2023, Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground) -- download
Visually, tonally, and lore-ly, this movie had little to do with the franchise whose name it bears. It is not a sequel to the 2013 Fede Alvarez reboot, nor is it directly connected to the cancelled TV series Ash vs Evil Dead. Despite that, its not a baaaaad Halloween movie?
You don't sound convinced.
This movie opens the way I like horror movies opening: strongly establishing the characters involved. We have mom Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland, Vikings), a tattoo artist living with her kids in a run down artsy apartment complex scheduled for demolition. The kids, Bridget (Gabrielle Echols, Reminiscence), Danny (Morgan Davies, One Piece) and Kassie (Nell Fisher, My Life is Murder) are all artsy and weird and fun, especially Kassie who cuts off a doll head and crafts it into Staff-anie (snort). And there is mom's sister Beth (Lily Sullivan, Mental), not-a-roadie, who shows up unexpectedly after she discovers she is pregnant. Things are tense but this family loves each other, and are making the best of it, having to find a new home soon.
Earthquake. I guess we are on the west coast? But yeah, scary shaking while the kids are picking up pizza, and it opens a hole in the ground (snort) in which Danny finds a tomb. I mean, one should never crawl into a hole in the ground but it is a lost bank vault and the family does need money, so... But once he finds a fucking tomb surrounded by hundreds of crucifixes (crucifixi?) he should have probably left, but instead, he grabs the book wrapped in a dusty rag.
Stupid shit.
Its "a" Book of the Dead, but not the Book of the Dead from all the other movies. There is some toss away lore about it being one of three. And there are LP recordings of rituals from the 20s! Danny is a DJ and.... well, he plays one of the rituals, which initiates one of the standard visuals from the franchise: the rushing of something (technically, Deadite demonic entity) from afar to find its home inside mom Ellie.
And then everybody fucking dies. Well, pretty much everyone. Shockingly, including some of the kids, and neighbours, and the neighbour's kids. Yeah, its pretty distressing, but once the Deadite infection starts with Ellie, it just keeps on spreading and killing and spreading. Cronin does not shirk.
The movie is less humourous, and more dark and gruesome, more attuned to the reboot than the others in the franchise. The monsters / Deadites are decently depicted, especially the final Boss Monster, and I have to give it kudos for finding one of my personal triggers by using a cheese grater on someone. I also have to smile at Cronin for his nod to Rec 3 and the franchise, by having a blood spattered woman stand up to the monster with a chainsaw, before making use of the woodchipper, as broadcast loudly in the opening bits of the movie.
Speaking of opening bits, the movie actually opens with a "are we staring half way through the movie?" moment, before cutting to a "one day earlier" scene. It obviously wants to continue the franchisey moments.
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