Ellie was the older sister of Beth, and the mother of Bridget, Danny, and Kassie. After her son Danny discovered an ancient book and accidentally awakened the Kandarian Demon, Ellie was attacked by the creature and became a Deadite.
Ellie first appeared in the 2023 film Evil Dead Rise, portrayed by Alyssa Sutherland.
Biography
Early Life
There is very little information in regards to Ellie's life prior to the 2020s, though there are several key moments of note (though the order in which they occurred is unknown).
At some point in her life, Ellie developed aspirations to be a tattoo artist. This eventually led to her starting her own business, Ellie's Ink, which appeared to be a solo-operated venture. At another unspecified point, Ellie began a relationship with a man named Jay. While it is unknown if Ellie and Jay were ever married, the relationship produced three children: Bridget, Danny, and Kassie.
After some time of living in Monde Apartments in Los Angeles, Jay decided to leave the family for reasons unknown in 2023. On top of this, Ellie received news that the apartment building itself was scheduled for demolition in the coming months. It was then that Ellie decided to call her younger sister Beth for advice (or perhaps even financial assistance), though she received no reply.
Incident In The Apartment
Almost three months after Jay's departure (and one month before the apartment was set to be demolished), Beth arrived unannounced at Ellie's apartment. While happy to see her sister, Ellie was somewhat annoyed with her for ignoring her calls months prior. After explaining the family's current situation to Beth, Ellie's world would change when an earthquake struck the Los Angeles area, unveiling a hidden vault underneath the apartment's parking garage. Danny would investigate the vault, uncovering a strange book and three vinyl recordings, all of which he would bring back to the apartment above.
Some time shortly after retrieving these artifacts, Danny would listen to the vinyl recordings, which would unknowingly awaken an ancient demonic spirit. At the same time Danny was listening to these incantations, Ellie had just left their apartment, heading for the building's laundry room on the ground floor with a basket of clothes. Upon reaching the ground level, Ellie was attacked by the roving spirit and pushed back into the elevator, where she would be trapped and assaulted by the electrical wiring. During this attack, Ellie became host to a Deadite spirit, which slowly began to take over her body.
Following her ambush in the elevator, Ellie slowly shambled back to her apartment moments after the building lost power. Upon her return, Beth and the children immediately noticed the radical shift in Ellie's demeanor. For several brief moments, Ellie resisted the demon within her, telling Beth not to let "it" take her children. Beth and the children dragged Ellie out of the apartment to get help, but found that the elevator was malfunctioning and the stairwell had been destroyed by the earthquake. With no other option, they brought Ellie's body back to her bedroom, though it would be in here that her Deadite transformation truly began to take hold.
Ellie sat up in the bed as if nothing had happened, though her body's temperature was beginning to rise to an alarming rate. With no other options, Beth and the kids placed her in a bathtub of cold water, though Ellie almost immediately jumped from the water and began to crawl upon the ceiling. It was with this display of otherworldly powers that Ellie began to attack her family, stabbing Beth in the hand with a shard of glass and stabbing Bridget in the cheek with a tattoo gun stained with her evil-infused blood. When the neighbors came to investigate the commotion coming from with the apartment, they captured the attention of Ellie, who lunged out into the corridor to attack them. While Ellie was preoccupied with the neighbors, Beth and the children locked and barricaded the apartment's front door, trapping Ellie outside.
It was while Danny was showing his aunt the strange book that Ellie attempted to persuade her youngest daughter Kassie to open the door. Kassie unlocked the deadbolt, allowing Ellie to barely reach inside and grab her by the neck. Beth and Danny ran over and grabbed Kassie, shutting out Ellie once more.
Time passed, and Ellie waited patiently outside the apartment door as Bridget fell victim to Deadite possession as well. After Bridget had been subdued, Beth began to listen to the final vinyl record to hopefully learn more about what exactly was happening to her family. As she did this, Ellie realized she could use the building's ventilation system to crawl back into the apartment, sneaking up on Beth and attacking her. From her hiding place underneath a table, Kassie slid Beth a pair of scissors, which she proceeded to stab directly into Ellie's nostril. Momentary incapacitated, Ellie eventually arose from the floor and followed Beth and Kassie into the corridor, where they were attempting to escape. Though Beth managed to blast off Ellie's leg and arm using a nearby shotgun, she was quickly aided by the Deadite Bridget and the newly possessed Danny.
As Beth and Kassie escaped into the elevator, Bridget and Danny began to rip at their mother's flesh, fusing their bodies into a single creature known as "The Marauder". As the main mind of this monster, Ellie gave chase to her sister and daughter in the parking garage below, playing a game of "cat and mouse" before finally leading Beth towards a nearby large mobile wood-chipper. With Kassie's help, Beth attacked the Marauder with a chainsaw, forcing it to stumble back into the re-activated wood-chipper. The machine made quick work of grinding the monster into a bloody pulp until only Ellie's head remained. As Ellie let out one last series of taunts, Beth kicked her sister's head into the chipper, causing it to explode instantly.
Appearances In Other Media
Live Events
- Ellie (in her Deadite form) appeared in the Evil Dead Rise haunted house attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights event in 2023. Initially seen throughout the attraction portrayed by various "scare actors", Ellie is later depicted as a static mannequin figure as part of The Marauder near the attraction's end.
- The audio clips of Ellie heard throughout the attraction were not recorded by Alyssa Sutherland, but rather an unknown voice actor instead.
Gallery
Trivia
- Ellie is named after Ellen Sandweiss, who portrayed Cheryl Williams in The Evil Dead.
- Besides the name homage, Ellie's role in Evil Dead Rise is similar to Cheryl's in the original film. Both display a passion for artistry (Ellie as a tattoo artist, Cheryl with pencil drawings), both become the first to be possessed and are locked out of the main room (Ellie in the corridor, Cheryl in the cabin fruit cellar), and both are the sister of the film's protagonist (Ellie is Beth's older sister, while Cheryl is Ashley's younger sister).