I had the pleasure of catching Lee Cronin’s directorial debut, The Hole in the Ground, when it first premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. It was immediately apparent that Cronin was a must-watch genre director on the rise, but had you asked me if he’d be a good fit for the Evil Dead franchise, admittedly, I don’t know if my response would have been a resounding yes at the time. The Hole in the Ground is an expertly crafted chiller, but it exists in an entirely different realm of horror than any of the Evil Dead films. Thankfully Sam Raimi had confidence in Cronin right out the gate because, it turns out, Cronin’s genre range is boundless, and his work in Evil Dead Rise is downright exceptional.
The events of the new Evil Dead film don’t unfold in a cabin in the woods, but rather, in an apartment building. When Lily Sullivan’s Beth finally finds the time to visit her sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her three children, their much-needed reunion turns into an utter nightmare when a Necronomicon surfaces and unleashes maximum blood, gore, and murderous mayhem on the high-rise.
With Evil Dead Rise’s April 21st theatrical release coming up fast, I got the chance to chat with Cronin while in Austin for the film’s world premiere screening at SXSW 2023. We split the 30-minute conversation into two halves - the non-spoiler portion you’re getting right now, and also a spoiler conversation that we'll release as soon as the movie is in theaters.
#evildead #interview #horror
For interviews, movie reviews, and more visit collider.com
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
/ collider
/ collider
/ collider