From watching the "Evil Dead" movies on VHS growing up to directing one in the cult horror franchise, life has come full circle for director Lee Cronin, who says helming "Evil Dead Rise" is the "achievement of a childhood dream".
The filmmaker said franchise creator Sam Raimi offered him the opportunity to direct the fifth installment in the "Evil Dead" series after watching his 2019 feature film debut "The Hole in the Ground".
"I went on the journey wanting to be a filmmaker. As I started to achieve that in my career, I thought about how if given the opportunity, I'd love to make an 'Evil Dead' movie. Luckily, Sam Raimi really liked my previous movie and asked me what I would do in the 'Evil Dead' world.
"So, I thought about it. It's definitely the achievement of a childhood dream to make a movie like this. I feel quite proud of what we have achieved," Cronin told PTI in a virtual interview.
The Irish writer-director said he initially made "a joke pitch" during a meeting with Raimi which made the "Spider-Man" director laugh.
"... but (it) wasn't the movie that I wanted to make. He then got back in touch and just said, 'Look, take some time and really think about this because we're really interested in you as a filmmaker, and we'd like to know what you would do'," he recalled.
Cronin took some time and started to develop an idea about a certain group of people in a place and how that could be "a fresh set of circumstances to unleash the evil force".
Raimi, longtime franchise producer Rob Tapert, and series star Bruce Campell (who has a cameo in the film) were excited about the filmmaker taking the "Evil Dead" world in a new direction.
"They gave me the car keys and they were like, 'Okay, let's go drive this idea around and see if we can bring it to the screen'," he said about the franchise that began with the original trilogy -- "The Evil Dead" (1981), "Evil Dead II" (1987), and "Army of Darkness" (1992), all written and directed by Raimi and produced by Tapert and starring Campbell.
The franchise was rebooted in 2013 with "Evil Dead" and has spawned into television series, video games, comic books, and a musical.
"Evil Dead Rise", set to be released by Warner Bros India on Friday, stars Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland as two estranged sisters Beth and Ellie trying to survive and save their family from demonic creatures haunting their apartment complex in Los Angeles.
How does one honour the legacy of a beloved horror film series like "Evil Dead" and maintain their individual gaze?
For Cronin, the starting point was that it had to be "my film first".
"I knew I needed to go after the characters, circumstances and metaphors first. Once I had those in place, I was able to start bringing in the horror and upsetting the world that I had established and turning it on its head," he added.
The new "Evil Dead" movie also keeps up with the changing times as it has two women protagonists driving the narrative forward as opposed to men in the previous chapters.
The filmmaker said having the characters of Beth and Ellie at the centre of the story was partly driven by wanting to ensure that "if you're going to change something, let's change it properly".
"It's like even if I look before we talk about the characters, if you look at the location, the top floor apartment complex in Los Angeles couldn't be further from a cabin in the woods and countryside (like in earlier 'Evil Dead' movies). It was kind of the same with the characters.
"But I wanted to tell a story about the fear of being a parent in a way and every aspect of having a family and then that showed me back to this set of characters. It showed me back to a mother who's powerful and strong willed, but also vulnerable," he said.
Making any movie as a filmmaker changes you as a person, added Cronin, who said he doesn't get scared while working on a horror film.
"Sometimes, you have weird nightmares or you'll be lying in bed at night thinking... like I'm in a hotel room, and I'm looking over at a bath in the corner and I'm thinking about the creepy bath scene that's in the movie. So, it wouldn't scare me.
"Making a movie like this, what's interesting is that it's very practical, it's lot of stunt and lot of challenging, technical filmmaking work. That takes it out of you emotionally and physically," the director said.
Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols and newcomer Nell Fisher also round out the cast of "Evil Dead Rise".
