No. 62 - Evil Dead Rise
The latest in the Evil Dead franchise rocked my world, but so did a nuanced drama about the art world starring Michelle Williams
Blood Related
I appreciate a lot attributes about the original The Evil Dead (1981), I primarily enjoy seeing the hard work of passionate individuals who wanted to make a movie pay off on-screen, but what is more integral to the spirit of the franchise is that it’s a mean and violent film. The Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell has said in many interviews that director Sam Raimi thinks torturing him is funny, so Raimi made several Evil Dead movies to do just that and, whenever he has the opportunity, it seems he loves to put all his actors through hell. To borrow words from James Cameron, “If I want to see it, my cognitive leap is there are going to be lots of people that want to see it.” Not entirely false as the Evil Dead franchise seems unkillable with its latest entry, Evil Dead Rise, releasing into theaters last weekend to show off inventive and horrific ways to maim a cast of totally innocent victims.
Rather than the creepy cabin Evil Dead fans are familiar with, Evil Dead Rise takes place in a soon-to-be-condemned apartment building. Instead of following a group of young people on vacation, Rise’s victims are primarily a small family. Despite some entries in the series being cartoony, Rise is much more similar to the 2013 remake and the original 1981 film; gory, mean, and violent. Beth (Lily Sullivan) is in a fight for survival as a demonic entity possesses her sister, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), and threatens to kill her and her own children. Other tenants of the building end up as cannon fodder, but Rise is unafraid to hurt these kids in creatively cruel ways. This is not to say the film is a dark humorless pit of torture because the grotesqueries are, at times, so over the top that it becomes comical. There are stilly cartoony bops on the head with frying pans, but they never feel inconsistent with the macabre tone of the film.
Even beyond the graphic nature of the film, director Lee Cronin took great care with this film to create really shocking and indelible imagery with the material he was given. The material is subversive enough that Evil Dead Rise could’ve played as a simply made schlocky horror film, but Cronin went the extra mile and made the film look great. Creepy compositions utilizing fish-eye lens, split diopter shots, and some off-kilter camera placement make this a exciting film to look at. Effects-wise too it is a brilliant blend of cgi and practical effects that is nearly seamless for the entirety of the film. There is one effect toward the end that is clearly a puppet, but that’s more endearing to me than anything.
Suffice to say, I fucking loved this. When I wasn’t cringing at the violence I had a big ol’ grin on my face because I just loved that this piece exists. Another ballsy horror movie that just taps into the joys of having a bunch of nasty monsters terrorize people. No irony, just horror.
Evil Dead Rise is in theaters now.
Artist Spotlight
My Spotify Discover Weekly pulled up a song last week that I’ve more or less been listening to on repeat; “Vaping on the Job” by Dougie Poole. Poole speaks to the disappointment and frustration adults feel when their passion doesn’t equal their reality. Two of the three verses are explicitly about artists who didn’t find success and, in order to cope, they seek momentary solace. That solace taking the form of vaping on the job. In the first verse, as you’ll see below, Poole describes the inner conflict of making ends meet at the expense of one’s creative spirit.
Hey say, Michelle turned in her BFA for a CDL
And now she drives that box truck fifty hours a week
She don't paint anymore, she misses it for sure
But who's got the time?
And that taste she got of money sure was sweetOh, lately she's been wonderin'
Did she get real or did she just give up?
But she's not the type to whine
So she just follows those white lines and keeps her mouth shut
But when no one is around
She sneaks a little puff and that's enough
I thought of this song when I saw Kelly Reichardt’s latest film, Showing Up, at an early screening (courtesy of Cinema Lamont, thanks you!!) Michelle Williams stars as Lizzy, a frustrated sculptor who has to split her time with her desk job at an art school. She seethes and mopes as her friend/neighbor/landlord Jo (Hong Chau) finds success and attention in the small art world of their Pacific Northwest town. Lizzy’s life is thrown into disarray when Jo finds the injured pigeon that Lizzy’s cat had mangled the night before. Jo nurses the bird the best she can and saddles Lizzy with its well-being as she goes to set up two large and important art shows she’s being showcased in. Lizzy has a show of her own that she is trying to prepare for, but everyone seems to pay more attention to Jo’s upcoming exhibitions. Even Lizzy’s mother, who Lizzy works directly for at the college, praises Jo’s work more often than she acknowledges Lizzy’s existence.
Lizzy perseveres, and, as fate would have it, she creates a bond with the pigeon. The pigeon becomes an extension of all of her anxieties. He must have attention, which Lizzy doesn’t get, and he must have warm water near him, another thing Lizzy doesn’t have despite reminding Jo incessantly to fix the water heater in her apartment. Lizzy spends most of the movie licking her own wounds and being grumpy. It seems as though at any minute she might just smash her ceramic sculptures and give up. As the date of her solo show approaches, one might expect the film’s catharsis to be hidden in the title, people “showing up”, but she ends up finding her release in a much more satisfying way.
Showing Up is in theaters now at select theaters.
Stray Observations
Last week, James Grieg started his article for Daze titled “In Defence of Rats” with, “For centuries, the little rodents have been the focal point for anxieties around sexuality, hygiene, and the ineradicable power of the oppressed masses. It’s time for a reappraisal!!” and what followed that was a delightful and thought provoking piece analyzing how rats have been symbols for so many things in our world and how most of those things are really distorted reflections of our own deeds. Our own negligence of environment, infrastructure, cleanliness, etc create a world conducive to rats. Author Joyce Carol Oates even commented on the piece via twitter post saying “the entire species has been maligned, demonized. just poor little rodents trying to survive. their strength, however, is only the consequence of our weakness, as in any such struggle.” You can read the whole article here.
John Mulaney released a new comedy special, John Mulaney: Baby J, and it made me think about when I saw him perform last year in his hometown of Chicago. The “From Scratch” show I saw had many bits that are almost one-for-one the same as the one he released on Netflix this week, but, like any good comedian, it still made me laugh. Read my thoughts on his performance in the newsletter issue I put out last year.
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