Evil Dead Rise Production Designer Reveals Challenge of Elevator Scene, Which Required a “Blood Tank”

Evil Dead Rise was released in theaters earlier this month, and it’s been a pretty big hit with critics. Currently, the film is up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 84% critics score and a 79% audience score. ComicBook.com‘s Kofi Outlaw gave the movie a 3.5 out of 5 and said it “carves out a promising new future for the franchise.” Just like the Evil Dead movies that came before, Rise is a pretty bloody affair. There’s an especially blood-soaked scene that sees Beth (Lily Sullivan) and Kassie (Nell Fisher) trapped in an elevator as it fills up with blood. Recently, production designer Nick Bassett spoke with Bloody Disgusting about bringing the challenging scene to life. 

“There was an idea that it’s an apartment and a hallway, but it’s actually an apartment, a hallway, the elevator is a huge part of it, the parking building that we drive into and the ground cracks plays a lot, and then the underground vault,” Bassett said of creating the sets. He added that the tiny elevator set had to perform multiple functions, and it required a 24-hour shift. The main unit would film the actors during the day while a second unit would do pick-up shots at night. 

“We’d fill it with blood one day, sink it into this blood tank, and then hot-water wash it off and dry it, and then put it back into its un-bloody state for the next day. It was such a strange process,” Bassett shared with a laugh. 

“I’m proud of the fact that we were literally able to create an imaginary building and take people for a ride, when I think about what actually existed before we started this film and what we ended up with. Everything being a set meant we were able to control everything,” Bassett added. “I thought the in-camera nature of it gave it a very old-fashioned feel in a way. It felt like how you would make a film years ago, and I think everyone embraced that. That gave it a spirit. I’m proud of the atmosphere we created, really.”

During a recent interview with The New York Times, Sullivan also talked about the “blood tank” and struggles of filming the scene. 

“There were days where they were like, ‘We’re going to dunk you in a giant tank of blood, and, Hey Lil, check out this slippery slide where it’s going to drop this ton of blood in an elevator, like The Shining’ – there were so many moments where you would be hysterically laughing. Then it becomes a very serious working environment. It’s a rare, extreme boundary to be working in, and it’s great to cross that boundary,” she shared. 

Evil Dead Rise is now playing in theaters.