After I finished watching this film, I rushed over to Wikipedia. I must've missed something? For a year now, I've been hearing how incredible this thing was. What'd I miss?
Turns out. I missed nothing.
Red Rooms has an undeniable sense of dread. The score is a flat-out banger. And the photography is beautiful. But I kept waiting for that dread to pay off.
This is a mixed bag. I enjoyed my time with it. But the third act and…
me: "Is that JJ Abhrams?"
my mom: "Who is that?"
me: "He directed Star Trek 1, Star Trek 2, Mission Impossible 3, Star Wars 7."
my mom: "Oh. Nothing I would've seen."
Then the credits rolled, and I realized he wrote this movie too.
Garbage.
Up until this point, every film in the Evil Dead franchise wildly changed the game from its predecessor. Evil Dead 2; Dead By Dawn pushed the franchise into absurdly bloody comedy. Army of Darkness push the franchise into swashbuckling, medieval fantasy. And the 2013 remake amped up the ultra-violence so much so that when it rains blood you simply think, “Of course.”
Evil Dead Rise lacks any of that ambition. The film is competently made, but feels like an uninspired…
"Dear, Toad. I'm glad that you are my best friend. Your best friend, Frog."
Frog and Toad sat there feeling happy together.
A charming and delightful trip down memory lane. 🥲
