Deadites in a High-Rise: Evil Dead Rise

Evil Dead Rise (2023) is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Lee Cronin. It is the fifth film in the Evil Dead series and follows Evil Dead (2013). It moves the Deadites out of the woods and into a Los Angeles apartment building. There, guitar technician Beth (Lily Sullivan) visits her estranged sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and Ellie’s three children just as an earthquake uncovers a Book of the Dead. Produced by Robert Tapert, with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell as executive producers, it was meant to debut on HBO Max. Warner Bros. moved it to theaters after strong test screenings. It received positive reviews and grossed $147 million worldwide, the highest gross in the series. It was followed by Evil Dead Burn (2026).

At a glance

Release date	March 15, 2023 (SXSW); April 21, 2023 (US)
Director	Lee Cronin
Writer	Lee Cronin
Based on	Characters created by Sam Raimi
Starring	Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, Nell Fisher
Runtime	96 minutes
Rating	R (US), for strong bloody horror violence and gore, and some language
Budget	$15–19 million (sources differ)
Box office	$147 million
Franchise	Evil Dead: follows Evil Dead (2013); followed by Evil Dead Burn (2026)

Plot summary

A prologue at a lakeside cabin shows a possessed young woman, Jessica, attacking her cousin and her boyfriend. A day earlier, in Los Angeles, guitar technician Beth (Lily Sullivan) learns she is pregnant and visits her estranged sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland). Ellie’s husband has left her to raise their three children, Danny, Bridget and Kassie, alone in their apartment. That night an earthquake opens a hidden vault beneath the parking garage. Danny (Morgan Davies) finds religious artifacts, three phonograph records from 1923 and a strange book. He takes them up to the apartment, hoping to sell the book.

The records reveal that the book is one of three volumes of the Naturom Demonto. On them, a priest describes his research and then recites an incantation that summons the Deadites. The building loses power, and an unseen force possesses Ellie. She returns in a trance, seems to die, and then rises as a Deadite. The stairs have collapsed, the elevator is broken and the fire escape is out of reach. Beth and the children are trapped in the apartment while Ellie massacres the neighbors and tries to get back in.

Spoiler section: the Marauder

Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) is infected and possessed, and later kills Danny. The third record shows that the priest’s allies were possessed too, and that only destroying the host can stop a Deadite. Ellie sees that Beth is pregnant and tries to tear the baby from her. Beth and Kassie (Nell Fisher) hide in the elevator, and the possessed family merges into a single many-limbed creature, the Marauder. The elevator fills with blood and crashes to the ground floor. In the garage, Beth saves Kassie from a chainsaw and they force the Marauder into a wood chipper. Beth kicks Ellie’s taunting severed head in after it. The next morning, back at the lake, Jessica is attacked by an unseen force.

Production and behind the scenes

After Evil Dead (2013), several plans fell through: a direct sequel from Fede Álvarez, Raimi’s Army of Darkness 2, and a crossover that would have united Ash and Mia. A fourth season of Ash vs Evil Dead was also dropped. In October 2019, Raimi announced a new film at New York Comic Con. In June 2020, Campbell revealed that Raimi had chosen Cronin, who had worked with him on the series 50 States of Fright. The film was then called Evil Dead Now. In May 2021, New Line Cinema, which had released the first film, picked it up for HBO Max under the title Evil Dead Rise. Sutherland and Sullivan, both Australian, were cast that month.

Filming took place in New Zealand from June 6 to October 27, 2021. Dave Garbett, a cinematographer on Ash vs Evil Dead, shot it. The apartment, garage and vault were sets built in a rented warehouse in Mount Wellington. The cabin was a façade on private land outside Auckland. Cronin said the production used over 6,500 liters of fake blood. The picture was edited in Dublin, Cronin’s hometown, over more than six months. Stephen McKeon composed the score. Campbell has an uncredited voice cameo on one of the records as a man who warns the priests to destroy the book. He also contributed foley, which Cronin said came from “eating an apple furiously” for a scene around an eye.

Release and reception

In August 2022, Warner Bros. moved the film from streaming to theaters after positive test screenings and a shift in studio strategy. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 15, 2023, and opened in the US on April 21. Its $24.5 million debut beat projections, second only to The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It went on to earn $67.2 million in the US and Canada and $79.8 million elsewhere, for $147 million worldwide. Deadline estimated its net profit at $46 million.

It holds 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus says it offers “just about everything longtime fans could hope for while still managing to carry the franchise forward” and calls it “all kinds of groovy.” Metacritic scores it 69, and CinemaScore audiences gave it a “B.” The film was nominated for Best Horror Film and Best Make-up at the 51st Saturn Awards. At the Critics’ Choice Super Awards, Sutherland was nominated for Best Actress in a Horror Movie and Best Villain in a Movie.

Legacy and influence

In April 2023, Campbell said the producers hoped to release new films “every two or three years rather than every 10 years.” He said Sam and Ivan Raimi were drafting a series bible tied together by the books. Two more films were announced. Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn was released on July 10, 2026, and Francis Galluppi’s Evil Dead Wrath is scheduled for April 7, 2028. For the series’ origins, see The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, and the character page for Ash Williams.

Trivia

Nell Fisher, who plays Kassie, made her film debut here.
It is a co-production between New Zealand, Ireland and the United States.
Arrow Films released a 4K edition in January 2026 with eight new interviews and Cronin’s 2013 short film Ghost Train.
A Best Buy-exclusive 4K steelbook includes a commentary by Cronin, Sullivan and Sutherland.
Ash does not appear on screen. Campbell’s only roles are the voice on the record and the foley work.