The Evil Dead Reboot Needed An Absurd Amount Of Fake Blood
Evil Dead's 2013 reboot used an insane 50,000 gallons of fake blood for once scene, over three times the amount used in Evil Dead Rise.
The Evil Dead series is known for its gory visuals and grotesque subject matter, going all the way back to the original 1981 Sam Rami film starring Bruce Campbell. Even the live show Evil Dead the Musical followed suit, with the front rows of the audience being labeled the “splash zone.” The upcoming Evil Dead Rise continues this tradition, as SlashFilm reports the Lee Cronin-directed sequel to the 2013 remake used a whopping 1,700 gallons of fake blood.
Lee Cronin told SlashFilm that Evil Dead Rise needed to rent out an industrial kitchen to cook up the blood, which was designed to be sticky, visceral and get everywhere. And “get everywhere” it did, with Cronin saying that the blood splatters all over the screen during the film.
To give the 1,700-gallon figure some perspective, the average bathtub only holds 42 gallons of water, meaning you’d have to take just over 40 full-to-the-brim bloodbaths to use up all the fake blood. While Cronin didn’t reveal how exactly Evil Dead Rise plans to use that massive volume of blood, the film is sure to be a very messy affair.
Though 1,700 gallons is an impressive figure, it’s actually not the most blood that’s been used in the franchise. The 2013 Evil Dead film, directed by Fede Álvarez, reportedly used 50,000 gallons of fake blood in the final scene alone. This scene featured a blood-soaked Jane Levy fighting her blood-soaked doppelganger as blood rains down on the area outside the cabin.
While it appeared at first that 2013’s Evil Dead was a remake of the original 1981 film, Sam Raimi said that the movie was meant to be in the same continuity as the original. This was hinted at in an after-credits scene, which showed a silhouette of Ash Williams, the protagonist of the original three films. However, Sam Raimi’s original plans to make Army of Darkness 2 following the 2013 Evil Dead fell through, so it’s not clear whether Evil Dead Rise will move forward with the supposed connection between the movies.
In fact, it’s unclear whether the latest film will have any direct connection to its predecessor. None of the cast of the 2013 film is featured in the sequel, which stars Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, and Lily Sullivan. It does appear to feature some evil book that brings back demon-possessed corpses, though it doesn’t have the same design as the Naturom Demonto from the 2013 film or the Necronomicon Ex Mortis from the original movies.
The plot of Evil Dead Rise centers around the reunion of two estranged sisters, which is cut short after one of the sisters becomes possessed by a demon after a mysterious book is discovered at the foundations of her apartment building. If the 1,700 gallons of fake blood is any indication, things do not go well for the apartment’s inhabitants.
Evil Dead Rise premiered at SXSW 2023 on March 15 but won’t release in theaters until April 21.
