The “Evil Dead” franchise has risen, and it’s looking positively groovy. The official trailer for “Evil Dead Rise,” the fifth installment in the cult classic horror film franchise launched by Sam Raimi, was released by Warner Bros. on Wednesday.

The film is directed by Lee Cronin, best known for his 2019 horror film “The Hole in the Ground,” and stars Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan as Ellie and Beth, two sisters who reunite after years apart when Beth visits Ellie and her three children in Los Angeles. While exploring Ellie’s apartment building, the women discover the Naturom Demonto, or the “Book of the Dead” from the other films, which summons demons known as Deadites to Earth when passages are read. This being an “Evil Dead” film, Ellie and Beth, of course, read from the book, and the Deadites rise. When one of them possesses Ellie, Beth ends up in the battle of her life attempting to protect her nieces and nephew from her own sister. The cast of the film also includes Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, and Mia Challis.

The original “Evil Dead” film was directed by Raimi and starred Bruce Campbell as university student Ash Williams, who attempts to survive a night in a cabin in the woods after his friends summon the Deadites. The film became a cult classic and spawned two new films directed by Raimi and starring Campbell — “Evil Dead II” in 1987, which was a quasi-remake of the first film with a horror comedy bent, and 1992’s “Army of Darkness,” which saw Ash battling the undead in the Middle Ages. There was also a soft reboot of the franchise in 2013 directed by Fede Álvarez, which featured Campbell in an end-credits cameo, and the three-season Starz series “Ash vs. Evil Dead.”

This time around, Raimi is again not in the director’s chair and Campbell will reportedly not be in the film, according to a teaser he filmed for the trailer release. The two will executive produce, however, and Raimi reportedly handpicked Cronin to helm the film. New Line Cinema, the distributor of the original film, serves as the production company on the movie.

“Evil Dead Rise” was initially expected to release on HBO Max, but will now receive a full theatrical release. The film is scheduled to rise from the grave and descend on theaters April 21. Watch the Green Band trailer below and head here for the Red Band version.

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