With a worldwide gross of $97 million, 2013’s horror reboot Evil Dead broke no box office records. However, with a low $17 million budget, it turned a nice profit.

So why did it take a decade for the film to produce a sequel? Apparently due to development issues, but 2023 finally brought Evil Dead Rise to screens.

Beth (Lily Sullivan) tours with rock bands as a guitar technician. Newly – and unhappily – pregnant, she visits her estranged single mother Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) as well as nephew Danny (Morgan Davies) and nieces Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and Kassie (Nell Fisher) in their condemned LA apartment complex.

This awkward reunion gets literally shaken by an earthquake, and when Danny explores an exposed hole in the decrepit building, he discovers some mysterious artifacts. These bring a demonic infestation to the site that threatens the family.

As noted, the 2013 Evil Dead turned a nice profit, and Rise did even better. It stayed with another small $15 million budget and brought in $146 million worldwide.

One assumes that total ensures the studio won’t wait another decade to produce the next Evil Dead. When one appears, I hope it works better than the erratic Rise.

I went into Rise with greater than average expectations, mainly because I thought the 2013 reboot worked well. In a genre littered with a lot of fairly lousy movies, it packed a reasonable punch.

Also, Rise received consistently positive reviews from critics. Add to that good audience marks and I figured Rise would extend the franchise in a compelling manner.

It doesn’t, and part of the problem stems from the film’s plot, or lack thereof. Rise offers a basic introduction to the characters and then consists of little more than creepy scenes and graphic violence.

The movie tosses Beth and family at us with only minimal exposition – and by “minimal”, I mean “nearly non-existent”. We know Beth got knocked-up by some unnamed dude, and we know Ellie’s struggling clan recently got abandoned by her husband.

Want anything more than that? Sorry – no soup for you, as this becomes the essential extent of the film’s exposition and development.

Of course, no one goes to horror movies with hopes of rich, three-dimensional characters and intelligent narratives. Fans care more about tension and graphic gore for the most part.

Which can work. Heck, Sam Raimi’s original 1982 Evil Dead didn’t boast anything more detailed or deep than this and yet it worked.

But Raimi’s flick boasted a gonzo spirit and a sense of inventiveness Rise lacks. It comes with the supernatural elements of the series but otherwise plays like a fairly standard horror film devoid of anything remarkable.

Just as scary movies don’t need terrific characters/narratives, they also don’t require genuine inventiveness to succeed. Even with the predictable traits that come with most flicks in this field, a well-executed effort can succeed.

Rise just feels far too preoccupied with gore and gross-out material for it to prosper. Actual fright and tension take a backseat to nasty visuals.

That tendency makes Rise seem longer than its 96 minutes, and it feels awfully redundant much of the time. We find a never-ending parade of ugly violent scenes that fail to demonstrate much purpose or drama.

It would help if we maintained any real interest in or attachment to the characters. We don’t, and the movie fails to make any of them interesting enough to carry the story.

Rise also continues a horror trend that I find tedious: the “violent teaser” at the start. Too many genre flicks open with “previews” of the terror because those behind them worry that if they wait too long for jolts, audiences will lose interest.

This technique can work, but it now feels like a crutch. A well-made movie would build drama organically and not need to throw gore at the audience right away.

In the case of Rise, the “teaser” seems even less purposeful because it doesn’t really connect to the main narrative. It takes place at a secluded lake, a choice that toys with the audience because we expect Rise to visit that setting ala the first two Raimi movies as well as the 2013 reboot.

However, as noted in my synopsis, a condemned LA apartment building becomes the primary location for Rise. The prologue eventually connects to the plot, but just barely – and it does so in a way that feels more like a nod toward the next film in the series than a necessary story-telling element.

I will acknowledge that Rise achieves a level of brutality uncommon for modern horror flicks. Many pull their punches in a variety of ways, but this one goes down some darker than typical paths.

And I’ve definitely seen many less satisfying genre films than Rise, as even with its flaws, it manages to remain moderately involving. Still, it doesn’t turn into anything particularly memorable and it becomes a disappointment after the thrills of the 2013 reboot.

Evil Dead Rise appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a high-quality Dolby Vision presentation here.

Overall sharpness worked well. Some low-light shots could feel slightly soft, but the image usually seemed accurate and concise.

Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects marred the proceedings, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws also failed to become an issue.

Like so many modern movies, Rise opted for a heavily orange/amber and teal palette. Trite as these may seem, the disc reproduced them as intended. HDR added presence to the hues.

Blacks felt deep and dense, and shadows – a major factor in this often dimly-lit tale – seemed smooth. HDR gave whites and contrast extra oomph. I felt pleased with this image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack fared even better. Whereas most horror movies tend to stick with creepy ambience and the occasional jolt, Rise took matters to a higher level.

Of course, it did still offer a lot of the aforementioned creepy ambience and jolts. Nothing here reinvented the scary wheel.

However, Rise simply upped the audio ante. It used all the channels in a highly active and vivid manner that added real impact to the proceedings.

