SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains minor spoilers for Evil Dead Rise. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!
Any fan will tell you that it’s not a proper Evil Dead movie unless there is some seriously grotesque chainsaw-centric action, and Evil Dead Rise certainly does deliver – but it’s also hard not to notice one key change that the film opts to make with said weapon. Sam Raimi’s original trilogy and Fede Álvarez’s 2013 reboot all feature chainsaws that are bright red, but the new film sees Lily Sullivan’s Beth wielding one that is a dull yellow. On the surface, this may seem like an odd choice, as it’s a noticeable change to an important piece of iconography, but there is a specific reason, and it’s because of just one of the amazing Evil Dead Rise easter eggs implanted by director Lee Cronin.
The filmmaker himself told me about this when I had the opportunity to interview him earlier this month during the virtual press day for Evil Dead Rise – though the subject came up not through talking about chainsaws, but rather discussing another important part of Evil Dead history: Sam Raimi’s 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, nicknamed “The Classic” (which is not only featured in all three movies in the original Evil Dead trilogy, but every single film that Raimi has made). The vehicle isn’t used in Evil Dead Rise, and when I asked Cronin if he talked with Raimi about using it, he explained why he felt it wasn’t a proper fit for the film he was making:
I just never felt that that Ellie as a character was gonna be riding around in 1970s Oldsmobile Delta. So it just didn't quite fit the story. But because of my love for the franchise and wanting to join dots and connect things, I kind of chose a car that was relevant to her as a mother – this big, you know, Buick Roadmaster. But it has some of the same charm as the Delta in its own way.
The Buick Roadmaster in the movie is also yellow, which is a nod to the Delta 88, but the director made a special point of referencing “The Classic” through the design of the chainsaw. Continuing, Lee Cronin told me that the weapon isn’t just any shade of yellow, but the exact same one that was used for the paint job on the 1973 Oldsmobile. Said Cronin,
The chainsaw, which has typically been red, is actually the color of the Oldsmobile Delta in this movie, the exact shade, got it color matched. So if you go back and watch the chainsaw, you'll see the color tonality of the Delta represented on screen. And there's a lot more easter eggs like that in this movie, so it takes multiple viewing and lots of digging to actually figure them all out.
You can see the color match in the side-by-side shots below of the Evil Dead Rise chainsaw and the Delta 88 from The Evil Dead:
As noted by Lee Cronin, the yellow chainsaw is just one of many excellent easter eggs that are included in Evil Dead Rise, from deep cut nods to the previous films (like the Necronomicon being one of three volumes) to references to others horror classics (including Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining).
The critically acclaimed Evil Dead Rise is now playing in theaters everywhere, and it just had a great opening weekend at the box office. Stay tuned for more from my interviews from the press day, dig into the full history of the brilliant horror franchise with my Evil Dead’s History And Legacy column, and plan your next trip to the theater with our 2023 Movie Release Calendar.
