In Evil Dead Burn, Alice (Souheila Yacoub) discovers that her husband’s family has a connection to the demonic and soul possessing deadites, and that connection comes back to haunt them in a rather gory and terrifying way in the film. It turns out that her husband’s grandfather, Benjamin, was researching the evil tome of ancient spells, the Necronomicon, as a member of the secret society the Circle of Wise Men. He also had come into position of the mystical Kandarian Dagger, which can send the deadites back to hell, so naturally the deadites want to get their hands on it to destroy it. And while Alice’s struggle against the deadites may have ended by the time the film’s end credits begin rolling, a post-credit scene for the film lets us know that the deadites’ attempts to invade and corrupt the world will be continuing.
What We See
In the aftermath, we returned to Silent Grace Crematorium, the mortuary that was seen earlier in the film. In what appears to be the worst take your daughter to work day ever, the funeral director is showing her daughter around the facility, stating that this is sometime after the incident we see earlier in the film. Mortician is cagey about what happened, which leads to one wondering how exactly do the aftermath of the various delight battles are explained away by authorities.
The funeral director shows her daughter some of the various crematory urns that have been left behind by families who haven’t bothered to return and pick them up. She is then called the way by the buzzing of the front door now leaving her daughter to her own devices looking at the urns and the name plates on them. One name plate stands out – Ellie Bixler, who we last saw in the previous Evil Dead movie, Evil Dead Rise.
As the little girl looks into a mirror hanging on a wall in the room, she sees Ellie’s reflection looking back at her telling her everything will be all right. The little girl turns around to see Ellie in full deadite mode standing behind her, who then reaches out and snaps the little girl’s neck before the screen cuts to black.
What It Could Mean
Ordinarily, the Evil Dead franchise doesn’t share too much heavy continuity. Outside of the first three films from director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell, you have your deadites and the Necronomicon and not much else joining together the more recent installments. So Alyssa Sutherland’s return as Ellie becomes a pretty unusual moment in the franchise and marks somewhat of a turning point in how these newer films may have deeper connections than previously thought. And her appearance is not the only one return from Evil Dead Rise. The film opens with Deadite Jessica (this time played by Anna-Maree Thomas) emerging from the lake where we saw her murdering her boyfriend Caleb and her cousin Teresa after being possessed by one of the deadite spirits set loose in Rise.
Evil Dead Burns also introduces an organization that is researching the Necronomicon and the deadites called the Circle of Wise Men. Alice’s grandfather-in-law Benjamin is a member and it is not too far a leap to suppose that Professor Raymond Knowby from the original Evil Dead film could have been a member of that group as well. A page in Benjamin’s notes holds a newspaper clipping with the headline “Four Dead Found In Cabin,” which feels like a reference to the original film, The Evil Dead.
So will we be seeing more of Deadite Ellie in a future Evil Dead film? Perhaps, but not right away. According to reports, the next Evil Dead installment – 2028’s Evil Dead Wrath – is a prequel set in 1972. But if the franchise is starting to build a larger more cohesive universe around itself, one could suppose that we will learn more about the Circle of Wise Men and their history in Evil Dead Wrath. And maybe we will see what happened to Professor Knowby and his wife Henrietta at that cabin in the woods all those years before Ash Williams and his friends chose it as a weekend getaway spot.
No Evil Dead projects have been announced beyond Evil Dead Wrath. Though if the films continue to make money there doesn’t seem to be too much of a reason for the franchise to not keep going on, especially with the groundwork they are laying down here. And should that happen, maybe we will see Deadite Ellie again. And if that’s the case, could the return of Ash Williams far behind?
