Following his breakout horror film The Hole in the Ground, filmmaker Lee Cronin caught the attention of Sam Raimi, leading to a partnership to direct new entries in Raimi’s 50 States of Fright for Quibi. That partnership proved so successful that Raimi tapped Cronin to direct the new sequel Evil Dead Rise, with Cronin recently detailing that, with the new film confirmed to not take place in a cabin in the woods or feature the return of familiar characters, his main goal for the project is to deliver audiences a “roller coaster of terror.” Production on the new film might not start until 2021, but fans can check out Cronin’s episodes of 50 States of Fright now on Quibi.
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“For me, the key thing I kept reminding myself of, when you’re in the trenches and you’re developing something, was to make sure it’s a roller coaster,” Cronin shared with ComicBook.com. “To make sure that it has twists and turns and that it’s visceral and engaging. To sum all that up, to come back to what I just said, I wanted to create a roller coaster of terror. That was really the key for me. my memories of Evil Dead, when I watched them at a young age, always marveling at ‘how does this even exist?’ It just continues to poke at my brain and refresh every time I watch it. So to boil it down to an even simpler thing was that it’s experiential. It has to be a horror experience. And that”s the key and that’s what I’m trying to achieve with this.”
With the 2013 reboot of the concept, director Fede Alvarez described a key component of the concept to capture for any new film is the “nightmare logic” of the original films, to which Cronin echoed, “I think what Fede said is very true because there is a nightmare logic at play, which I think is absolutely what an Evil Dead movie is.”
50 States of Fright explores stories based on urban legends from every state, taking viewers deeper into the horrors that lurk just beneath. This horror anthology series launched in the spring, showcasing stories from Michigan, Kansas, Oregon, Minnesota, and Florida. New tales will be released from Iowa, Washington, Colorado, and Missouri on a weekly basis.
In Cronin’s episodes of the series, 13 Steps to Hell, “When a sister descends a strange underground stairwell adjacent to an overgrown Washington cemetery to retrieve her little brother’s lost toy, she finds more than she bargained for at the bottom of the steps.”
Stay tuned for details on Evil Dead Rise and check out new episodes of 50 States of Fright on Quibi on a weekly basis.
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