A line of dialogue from the Evil Dead Rise trailer recalls the original splatter classic in the most disgusting way. Evil Dead Rise is the fifth entry in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise, which initiated with the 1981 original, The Evil Dead. The Evil Dead was notorious for its stomach-churning gore, which truly lived up to the horror subgenre’s “splatter” name. Fittingly, the 2023 installment, Evil Dead Rise, honors the original in an appropriately gross way.
Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead Rise is set to refresh the Evil Dead franchise with a narrative seemingly ancillary to Ash’s classic battles against the zombies known as “Deadites.” Instead, Evil Dead Rise will focus on two estranged sisters saving their family from the evil forces unleashed by an evil book – also known as the Naturom Demonto. The trailer for Evil Dead Rise features a brief reference to this book and its powers, which celebrates the original The Evil Dead‘s repulsive ending.
The Maggots Line References The Evil Dead’s Ending
During the trailer for Evil Dead Rise, a Deadite chillingly utters the line, “Mommie’s with the maggots now.” This is terrifying in its own right, evoking notions of death and decay which suggest the character’s mother is dead and rotting, and therefore far beyond the reach of the mortal protagonists. But this line is also a callback to Evil Dead‘s ending.
The original The Evil Dead ends with Ash burning the Naturom Demonto, which causes the Deadites to rapidly decompose. The zombies decay in a gross and elaborate stop-motion sequence which features singular maggots crawling out of their bodies. The “Mommie’s with the maggots now” line from the Evil Dead Rise trailers recalls this scene and even foreshadows the new character’s fate. She is now “with the maggots,” and thus transformed into a Deadite and presumably doomed.
Evil Dead Rise Honors The Original Movie
The reference to maggots in the Evil Dead Rise trailer is a subtle callback to the original The Evil Dead which functions to solidify the movie within the wider Evil Dead franchise. As Evil Dead Rise will feature an extraneous narrative, having some minor connections to Ash’s Evil Dead era will unify the franchise and establish a connection to Raimi’s 1981 original. It also serves to honor the original The Evil Dead, which is widely regarded as a horror triumph and the paragon of splatter movies. A new movie must recognize this and celebrate The Evil Dead‘s importance.
There are some other moments in the trailer which resemble the original Evil Dead. The elevator scene depicts a character held in place by wires and cables, which is reminiscent of Evil Dead‘s infamous tree scene, during which a character is assaulted by the grasping branches of a demonically possessed tree. Aside from similar, minor references to Raimi’s The Evil Dead, it is unclear how Evil Dead Rise will fit into the wider franchise, but it will evidently celebrate and maintain the original’s nauseating precedent.
