Between Sam Raimi's more humorous Evil Dead sequel trilogy and 2013's heart-wrenching Evil Dead, Rise strikes a comfortable medium ground. With gory practical effects like swallowed glass protruding from bodies or elevators spewing waves of blood, Cronin's special effects team takes on the most horrifying mutilation sequences throughout the entire series. While focusing on a more emotional, yet still traumatic fight against Deadites, Rise manages to keep up with Fede Alvarez's reported 70,000 gallons of blood used in 2013's Evil Dead. It also manages to reclaim some of Raimi's comedic skills and uses that dark humour to contrast the film's darkest plunges.

The setting of this movie changes from a group of pals hanging out in a cabin in the woods to a family residing in a dilapidated apartment complex in the heart of Los Angeles. Early in the movie, when single mother Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) becomes possessed by a Deadite, what follows is made even more horrifying because Ellie is torturing her own children both physically and mentally. Although her youngest child, Kassie (Nell Fisher), is also quite young, the fact that her siblings, Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), are teenagers does not lessen the agony of their destinies. The excessive gore and the amount of sicko violence directed at children in "Evil Dead Rise" make for a gruelling experience for young viewers.

Cronin makes the most of his surroundings. As they travel to the characters, ordinary items acquire new and sinister feelings. The characters have little opportunity to leave the flat, which creates a claustrophobic atmosphere throughout the entire movie. The amount of tactile, real blood that appears on screen is a clear indication of Cronin and his team's passion for practical effects. Additionally, Cronin is a huge fan of Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead movies, and he jams as many visual allusions and homages to them into the screenplay and onscreen as he can. The result is an overabundance of fan service, including recognisable props, lines of dialogue, and even the film's visual choices. The film Evil Dead Rise is an excellent addition to the Evil.

Overall, the film is a blast that will please the series' diehard fans, newcomers who are joining the fun for the first time, and those hoping the series will start going in new ways. The episode by Cronin poses the question of which of the series' conventions can be repurposed and reinvented for a new era of stories and offers up a Pandora's Box of possibilities for what this concept can be morphed and moulded into in the future.