EVIL DEAD RISE is now in theatres. It’s a groovy, gory mess of fun that any franchise or horror fan can enjoy. And fans can even find some Evil Dead Easter eggs along the way!
Evil Dead Rise Easter Eggs You May Have Missed
Familiar Opening POV Feels
The way in which the camera pans and flies through the air at a terrifying speed that Raimi uses is imitated by the drone in the opening scene. It also starts in a lakeside setting to play with your expectations despite the fact that the rest of the movie is in an urban setting.
A Core of 5
The original The Evil Dead had a core group of 5 protagonists: five Michigan college students who inadvertently unleash demonic spirits while holidaying in a remote cabin in the woods, a story that Stephen King dubbed a “good campfire story.”
Henrietta’s Pizza
On the pizza boxes the kids bring home, there is a reference to the Deadites seen in the cellar in Evil Dead II.
Vines and Elevator Wires
The way in which Ellie is ensnared by the elevator wires when she is first confronted by the Deadites in the apartment elevator is similar to the way in which Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) was brutally violated by the vines/tree branches in The Evil Dead.
The Deadites
The Deadites are the demons that look to possess the bodies of mortals and feast on their souls and are seen in all of the Evil Dead films.
Necronomicon Ex-Mortis
The Necronomicon Ex-Mortis is the ancient Sumerian text, also known as the Book Of The Dead, that originally unleashed hell when Ash and his friends find it in the cabin’s cellar in the first film of the franchise that is central to all of the films.
This supernatural object allows its user to control the Deadites and summon the Kandarian Demon, the creator of the Deadites.
The Necronomicon (aka the Naturom Demonto) is typically the catalyst for the return of the Deadites; its destruction is what defeats the demons in The Evil Dead (1981).
Evil Record of Incantations
While this movie shows Danny playing vinyl he found in the vault after the earthquake (kids, don’t steal things), the original 1981 film was tape reels containing evil sounds and in the sequel, Ash found tapes with evil material to unleash the demons.
The vinyl Danny has is labeled with a date of 1923. This is likely a nod to the original Evil Dead timeline when the first Deadites were released after the tape recording played that features an explorer named Raymond Knowby reading the Necronomicon. While the 1923 date and recording method don’t perfectly align with the original trilogy’s events, Evil Dead Rise’s nod to the Knowby incantation tapes from the first three Evil Dead movies is apparent.
Bruce Campbell Cameo
Bruce Campbell’s voice can be heard when the records are being played backward. The question though, is it just Campbell as a cameo or is it an incarnation of Ash William’s?
Ellie’s bathroom
Kubrick fans and Lee Cronin fans will appreciate that Cronin usually includes The Shining nods in his films. Ellie’s bathroom resembles Overlook Hotel Room 237’s bathroom. Fans of The Shining will remember its pastel green walls and ceramics, a room where Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance has a pivotal scene. Ellie’s bathroom has similarly shaded green tile and also features a similar shower tub on the back wall of the room. Its yellow wallpaper is a nod to the yellow trim in the Room 237 bathroom.
The Flying Eyeball
When we see Ellie launch the detached eye of one victim into the mouth of another in the hallway, it is a nod to Evil Dead II when Ash’s girlfriend is a victim of the same treatment.
The Shotgun
Ash used a single-barreled Winchester 37A 20-gauge shotgun to fight off the Deadites in The Evil Dead and Mr. Fonda uses a shotgun in Evil Dead Rise that Beth later picks up.
When the shotgun returned in Evil Dead II, the Winchester model was replaced with a 12-gauge double-barreled Stevens 311-C model. In Army of Darkness, the shotgun (now an IGA Stoeger Coach Gun) earned its more famous nickname of “The Boomstick.”
Sam Raimi’s Oldsmobile Delta 88
Not only a staple Easter egg in every Evil Dead film but in every Sam Raimi film, the vehicle itself isn’t in the film but its color is the color of the chainsaw.
The Chainsaw
Of course, there is a chainsaw, it wouldn’t be an Evil Dead film without one. However, it is the exact color of Ash’s trusty ‘The Oldsmobile’ Delta 88 Royale.
Elevator Scene
Another nod to The Shining is the Elevator scene toward the end. When the elevator opens and we see Beth and Kassie in a pool of blood it’s similar to when the elevator in The Shining when it opens and to a wave of blood in the Overlook Hotel.
Irish Catholicism
There are several nods to Irish Catholicism throughout the film, including a leprechaun on the keys.
What was your favorite Evil Dead Rise Eater Egg? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments.
Evil Dead Rise is in theatres April 21.
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