Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Evil Dead Rise.Evil Dead Rise has officially introduced yet another stellar entry into the long-running horror franchise, and a big reason for that is the introduction of a surefire horror movie icon in Alyssa Sutherland's Ellie.
Lee Cronin's take on the Evil Dead franchise certainly has a lot going for it already, featuring plenty of homages to the original films, some wonderfully eerie visuals, and kills so brutal that it would make Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) himself proud. Those are all vital elements to a great Evil Dead movie, but the secret sauce of the franchise has and likely always will be the Deadites and who portrays them. The villainous undead demons have been with the franchise since the beginning, but they are much more than your average zombie from a Living Dead film. When a host becomes the victim of the Kandarian Demon, they become an actual agent of chaos, using inhuman strength, tactful manipulation techniques, and even a twisted sense of humor to torture those trapped with it. In the case of Evil Dead Rise, the Kandarian Demon chooses to turn a once-loving mother into a murderous matriarch.
Ellie's Life Before 'Evil Dead Rise' Was Pleasant, but Not Perfect
Before one of her children finds a copy of the dreaded Necronomicon, Ellie lives her life to the fullest as a Los Angeles-based tattoo artist and mother to three children. Ellie's three kids include the responsible Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), the inquisitive Danny (Morgan Davies), and the imaginative Kassie (Nell Fisher), and while they do get into a general amount of mischief and nonsense, it's nothing more than that of the average kid or teenager. Ellie is certainly no psychopathic parent like Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) as she loves her children with all her heart and relies on them to help her get through her current life-changing situations, such as her husband leaving her and being evicted from their rundown apartment.
Ellie also gets a pleasant surprise when her sister, Beth (Lily Sullivan), surprises Ellie and her family with a visit. Beth spent the last few years on the road as a band technician, but Ellie views her sister's current job as nothing more than a groupie. Beth resents her sister's characterization of her passion for music but is also going through her own struggles when she discovers she's pregnant, presumably with a band member's child. Beth has actually been so busy that she's become detached from her family's life, and just when she thinks she can make things right, an earthquake reveals an ancient evil.
Ellie the Deadite Plays Dead
When Danny retrieves a new version of the Necronomicon and plays the corresponding records, he leads the Kandarian Demon right to Ellie. In a scene that's reminiscent of Cheryl's (Ellen Sandweiss) possession in the original Evil Dead film (though thankfully without some of the more taboo implications), Ellie is then tangled up in the wires of her elevator and has her face beaten and bones broken by the elevator. Now fully under the Necronomicon spell, this deranged version of Ellie crawls her way back to the apartment and starts cracking some bloody eggs open and talking about how she can't wait to torment her family members. Afterward, she starts convulsing on the floor, but a single shred of what's left of Ellie is able to deliver the following cryptic statement to Beth: "Don't let it take my babies."
The shocking event floors Beth and her nieces and nephew, who think Ellie is just injured and has collapsed on the spot. However, as the lifeless corpse lays in bed, it becomes abundantly clear that whatever is inside Ellie's body is just toying with her new family.
Ellie's Possession Unleashes Her Intrusive Thoughts
Motherhood is a clear thematic element of Evil Dead Rise. We already mentioned that Beth is on the cusp of becoming a parent after getting pregnant, and she likely fears she won't ever be the responsible mother that her sister Ellie is. It's also implied that Beth and Ellie's own mother was far from a model parent.
It's always tough to tell if a Deadite is in tune with its host's thoughts and emotions or if it's exaggerating everything to intimidate its victims. Still, in the case of Ellie, the demon tries to convince Ellie's family that the mother never loved her kids. As even the most loving parents probably know, children can be the source of immense stress and anguish, and sometimes, dark intrusive thoughts come and go in an instant. The Ellie Deadite is the walking, talking example of what happens when the intrusive thoughts win, blaming every single inconvenience and obstacle on the kids and channeling the produced rage into a true monster. Even worse, the cruel creature feigns sweetness and kindness at various points, such as when she tells Kassie to open the front door for her to give her a big ol' hug and kiss.
Ellie's Deadite form is the encapsulation of everything that Beth fears about motherhood. While she may not think she'll become a homicidal hell-spawn, she does worry about failing to take care of a life. All great villains challenge the hero's worldview, and Ellie does that exact thing to brutal and bloody effect.
Even the Undead Have a Sense of Humor in the ‘Evil Dead’ Franchise
The Evil Dead series has always balanced its horrifying visuals with a subtle sense of humor. While Ellie spends most of the movie trying to kill her offspring, she also does have some legitimately hysterical lines. There's something darkly comedic about how this all-powerful demon constantly hurls profane and borderline childish insults against her victims. Some may argue humor in an incredibly dark story like this shouldn't mix, but if anything, it further exemplifies the true dark heart of this sinister demon. The Deadite could easily kill the four family members whenever she wanted to, but she still gets a sick thrill from terrifying the young survivors.
Ellie Would Not Work Without Alyssa Sutherland
Deadites playing with their food is typically their biggest weakness, and that turns out to be the case yet again in Evil Dead Rise when the Cronenberg version of Ellie is finally killed via chainsaw at the end of the film. We could spend all day talking about the final boss creature, but we really have to call attention to how incredible Alyssa Sutherland is in the part and how this should absolutely signify the start of a blossoming film career.
The Vikings star is able to exemplify so many emotions and take up so many different forms in a film that's only a little over ninety minutes long. We see her as a loving mother, a concerned sister, and of course, a bloodthirsty demon, and all three come across as genuine and convincing. It's rare that we get a character from a horror movie that isn't just an entertaining maniacal killer, but also offers a real tragedy in that a genuinely good person was unceremoniously taken away.
If one were to look back at the many mascots of horror villainy, one would see the actors who portray the best of them are often always credited as a major component to their success. Freddy Krueger has Robert Englund, Candyman has Tony Todd, and Ellie has Alyssa Sutherland.
Evil Dead Rise is currently playing in theaters.