Evil Dead Rise Director Says Trailer Offers Only 10% of the Film’s Horrors

The first trailer for Evil Dead Rise has already ignited squeamish reactions from audiences, as the trailer alone featured a variety of disturbing sequences featuring cheese graters, a tattoo gun, and a scalping. Director Lee Cronin has great news for gorehounds and bad news for those already uneased by the trailer, as he recently recalled how the trailer only features a fraction of the horrors to be witnessed in the rest of the film, meaning even this first trailer is a more restrained hint at what’s to come in the highly anticipated sequel. Evil Dead Rise lands in theaters on April 21st.

“The scalp-rip is definitely one of my favorites,” Cronin shared with Empire Magazine. “It burns into the eyes a little bit. It’s a taster. There’s a lot more to come — the moments people are responding to, you’re really only getting 10% of the experience.”

Another scene, featuring a cheese grater, showcases the kitchen device forcefully being placed against someone’s leg, and even though we don’t see the device actually utilized on the appendage, even the implication of what this wound could be is enough to cause viewers to squirm.

“It’s what I like to call the ‘leg-guine’ scene,” Cronin joked. “They always terrify me for cooking, because it feels so easy that you could lose some knuckles. When I was creating the movie, I was just thinking about something … not to say it hasn’t been used before, but I haven’t seen it personally.”

The tattoo gun has significance in the film’s narrative, which went on to inspire Cronin himself to honor the experience.

“Ellie’s character is a tattoo artist in the story, which brings the tattoo gun into play,” the director detailed. “I’ve actually got one tattoo on my arm right now that’s a dreadful stick drawing of one of the kill moments in Evil Dead Rise –– but I can’t show it yet because we haven’t spoiled that actual moment.”

In the fifth Evil Dead film, a road-weary Beth pays an overdue visit to her older sister Ellie, who is raising three kids on her own in a cramped L.A. apartment. The sisters’ reunion is cut short by the discovery of a mysterious book deep in the bowels of Ellie’s building, giving rise to flesh-possessing demons, and thrusting Beth into a primal battle for survival as she is faced with the most nightmarish version of motherhood imaginable.

The new film stars Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, Alyssa Sutherland, and Lily Sullivan.

Evil Dead Rise lands in theaters on April 21st.

Are you looking forward to the film? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!