Evil Dead Rise · reception & legacy

How Evil Dead Rise has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

Landed in 2023 as that rare legacy-franchise revival critics and gorehounds both embraced, and a sleeper box-office hit; a few years on it's settled in as proof the Evil Dead series can thrive without Ash, with Cronin handed the keys to keep going.

What's debated

The forever fight: does it capture Raimi's splatstick spirit or play it too straight — and is it better or worse than the also-humorless 2013 remake?

Its footprint

The cheese grater scene instantly became horror shorthand — 'you'll never look at a cheese grater the same way' was half the marketing and most of the memes — and 'Mommy's with the maggots now' is the line everyone quotes.

Where it stands

A modern horror crowd-pleaser and Letterboxd favourite — the franchise entry people now recommend to prove legacy sequels can actually work.

Named by the director

Influences Lee Cronin has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

• The Shining (1980) — Cronin has acknowledged the flooding-elevator-of-blood moment as a deliberate nod to Kubrick's film.