Evil Dead Rise's Demonic Wall-Crawling Was A Real, Practical Stunt [Exclusive]
The "Evil Dead" legacy may be able to survive without the help of Ash Williams or a cabin in the woods, but it's difficult to imagine what the series would look like without the liberal use of icky special effects. Ever since the first entry, when director Sam Raimi was covering the entire cast and set in buckets of sticky fake blood, a heavy dependence on practical effects has defined the films, the advent of CGI be damned. According to "Evil Dead Rise" stars Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan, the upcoming film very much carries on that practical tradition, even during stunt-heavy sequences.
"Evil Dead" is synonymous with blood and gore that's so over-the-top that it can lean into comedic territory, which is especially true of "Evil Dead II" (genre enthusiasts cheekily describe the mixture as "splatstick"). The demonic Deadites that serve as the series' main antagonists are fond of violently tossing people into walls and furniture, which meant that actors like Bruce Campbell got pretty beat up during the course of the production. Being the possessed creatures they are, the Deadites can levitate, survive without limbs, and crawl on walls and ceilings — all abilities that lend themselves to practical stunts, stop-motion animation, and highly theatrical acting.
Hands-on horror
Even after Sam Raimi stopped directing the "Evil Dead" films, the franchise has embraced a hands-on approach to its special effects. Fede Alvarez, director of 2013's "Evil Dead," has said that he avoided the use of CGI in order to stay true to the series' roots of hands-on brutality. Speaking to /Film's Ryan Scott, Alyssa Sutherland confirms "Evil Dead Rise" director Lee Cronin also relied on practical techniques. Talking about a scene in which her character (a mom-turned-Deadite) crawls along a wall, Sutherland explains that stunt doubles replaced post-production digital FX:
"That was an incredible stunt double. They wouldn't let me [do it]. I wanted to try to do that. But I think they were basically like, 'We don't have the time for you to learn this.' I really wanted to give it a go. The producers were like, 'No, your stunt double's going to do this one because... we don't have the time. She's already got this one nailed."'
Sutherland mentions that, despite this particular scene with a stunt double, she "worked really hard on" the "Deadite movement," which required lots of "twitchy" movements. She also claims that "there's no digital" effects besides those involving her contacts. (The contacts in Raimi's original film were painful to apply and blinded the actors wearing them.) It's incredibly rare for effects-heavy films to rely primarily on practical elements rather than CGI these days. Even the 2013 "Evil Dead" had to use at least some enhancements in post-production for fire effects and to remove practical elements like wires. Still, it sounds like "Evil Dead Rise" is keeping the thrill and viscera of the Deadites alive.
"Evil Dead Rise" opens in theaters on April 21, 2023.