We are, of course, losing our goddamn minds with anticipation for Lee Cronin’s forthcoming Evil Dead Rise, which is – according to everyone this writer’s spoken to who’s seen it – an absolute ass-whipper of an Evil Dead movie. The location’s changed (no cabin in the woods this time around!), a new batch of characters has been offered up for the slaughter, and the kills look gnarlier than ever. What’s not to be excited about?
Well, I suppose if one wanted to be really picky about it, one could whine a little about the fact that Bruce Campbell isn’t playing a role in the film (he wasn’t in 2013’s Evil Dead, either, but did slip in for a post-credits scene), but guess what, whiners? Turns out Campbell does have some sort of presence in the film, and if you can be the first to spot it, you might win $50 from Cronin himself.
Says Cronin, in a new interview with Empire Magazine:
“It felt like in order to move the franchise somewhere new and to unlock the potential of the universe to tell more stories, it needed to break free [of Ash]. But Bruce is hidden in the movie somewhere. Bruce has a small presence in the movie. The first person to figure it out and send me a tweet, I’ll give them 50 bucks.”
An intriguing offer! And, if I may, offered up so cavalierly that I can’t help but assume that Bruce’s “presence,” whatever it may be, will be very hard to spot, indeed. Maybe it’s a tiny image of Ash. Maybe his name’s embroidered on a throw pillow in the background of a chaotic scene. Maybe they removed precisely one (1) pint of Bruce Campbell’s blood and mixed it in with the gazillion gallons of fake blood this production went through during their shoot, and Cronin’s bet hinges on a technicality. Whatever the case may be, we look forward to finding out which eagle-eyed Evil Dead fan claims the prize.
Empire’s post contains a bit more chatter from Cronin, as well as the reveal that their latest issue features a full-blown interview with both Cronin and Evil Dead mastermind Sam Raimi. Head on over there to learn more, and do stay tuned for further coverage on the new Evil Dead (not just here, but in the pages of the latest issue of FANGORIA, which you can snag here) as we draw ever closer to the film’s arrival in theaters on April 21st.
