It's not exactly unusual to develop a new fear or complex about something after watching a horror film, but usually, these don't involve a kitchen utensil which we use everyday.
Fans of a certain gory fright flick are now flinching every time they open the kitchen drawer due to one particularly disturbing scene in the fifth instalment of this terrifying franchise.
Netflix has plenty to offer in the horror department, but there is one movie on the streaming platform which really leaves a lasting impact on viewers - arguably one of 2023's biggest films of it's genre, it's Evil Dead Rise.
Take a look at the trailer here:
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Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin, who wrote and directed the chilling gore-fest, really got inventive when he was coming up with ways to scare and sicken the audience.
And surprisingly, his source of inspiration was the items on his kitchen side.
But first, let's introduce you to the twisted tale in Evil Dead Rise which stars including Morgan Davies, Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan and original franchise actor, Bruce Campbell, all told brilliantly.
What is Evil Dead Rise about?
It kicks off with single-mum Ellie (Sutherland) is living in a condemned apartment complex in Los Angeles with her two teenage kids, Danny (Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and her young daughter Kassie (Nell Fisher).
Her estranged sister (Sullivan) comes to visit them in the city, only for an earthquake to hit.
The tremor exposes a concealed chamber in the building, which none of the residents were aware of, that contains a strange book and creepy phonograph records left behind by a priest.
Although you'll be yelling 'don't do it' at the screen, the characters obviously end up messing around with it and unknowingly summon flesh-possessing demons.
The synopsis explains that the sisters are 'thrust into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable'.
Evil Dead Rise boasts a respectable 84 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it received a great reception from horror fans, however, there was one scene which didn't sit well with viewers. Beware, as there will be spoilers below.
Basically, at one point a possessed Bridget is scrapping with her aunt Beth and suddenly grabs a cheese grater, before scraping it down the back of her relatives calf, which is enough to put you off cheese for life.
And it has for some people, who shared their reviews of the horrifying fight scene online.
One said: "I'm usually a pretty quiet movie watcher, but the moment in Evil Dead Rise involving a cheese grater had me actually screaming. Lee Cronin, you're pretty f***ed up, good job!"
Another wrote: "Evil Dead Rise synopsis: cheese grater fear unlocked."
A third added: "Unapologetically silly, disgusting and obscenely violent. If you’re looking for an onslaught of sadistic carnage, you’re in the right place. It does take a bit to get going, but once it does…it really does."
A fourth commented: "Lee Cronin understood the damn assignment. Creative kills, unique household items used as weapons, practical effects body horror, manic laughing deadites and circus-level contortionism."
While a fifth joked: "As someone who has cheese-grated his knuckle off twice, I felt seen."
Cronin's kitchen inspiration
So how did Cronin come up with such a disturbing method of attack for Evil Dead Rise?
Well, the director explained he was holed up in his apartment while writing the screenplay during the first phase of Covid, which made him 'look around the domestic space maybe more than I first intended'.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he explained: "Being Irish, the kitchen is the heart of the home, even in the context of an apartment.
"I had the bones of the dialogue and the metaphorical qualities of what the possessed Bridget is saying to Beth, and where we are in the story. I just knew that I was missing something."
He didn't know what the secret ingredient was, except from that he needed it to be 'particularly visceral outside of a physical struggle between the two of them', until he walked into his kitchen.
Cronin continued: "I saw the cheese grater sitting there, and I was like, 'Ooh, I have to use that.' I probably paused lunch and went back and wrote a version of what that could be like.
"I do remember thinking, 'Where's the gnarliest place that this could be used?' There was something about the back of the calf that felt particularly icky. It's that thing of looking for familiarity with me. Everybody has scuffed their knuckles on a cheese grater before. It makes you tense up a little bit, so it felt like a fun thing to put in."
Topics: Film, Netflix, TV and Film, Weird, Horror
Olivia Burke