What actually happens
A cabin, a hole in the parking lot and a priest with a tape recorder
The movie opens at a lakeside cabin, where a possessed Jessica scalps her cousin Teresa, decapitates her boyfriend Caleb and floats above the lake. Jessica does not appear again until the final scene. The story then jumps back to one day earlier in L.A., where guitar technician Beth finds out she is pregnant and goes to see her estranged sister, Ellie. Ellie's husband has left, so she is raising Danny, Bridget and Kassie alone in an apartment. After dinner, an earthquake opens a hidden chamber under the parking lot. Danny goes down and finds religious artifacts, three records from 1923 and a book, which he takes upstairs to sell. The first record is a priest describing his failed research into the book, and the second has him reciting an incantation that summons demons called Deadites.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
Mom is not herself
The building loses power and something possesses Ellie. She comes home in a trance, threatens her kids, and dies after begging Beth to protect them. Neighbors help lay her out in the bedroom, but the stairs have collapsed, the elevator is broken and the fire escape is blocked. Ellie then revives and attacks, wounding Beth and Bridget, and kills the neighbors before Beth and the kids lock her out. Danny admits to Beth that he took the book from the vault. Ellie tricks Kassie into opening the door and goes after her, and while Beth and Danny rescue Kassie and shut Ellie out again, Bridget's wound gets worse and she is possessed. Bridget attacks the family, and Kassie accidentally runs a snapped broom handle through her mouth.
The third record says what the first two should have
Beth plays the last record, hoping it explains how to drive the Deadites out. It says the priest failed, his allies were all possessed, and only completely destroying the host body ended it. Bridget revives and stabs Danny, who sets her on fire before he dies. Ellie gets back into the apartment through the vents. When she realizes Beth is pregnant, she tries to tear the baby out of her. Beth and Kassie stop her with scissors. Ellie then tries to guilt Kassie into letting her back in, but Kassie has accepted that her mother is gone and says so.
A family reunion in the elevator
Danny and the dead neighbors are possessed too, and Beth and Kassie shelter in the damaged elevator. This is the scene people brace for, and it comes near the end: Ellie, Bridget and Danny merge into a multi-limbed creature called the Marauder, climb on top of the elevator, and attack while it fills with blood. Their combined weight makes the elevator drop to the ground floor, which frees Beth and Kassie to run into the parking lot. The Marauder grabs Kassie and tries to cut off her head with a chainsaw, but Beth comes back and distracts it. Beth and Kassie then shove it into a wood chipper, and when Ellie's severed head taunts Beth about being a bad mother, Beth kicks it in as well.
The ending, explained
Beth and Kassie leave the building together. Ellie, Bridget and Danny are all dead, and so are the neighbors who were trapped with them. The next morning, Jessica, the girl from the cabin at the beginning, heads out to the parking lot to start her vacation and is attacked by something unseen.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: no dog, though there is a cat in a vent.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Evil Dead Rise scary?
Yes, Evil Dead Rise is an 8 out of 10. It has plenty of jump scares, constant gore and a family turning on itself, and the dread lasts a few days.
How does Evil Dead Rise end?
Beth and Kassie destroy the monster made of Ellie, Bridget and Danny in a wood chipper and walk out of the building together. The last scene shows Jessica, the girl from the cabin, attacked in the parking lot.
Does the dog die in Evil Dead Rise?
No dog dies in Evil Dead Rise, because there are no dogs in it. A cat in an air vent is not harmed either.
Is there a post-credits scene in Evil Dead Rise?
No. Evil Dead Rise has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
What is the Marauder in Evil Dead Rise?
In Evil Dead Rise, the Marauder is the multi-limbed creature that the possessed Ellie, Bridget and Danny merge into near the end. Beth and Kassie destroy it in a wood chipper.
