How Evil Dead Burn Connects to EVERY Other Movie in the Franchise (Including the Post-Credit Scenes)

Like so many other horror movie franchises, The Evil Dead series is one that has a pretty distinct lore, but with connectivity that feels more like it’s a little more pliable than totally rigid. As fans know, the second film does a quick recap of the original without using in footage (a rights issue), and Army of Darkness has a few different endings that tease what comes next. Modern entries in the series have been vaguely related to the previous movies, too, even if Bruce Campbell’s Ash hasn’t really appeared in a meaningful way. That changes this week, though, with the next film in the series.

Evil Dead Burn has arrived as the sixth movie in the Evil Dead franchise, and though it’s once again a standalone film in the series that largely just plays with the rules of having Deadites terrorize people, it actually plays with the lore in unique ways. It’s one thing for surprise Easter eggs to be included, or vague references to the past of the films that wink at the larger fandom, but Evil Dead Burn takes what came before it and builds it into the foundation of its plot, referencing not only the original movie but the 2023 sequel as well.

Evil Dead Burn’s Plot Is Built on the Original, But Connects to EVERY Movie

Central to the plot of Evil Dead Burn is the death of Will (George Pullar), husband to Souheila Yacoub’s Alice but the eldest son of a now fractured family. Before the plot really even kicks off with Evil Dead Burn, though, it becomes clear that this family has major connections to the franchise’s lore as it’s revealed that Will and Joseph’s grandfather was actually friends with Professor Raymond Knowby.

As longtime fans may recall, Professor Knowby is the voice found on the recording in the first two Evil Dead movies, having discovered the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and later logging the details of what occurred after reading from the book of the dead (and the Kandarian demon that it summoned). Scattered across the family home are not only recordings from the Grandfather about his work with Knowby, but also copies of pages from the Necronomicon (and even a sketch of the Necronomicon from the 2013 remake of Evil Dead).

It’s also revealed in Evil Dead Burn that Professor Knowby and Joseph’s grandfather actually belonged to a group that was adamant about studying the Necronomicon and finding ways to repel the Kanadrian demons. This group was called The Circle of Wise Men, which seems like a clear reference to the character of the same name from Army of Darkness, a mage who helps Ash Williams and who seemingly would pass on his knowledge of the Deadites to what would become this group.

There’s also a larger plot reason given for why the Deadites are targeting this family, Joseph’s grandfather has in his possession a Kanadrian dagger that can kill the Deadites. Evil Dead fans know these well, and not only is it revealed that there’s a whole collection of Kanadrian daggers, but a gag is also made out of the one from Evil Dead II being used to try and kill a Deadite (who jests “wrong one” after being stabbed by it).

All of those connections tie Evil Dead Burn directly to the original three films as well as the Fede Álvarez remake, but that leaves one: Evil Dead Rise. The new movie builds directly out of that 2023 film, though, with the most prominent connections.

Evil Dead Burns’ Post-Credit Scene Acts as a Sequel to Evil Dead Rise

It’s worth noting that Evil Dead Burn acts as almost a stealth sequel to Evil Dead Rise, since the movie opens by picking up directly from the events that bookended the last movie. As fans may recall, Evil Dead Rise started and ended with a trio of friends at the lake, one of whom becomes possessed by a deadite and kills the others.

As Evil Dead Burn starts, two friends are out fishing on that very lake, only to catch the severed head of Caleb on their fishing line and to be terrorized by the still-possessed Jessica, who has apparently claimed the lake as her demonic hunting ground. Not only does she kill the two characters in the opening scene, but she also waits idly by at the lake for Will to drive his car nearby, standing in the road and causing the accident that takes him off the road. Possessed Jessica uses this as a means to possess Will, setting the stage for the Deadites trying to find the Kandarian dagger.

The connections between Evil Dead Burn and Evil Dead Rise don’t end there, though. Though the first credits scene for the film, a mid-credit gag which shows the possessed Grandma Polly stealing a woman’s legs so she can walk again, isn’t connected and just serves as a payoff to a joke from the main film, the post-credit scene does tie-in to the 2023 movie.

In the scene, the action returns to the crematorium from earlier in the film where the daughter of the woman in charge looks at some of the unclaimed urns featuring the remains of the deceased. Among them is on labeled “Ellie,” referencing Alyssa Sutherland’s character from Evil Dead Rise. The little girl then looks in a mirror and sees Ellie’s reflection, only to find her standing next to her. After Ellie kills the little girl, she offers a tease for the future, saying, “Mommy’s back.”

Though it’s unclear how Ellie could return after her character was fully destroyed in the last movie (her head was cut off and later thrown into a wood chipper), it does set the stage for a surprise in the world of the Evil Dead, as it means fan-favorite Deadites from across the franchise could find a way to return. That said, 2028’s Evil Dead Wrath has already been confirmed as a prequel, set in the 1970s before the events of the first two films, so there may be even more surprises in store for the franchise.

Evil Dead Burn Was Forced to Cut One Brutal Scene Down to Qualify for an R Rating (But You’ll See it Eventually)