Evil Dead Rise certainly puts its cast through the wringer as you'd expect from an Evil Dead movie, but that didn't mean its stars weren't excited by the prospect.
Written and directed by Lee Cronin, the new movie centres on estranged sisters Beth (Lily Sullivan) and Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) whose attempts at a reunion are cut short by the arrival of a certain book and mischievous Deadites.
But if you thought the prospect of going up against those deadly demons would put off the cast, think again. Talking to Digital Spy, Sullivan revealed that her first reaction to reading the script was "absolute inner child excitement".
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"When I reflect on all the other characters [I've played], it's two steps in, hit your mark, say your lines, something dramatic. Whereas this was just full physical, let it rip," she recalled.
"Just the amazing thing of pulling off stunts and in-house camera tricks in the practical side of Evil Dead was just so exciting. All departments had to be on board – if one fell, we all fell. Acting came last in a way, and it was just like pulling off gags and suspense, which was just such a brilliant experience.
"I felt like I was in a video game. Lee would be like, 'OK, today you have a hammer'. All these obstacles that I was just constantly trying to get through. It was super physical. Stuart Thorp is an amazing stunt coordinator, he just trusted us.
"We also had amazing doubles as well, but a lot of it we got to do, which was just really awesome and just so epic to be physical. It feels more like dancing than acting."
As much as Evil Dead Rise becomes a gore-soaked horror ride though, the movie also takes its time to explore the relationship between Beth and Ellie. It ended up being reflected in real life as Sullivan and Sutherland built up a strong bond.
Cronin explained to Digital Spy that it was important to him to get his two leading stars to just hang out together before filming.
"I would send them off to do things together. You know, send them to the funfair. Send them out for lunch or dinner together. So they could just hang out, and start to behave a little bit like their characters, which they really embraced," he noted.
"It's just working on getting them to read real, because their job is to bring that character to life onscreen, and my job is to facilitate it. So I try to help them just find a way to feel natural, to talk about their backstory, to talk about things that are going to basically fill up the locker for them, so that they can then use all of those tools on set."
Based on the rave first reactions, whatever Cronin did, it seemed to have worked.
Evil Dead Rise is released in cinemas on April 21.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
