figure out a clever way to get out of their situation, Ash simply fights back and runs straight into trouble. “This is my boomstick!” Ash yells at one point and, while it establishes himself as being a great warrior, it’s also a case of Ash bragging on himself. Ash is a big fan of bragging and it must be said that it usually works out for him.. When Ash is attacked by evil Ash and several miniature Ashes, the mindless delight that all of these different Ashes take in trying to destroy each other is infectious.

Of course, Ash’s stupidity can also be his biggest downfall. For me, the best part of this film is when Ash tries to recover the Necronomicon from the haunted forest. He is given three simple words that he needs to repeat before taking the book. Before entering the forest, he practices by repeating the words twice but refuses to repeat them a third time because “I’ve got them!” Of course, Ash doesn’t have them so he does what any of us would do. He attempts to mumble the third world. This, of course, raises an army of the dead.

(My second favorite part of the film is that the army of the dead is surprisingly talkative as they rise from their graves. My third favorite part of the movie is Ted Raimi continually popping up as different supporting characters, occasionally even arguing with himself. My fourth favorite part of the movie — well, I’ve got a lot of favorite parts of this movie. Army of Darkness is one of those endlessly quotable movies about which you can spend hours saying, “Remember when….”)

“Shop smart, shop S-mart,” Ash says at one point and it’s tempting to laugh because Ash isn’t smart but he’s determined and his oddly confident and he manages to find a strange sort of joy in every situation that he finds himself. He’s the ultimate blue collar hero and Army of Darkness is the ultimate celebration of Ash Williams, Bruce Campbell, and Sam Raimi.

October Hacks: Intruder (dir by Scott Spiegel)

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1989 film, Intruder, is often advertised as being a Bruce Campbell film but Bruce only appears in the final few minutes. I’m pointing this out because Bruce himself has criticized, in the past, the way that some distributors have used his name to promote Intruder and to fool potential viewers into thinking that Intruder features Ash or takes place S-Mart. Bruce Campbell’s chin-tastic profile is put to good use as a police officer who shows up at the scene of a very bloody crime but Intruder is hardly a Bruce Campbell movie.

What is Bruce doing in Intruder? It probably has something to do with the fact that Intruder was the directorial debut of Scott Spiegel, who co-wrote the script for Evil Dead II and who was a good friend of Sam Raimi’s. (That probably also explains the presence of Ted Raimi in a tiny role and Sam Raimi himself in a bigger role.)

That said, if you’re looking for a good and suspenseful slasher film to watch as Halloween approaches, you could certainly do worse than Intruder. Bruce Campbell may only appear in a cameo but the film itself is good enough that you’ll enjoy it while waiting for Bruce to make his appearance.

The film takes over the course of the night shift at a large but financially struggling grocery store. When cashier Jennifer Ross (Elizabeth Cox) is harassed by her ex-con boyfriend, Craig (David Byrnes), the entire night crew comes together to protect her and to chase Craig out of the store. The police are called but, when they finally do arrive at the store, they reveal that there’s not much they can do. With Craig still making angry phone calls to the store, the crew prepares for the next day of business. The store’s owners hold a store meeting and, after announcing how proud they are of the way the night crew handled the Craig situation, they announce that the store will be closing and soon, everyone will be out of a job.

No one is happy about that, with co-owner Bill (Dan Hicks) rather pathetically saying that the store was his entire life. That said, it doesn’t seem like anyone at the store is going to have much of a life left because someone is determined to kill the entire night crew before the sun comes up. Soon, the employees are dying in various bloody ways (and I do mean bloody!) and the storeroom is full of body parts. Has Craig returned? Could it be the butcher, played by Sam Raimi? Could it be one the owners? Or could it be some random intruder? Watch the film to find out.

Intruder is an effective slasher film, one that is fortunate to have an above average cast (with Elizabeth Cox especially giving a good performance), memorable characters who have a bit more depth than the jocks and cheerleaders who usually populate films like this, and an interesting location in the form of the dark and shadow-filled grocery store. Intruder also had a lot of very graphic horror. The gore effects were provided by the same people who would later work on The Walking Dead and I have to say that even I, being the Italian horror fan that I am, was a bit shocked by just how much blood ended up flowing down the aisles. If you’re scared of trash compactors, this film isn’t going to do anything to make you feel better about them.

Intruder is a superior slasher film. And hey …. Bruce Campbell’s in it for a minute!

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Drag Me To Hell with #ScarySocial

Posted on October 14, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, for #ScarySocial, Deanna Dawn will be hosting Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! The film is available on Prime. I’ll probably be there and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Drag Me To Hell (2009, dir by Sam Raimi)

Horror Scenes I Love: Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

A true American success story, Bruce Campbell first met and befriended Sam Raimi when the two of them were high school students in Michigan. Campbell first gained attention in Raimi’s Evil Dead films and he’s been a mainstay in Raimi’s films ever since. He’s also been a favorite of the Coen Brothers, Don Coscarelli, William Lustig, and scores of other director. Few actors can balance both drama and comedy with the adroitness of Bruce Campbell.

Campbell, of course, is best-known for his performance as Ash Williams, the S-Mart store clerk who lost his hand while spending the weekend at a cabin, spent some time in the past, and later earned the right to tell us all to say “hail to the king, baby.” Campbell’s ability to do often violent slapstick comedy, along with his ability to deliver the most absurd of dialogue with a straight face, came together to make him into a true pop cultural icon. Though Campbell has since announced his retirement from playing Ash (saying that, at his age, he can no longer physically spends hours a day getting beaten up), he remains a beloved actor to horror fans everywhere.

Today’s scene that I love comes from 1992’s Army of Darkness and it features Bruce Campbell at his best. All Ash has to do is remember three simple words and say them before taking the Necronomicon from its place. Of course, Ash being Ash, things don’t quite work out that simply….

6 Shots From 6 Horror Movies: 2008 — 2010

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films. I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.

Today, we take a look at 2008, 2009, and 2010!

6 Shots From 6 Horror Movies: 2008 — 2010