The Evil Dead franchise has been around for a long time. It even predates a surprising number of names in horror. A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, The Thing, and Child's Play all come after the legendary grindhouse film was put out into the world. It's managed to keep up in relevance more so than those, though, with sequels people liked and even a TV series that went over very well until an eventual cancelation.
Now you may be seeing trailers for Evil Dead Rise and be mad because it looks very different from what's come before. The trailers don't bear a ton of resemblance to the classic Evil Dead II or the somewhat divisive 2013 Evil Dead. Instead, it's in the city; it looks a bit more like The Conjuring, and it's not especially campy. But maybe, that's not such a bad thing in review.
Where It All Began
The Evil Dead (1981) is a fantastic film and one of horror's best offerings, period. Some people will call it campy. Some will call it cheap looking. But honestly, the sound of crickets in the background of scenes because Sam Raimi couldn't afford sound dampening or advanced audio mixing equipment is part of the magic. However, the biggest thing it does right is striking that tone between scary and playful. Yes, a man lops off his girlfriend's head, but it's kinda funny how it screams at him while he's doing it. That right there can be considered the essence of these films.
The Next Generation
Where the next two movies leaned more into that comedy, in 2013, Evil Dead decided it wanted to be an especially brutal horror movie without any real jokes. In Evil Dead (2013), oh so many things went wrong, along with the things that went right. Some folks love this movie and feel it's a great addition to the franchise, while others were not overly impressed. Leading with the positive, it's not all bad. It has a good setup for why the group hesitates to leave the creepy cabin in the woods when they're trying to help Mia purge her drug habit. Mia herself isn't the problem either, who performs exceptionally as a deadite, scared girl, and finally, a certifiable badass. The movie is suitably gore-rific, with limbs flying and lots of punishment issued, maybe even too much. The movie is about as subtle as a freight train on a track filled with rusty nails. Just a hint of suspense or intrigue would greatly aid this film as it's extremely loud and in your face, in stark contrast to the original, which gives you time and space to process everything.
But when you think about it, the differences here are no worse than going from The Evil Dead to Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn or even Army of Darkness. For some, the loud and aggressive 2013 movie works far better as an edition of the film. What makes this franchise unique is that every entry has a very distinct tone to it that doesn't bear much resemblance to what came before. Maybe you don't like Evil Dead (2013) because it wanted to just be a horror movie and ignored what made Evil Dead II so popular. The beauty is that you can appreciate each film for what they bring to the table. Films should be accepted for what they want to be, not what you wish they were.
Other Forms
So after the brilliant but different Ash Vs Evil Dead, you now have Evil Dead Rise that primarily seems to be going all in on the horror elements with a hint of the same deadite mischievousness Sam Raimi made popular. The red band trailer is playing 'Whatever Will Be, Will Be' by Doris Day, of all people, which is a pretty great sign it's remembering that dark comedy element. As a reminder, the original movie, horrific as it is, played the Charleston as the credits rolled.
The new movie looks to mix the brutality of the 2013 entry with a cheese grater on someone's leg. There's reason to believe that it may even have a little more restraint with some quietly disturbing scenes like looking through the fish eye lens on a door to see your bloodied demon mom. Having a kid present is also a first for the series, and she may end up being one of the most horrifying bits in there. Imagine a small, hyped-up little deadite bouncing off the walls like a kid after Halloween candy. There's a scariness to this one that seems to put this one in a different league from the others. But here's a movie in the series just trying to be different again.
Most horror sequels and remakes fail because they want to please old fans of the originals while reeling in a new generation, and then they end up being something no one likes. So really, why shouldn't this new movie be something totally new? Something like Halloween (2016) worked a lot better than Halloween (2007) because it wasn't trying to copy the original. It's really to this movie's benefit that they are doing the take it to the city gimmick, even if it is a gimmick. With the 2013 Evil Dead, it's hard not to be upset that it's so different from what came before because you constantly have the cabin in the woods to remind you of the franchise's legacy. But don't be upset that it's not as goofy as Army of Darkness or as frightening looking as Evil Dead (2013). Instead, be happy it's a new breed. So even if you have a favorite in the series that gets the tone just right for you, Evil Dead Rise should be as different as it can be from the other films.