Evil Dead Rise

Jessica is already possessed by a Deadite when she attacks at the lakeside cabin. The film opens with this sequence to establish that the evil from the Naturom Demonto book has been spreading long before the main story in the apartment begins. The attack serves as a cold open demonstrating the book's corrupting influence.

The opening attack mirrors the possession events that later consume Ellie's family.

Ellie becomes possessed first because she is the first person to touch the book after discovering it in the basement. When Danny brings the religious artifacts and the Naturom Demonto volume up to the apartment, Ellie examines them without understanding the danger. Her direct contact with the book allows the demonic entity to possess her.

The earthquake strategically places the book in Danny's path, ensuring the family finds it.

The Marauder is a merged abomination created when multiple possessed hosts combine into a single entity. In the film, Ellie, Bridget, and Danny physically fuse together into this grotesque monster. The possessed bodies meld into one larger Deadite, combining their strength and creating an even more dangerous threat that Beth and Kassie must face.

The records mention that Deadites can merge and grow more powerful.

When Ellie discovers Beth is pregnant, she specifically targets the fetus because demons in the Evil Dead universe view unborn children as particularly vulnerable vessels. The Deadite Ellie attempts to destroy the baby rather than just Beth, demonstrating the sadistic nature of the possession. This adds another layer of horror to the siege.

The final phonograph record reveals that the priest's research concluded Deadites cannot be exorcized or defeated while the host body remains intact. The demon is bound to the flesh, so only by killing and completely destroying the host can the entity be eliminated. This forces Beth and the children into the brutal choice of having to kill their own family members.

The priest's failed attempts are documented in the first two records.

Danny discovers the book and records in the basement hidden chamber and believes they could help his struggling mother Ellie. He sees the religious artifacts as potentially valuable and thinks the old book might be worth money to help their family financially. His intentions are innocent, but curiosity leads him to bring the cursed object into their home.

Danny's desire to help his mother is established early as he watches Ellie struggle.

The final scene reveals Jessica, who was at the lakeside cabin at the beginning, is attacked by an unseen presence in the parking lot as she prepares to leave. This implies the evil has spread beyond the apartment complex and suggests Jessica was also possessed during the opening sequence. Her attack sets up that the terror continues even after Beth and Kassie's escape.

The cold open establishes Jessica as patient zero of this new evil spread.

Only Beth and Kassie survive. Ellie, Bridget, and Danny are all killed in the process of fighting the demonic entities. The possessed family members are destroyed - Ellie and Bridget are killed when the Marauder is fed into the wood chipper, and Danny dies from wounds inflicted by the possessed Bridget. Beth and Kassie escape the apartment complex but the ending implies the evil is still active.

The high body count among family members reflects the film's brutal tone.

The three records from 1923 document a priest's investigation into the Naturom Demonto book. The first record details his failed attempts to study the book. The second reveals his secret research and the incantation that summons Deadites. The third contains the devastating conclusion that the only way to stop a Deadite is total destruction of the host. These records serve as both exposition and a countdown to the family's doom.

Each record is played at key moments, building toward the final revelation.

Beth and Kassie lure the Marauder into the apartment building's parking area and use an industrial wood chipper to destroy the merged creature. They overpower it and feed the monstrous combination of Ellie, Bridget, and Danny into the machine. This visually echoes the classic Evil Dead method of dismemberment as the only means of stopping a Deadite.

The earlier revelation that total destruction is required makes this the logical solution.