Evil Dead Rise's infamous blood-filled elevator scene was achieved in a single take, according to writer-director Lee Cronin.
Cronin confirmed that the grisly set piece didn't require any retakes in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "It was one and done," he said. "The cleanup would take about eight hours, and so if we didn't get it the first time, we would clean up and then shoot it again at the end of the day. But we got it in the first pass. We used three or four cameras, because it's such a big, expensive moment. I’m not a huge multi-camera person unless I really need to do it. I like to keep the focus on one camera, but in this case, it made sense. There was a lot of buildup and a lot of prep, and we did a lot of rehearsal versions with water."
"But there was always this lingering fear that the viscosity and the behavior and the physics of the blood would be a little different to what it was like with water," Cronin continued. "So we definitely crossed our fingers, and then it was all over in a flash. I was like, 'Oh shit, we got it. We have it.' So that made for a fun day of shooting thereafter, because we weren’t thinking about cleanup and having to go back and do it again." Evil Dead Rise's blood elevator scene was made possible by Cronin's decision to set the 2023 horror flick in a Los Angeles apartment block and not the remote cabin of previous Evil Dead installments.
Evil Dead Rise Director On Potential Sequels
In a recent interview, Cronin argued that the franchise's classic cabin setting isn't necessary to make a satisfying Evil Dead movie. Instead, the director suggested that what really matters is recreating the sense of isolation that such a setting provides. Cronin has since suggested that a future Evil Dead outing could even take place on a space station "because it's contained and you've got five people there." That said, Cronin also noted that relocating Evil Dead off-planet might not fit with the established tone of the series.
Even if Cronin doesn't ultimately go through with his "Evil Dead in space" pitch, the filmmaker still has plenty of other ideas for sequels. The director said as much shortly after Evil Dead Rise's release, confirming that he had come up with four distinct directions the cult horror franchise could take next.
Evil Dead Rise is streaming now on Max.
Source: THR