Editorials
So Did “Ash vs. Evil Dead” Really Just Kill Off That Character?
Leading up to this year’s premiere of “Ash vs. Evil Dead,“ Bruce Campbell had been hyping Season 3 as a “game-changer,” even noting that the season was essentially made as if a fourth season was not going to be ordered by Starz. In other words, the season is operating as if it’s the show’s final one… in case it actually ends up being.
(Sadly, there’s a good chance the Season 3 finale will indeed be the series finale.)
This past Sunday’s episode, titled “Tales from the Rift,” primarily centered on two main storylines, both of which sure seemed to echo the “this is the end” approach to the season. In one storyline, Ash met up with members of the Knights of Sumeria, who are looking to close the rift between Earth and the Deadite-infested Netherworld for good. In the other main storyline, the always badass Kelly took matters into her own hands in a similar attempt to put a stop to evil once and for all. Her target? Ruby, who she planned on stabbing with the Kandarian Dagger – it’s the only way to truly kill her, after all.
Kelly put up a valiant fight, blasting Ruby away with a shotgun (once directly to the face!) and even exploding off her limbs with a hand grenade. But in the end, the immortal Ruby got the upper hand against her all-too-human adversary, turning the tables on Kelly and stabbing her with the Dagger. Kelly appeared to die, her body subsequently used as a vessel to bring the evil sorceress Kaya into this plane of existence.
Yes, “Ash vs. Evil Dead” killed off Kelly, giving her a fitting sendoff by letting her go out in an ass-kicking blaze of glory that personified the character we’ve gotten to know (and love) these last few years. Evil killed her family and is threatening the lives of her friends, and she literally gave hers for the sake of the fight she bravely devoted it to.
But is this really it for Kelly? Is she *really* dead?
Actress Dana DeLorenzo’s tweets this week will have you believing that we have indeed seen the last of Kelly – at least, a version of Kelly that’s actually, ya know, the real Kelly – but “Ash vs. Evil Dead” has certainly trained us to believe that nothing is really permanent in this universe; a bad trend for a show to set, as it ensures the impact of big happenings isn’t truly felt. After all, the time travel aspect has changed events in the past; the gruesome death of Pablo back in Season 2, despite Ray Santiago’s statements at the time, was soon thereafter wiped clean off the slate. So much for actual stakes, huh?
Literally ANYTHING is possible on “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” so it’s not hard to imagine the show finding a way to bring Kelly back to life in this final batch of episodes.
We’re thinking Kelly still has some fight left in her…
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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