General environmental material seemed well-placed, and a large variety of supernatural/terror elements popped up around the spectrum on a frequent basis. This wound up as a more involving than anticipated soundscape that benefited the movie.

Audio quality succeeded as well, with speech that seemed natural and concise. Music displayed the appropriately ominous vibe and showed appealing range.

Effects delivered a real kick, with clean elements that showed deep bass when necessary. This turned into a well above-average soundtrack for a horror movie.

How did this 2026 Arrow 4K compare to the original 2023 version? Both came with identical Atmos audio.

Although the 2026 4K UHD added Dolby Vision to the mix, I saw no obvious changes in terms of picture quality. Both the 2023 and 2026 4K UHDs looked and sounded great.

Though the original 4K UHD lacked any extras, this 2026 Arrow release comes with a bunch, and we open with an audio commentary from director Lee Cronin and actors Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan. All three sit together for a running, screen-specific look at story and characters, casy and performances, sets and locations, effect, photography, stunts/action and connected subjects.

Did I learn a ton about the shoot here? No, as although the chat comes with a decent array of production notes, it doesn't exactly turn into a deep exploration of the movie's creation.

That said, Cronin, Sutherland and Sullivan exhibit a lively chemistry that makes the track go down smoothly. While not the most informative commentary I've heard, it does enough to satisfy and the loose vibe makes it enjoyable.

A slew of featurettes follow, and Come Get Some goes for 16 minutes, 22 seconds.  Sullivan reappears here.

Sullivan covers her entry into acting as well as her thoughts about horror and the Evil Dead areas, how she got her role, her performance, aspects of the shoot and the movie's release.  Sullivan remains engaging and informative.

Mommy Deadite fills 17 minutes, 10 seconds.  We find more from Sutherland during this reel.

Sutherland touches on topics similar to those examined by Sullivan but from her own POV, of course.  She also delivers a nice take on her experiences.

Next comes The Deadite's Daughter.  This one occupies 15 minutes., one second and involves actor Gabrielle Echols.

Unsurprisingly, Echols touches on domains like those in the prior two reels, albeit also from her own viewpoint. 

The Levitating Dead lasts 10 minutes, 59 seconds.  Actor Annje-Maree Thomas becomes the subject.

Yes, Thomas gives her take on the same array of subjects her co-stars discussed.  She brings some good insights.

With Conjuring Deadites, we get a 12-minute, 59-second reel.  Prosthetic makeup designer Luke Polti appears here.

Polti tells us what interested him in film work and he gets into his efforts on Rise.  He provides a solid take on these effects.

Chopping Up Deadites runs 14 minutes, 25 seconds.  Editor Bryan Shaw pops up here.

Like others, Shaw relates how he came to films and also gets into the editing for Rise.  Expect another informative reel here.

From there we move to Sonic Possessions.  It fills 14 minutes, 20 seconds and involves sound designer Peter Albrechtsen.

After he tells us what interested him in his profession, Albrechtsen discusses his work for Rise.  We get a good discussion of these domains.

Music to Swallow Your Soul goes for 13 minutes, 43 seconds.  As implied by the title, this one features composer Stephen McKeon.

Once again we get another intro into entry into a profession before McKeon covers his music for Rise.  He offers useful thoughts.

Up next, The Sound of Evil Dead Rise takes up 51 minutes, 23 seconds. From 2023, it includes Cronin, Albrechtsen and Dolby Institute director Glenn Kiser as they chat in front of a live audience.

Given the location, audio becomes the focal point, but the chat goes over other production domains as well.  Conducted prior to the movie's release, the discussion can lean a litle promotional at times but it nonetheless digs into aspects of the sound design well.

Also from 2023, Raising a New Evil Dead occupies six minutes, 54 seconds.  It brings in Cronin, Sullivan, Sutherland, Echols, Polti, producers Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell, production designer Nick Bassett.and actors Nell Fisher and Morgan Davies.

"Raising" examined set design, the new Book of the Dead prop, and various effects.  Despite its brevity, "Raising" brings an efficient overview.

Called Ghost Train, a 2013 short film by Cronin spans 16 minutes, 16 seconds and shows two brothers who suffered a tragic and mysterious loss decades earlier.  Told half in "current day" and half in flashbacks, it becomes an effective mix of horror and grief.

Behind the Scenes goes for four minutes, 29 seconds and shows footage Cronin recorded on his phone.  Though a brief compilation, it comes with some good glimpses of the production.

In addition to a trailer and six TV Spots, the disc concludes with two Image Galleries.  We get "Behind the Scenes" (87 frames) and "Storyboards" (46).  Both provide useful additions to the package.

After the high quality of the 2013 reboot, I hoped Evil Dead Rise would continue the series on a positive note. Instead, I got a largely narrative-free collection of scare moments without much real impact. The 4K UHD offers very good picture and terrific audio as well as a long roster of bonus materials. Hopefully the next Evil Dead movie will rebound after this disappointment.