It's been an enduring franchise with a loyal fan base and a new generation of viewers who've all but ensured there will be more films to come from it. With Evil Dead Rise being a huge hit with critics and grossing close to $150 million against a $15 to $19 million budget, its success sets the basis for more world building. The Evil Dead franchise has been around since 1981 and now encompasses five films and a TV series.
While the first three films and the show, Ash vs. Evil Dead were all clearly connected, 2013's Evil Dead and Evil Dead Rise appeared to be standalone reboots. However, while it may not be apparent to anyone who hasn't followed the franchise closely, the TV show and the last film have actually provided enough clues that they're connected to each other, and both connected to the wider Evil Dead universe too. Here's our take on how Evil Dead Rise is and isn't connected to Ash vs. Evil Dead.
Some Context
The original film, TheEvil Dead, quickly became a horror classic when it first released back in 1981. Known for its creepy horror elements, creative story, and tons of gore, the film formed the basis for everything else to come. While the now iconic Sam Raimi had directed a fair few short films by that point, TheEvil Dead was only the second full-length feature film he'd made as writer and director. It quickly established him as star filmmaker, and he's been a legend of the horror scene since, among his other famous films such as the three Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies.
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The first film introduced us to the basics of the Evil Dead franchise. What we learned is that there exists an ancient Sumerian book known as the Necronomicon, the Naturom Demonto, or simply, the Book of the Dead. If certain spells or incantations are read from the book, and sometimes combined with an inadvertent blood offering to open the book, it has the ability to summon demonic entities known as Deadites. Deadites will possess any person they can, are super violent and want to kill everyone they encounter, However, being injured by one can also turn a person into one too, thus spreading the possession to others.
The Build-Up to Evil Dead Rise
The first two Evil Dead films saw the main survivor, Ash Williams, played by Bruce Campbell, being transported back in time to the Middle Ages where, in the third film, he eventually leads a war against a Deadite infestation. Significantly, we learn that there are in fact three Necronomicon books, but Ash assumes only one is real. 2013's Evil Dead seemed to be a complete reboot. While it retained the original setting (an isolated cabin in the woods), there were new characters with not much tying into the previous films.
With one sole survivor again, the fate of Ash and his journey didn't take center stage for the first time. By the time of the TV show, Ash vs. Evil Dead, we see Ash returned to what's assumed to be present day as he again has to join forces with others to fight an uprising of Deadites. By Evil Dead Rise, things seemed to have been rebooted again. However, on closer inspection, there were plenty of reasons to suggest that all the films and the show can be tied together into a semi-coherent universe.
Connections Between Evil Dead Rise and Ash vs. the Evil Dead
Evil Dead Rise's biggest difference from other installments is that it departs from the franchise's usual setting. This one takes place in a crumbling and soon to be demolished Los Angeles apartment block. Rather than a group of friends, it also revolves around a family. When guitar technician Beth visits her sister Ellie and her kids, Danny, Bridget, and Kassie, she finds that their father has left the home. When the kids are sent out for pizza, an apparent earthquake opens up a crack in the basem*nt parking. Danny discovers a Necronomicon underneath the crack together with some old vinyls.
By inadvertently opening the book and playing the vinyls that say the incantations needed to release a demon, Ellie is possessed and the ensuing Deadite chaos made for one scary and entertaining film that seems to standalone. However, on one of the vinyls, we hear a voice say, "Destroy it! It's called the ‘Book of the Dead’ for a reason". It's been confirmed that Bruce Campbell (Ash Williams) provided this voice cameo, so there's definitely reason to suspect that Ash may have been stuck in one of the timelines where he contributed to the vinyl recordings seen in Evil Dead Rise.
We know that Ash has time traveled before, and the show tells us he's still around fighting Deadites somewhere. Between the first two films, the 2013 movie, and Evil Dead Rise, it seems the Necronomicon pops up in different places. However, the third film, Evil Dead: Army of Darkness reveals that there are actually three books. This could simply mean that one book was used in the first two films, while events after the Middle Ages timeline led to the other two books being scattered elsewhere, one possibly in the cabin from the 2013 film and the other hidden in the vault that the earthquake reveals in Evil Dead Rise.
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This takes care of the apparent disconnection between the book seeming to exist in different places in different films since it's not the same book each time! Lastly, in a brilliant fan theory posted on YouTube we see how an event in Ash vs. Evil Dead may also have been the cause of the "earthquake" in Rise and how this moment ties the universe together.
Similarities with Other Films and Possible Future
These clues, together with others (the kids' pizza box has an Easter egg about a previous character named Henrietta) provide subtle clues that pay homage to earlier films. We also see weapons such as a chainsaw and shotgun been used across multiple installments. The Deadites in Evil Dead Rise are also consistent with past iterations. In other films, the demons could possess people and even other things like trees. In Rise we see Ellie being attacked by steel cables that are animated and horrifically bind her in an elevator.
The film also keeps up the gore factor and, by the end, there are two new survivors. Beth and little Kassie manage to fight their way out of the apartment and survive, though bloodied, and in Kassie's case, likely psychologically scarred for life. The film's end also shows how its opening sequences, which take place in an isolated wooden cabin, come about. We know that there is a Deadite that survived which provides a basis for further films and new Deadite uprising to come.
Since we now have three chief survivors across the installments, Ash, Mia from 2013's Evil Dead, and Beth and Kassie from Rise, an awesome possibility is that they may all come together in the future to fight a Deadite outbreak that occurs after the ending of Rise. If you haven't yet seen for yourself with why the Evil Dead franchise is such a beloved one among horror fanatics, now would be a great time to catch up on it.
