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FEATURE CINEMA

Hold on to your boomsticks, because the Evil Dead series gets even gnarlier in the highly anticipated fifth instalment, Evil Dead Rise , unleashing hell upon audiences in cinemas this month. Words Glenn Cochrane THE RETURN OF THE EVIL DEAD

FURTHER VIEWING

one of the most terrifying and disturbing demons of the entire series. Director Lee Cronin, whose debut movie was the effective shocker The Hole in the Ground (2019), comes to the franchise with a striking cinematic voice. Both films deal with recurring themes of maternal instinct, and his sensibility towards the world of Evil Dead comes from his own love for the series. “He's awesome,” says Sutherland. “I loved working with Lee. He made me feel really comfortable and confident to try whatever I wanted.” “He's very specific,” adds Sullivan. “And he's an Evil Dead OG fan. He writes incredibly strong, powerhouse female characters. And I think with horror, people watch it with an analytical mind, and some people want to prove that it doesn't scare them, or shock them. “So I think it works best when you can give it more body with themes that people can relate to, and then flip it on its head.” “Also, I never had to explain a female perspective to Lee,” says Sutherland. “And it feels like we made a really naughty film, because you don't often see a mother turning on their children in their own home.” “Or a mother eating her own children,” adds Sullivan with the devilish humour of a horror loyalist.

I nstead of the traditional cabin in the woods setting, Evil Dead Rise relocates the demonic mayhem to a rundown LA apartment, where a single mum Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) becomes possessed and proceeds to terrorise her three children and visiting sister (Lily Sullivan). STACK caught up with Sutherland and Sullivan over Zoom to discuss this grisly new chapter in the franchise. “I had a spray water bottle on me at all times,” says Sullivan of the icky position of being caked from head to toe in fake blood. “Because my skin would stick to itself, and to my clothes. And I would have to lay in my trailer and spritz myself just so I could open my eyes again,” she says with amusement. “It was gross!” It was a small price to pay for the honour of starring in one of horror's most popular franchises, of which she is a longtime fan. “I grew up on horror. My mum would go to the cinema by herself, alone

Alyssa Sutherland on the set

the franchise at all. I mean I knew about it, of course, but I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to watching horror movies. I'm way too easy to scare and then I can't sleep,” she says with a self-deprecating eye roll. “But I did watch them once I was preparing to chat with Lee [Cronin, director] about doing the film. I braved them in the middle of the day, yep!” she adds with a laugh. This is an astonishing revelation, because her character in Evil Dead Rise is arguably

An Evil Dead video game was released in 1984 for the Commodore 64. DYK?

at night, and watch stuff like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . So it runs in my blood.”

Evil Dead Rise is in cinemas from April 20.

ASHES TO ASHES Although series icon Ash (Bruce Campbell) doesn't appear in Evil Dead Rise , the story occupies the same universe as his – as chronicled in the Sam Raimi-directed trilogy and subsequent TV series – while being closer in tone to the intense and bloody 2013 reboot directed by Fede Alvarez. The history of the Necronomicon is also expanded upon, facilitating further exploration in future movies.

The same cannot be said for Sutherland, who sits beside Sullivan trying to comprehend what she just heard. “I wasn't familiar with

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