Ellen Sandweiss will be returning to the Evil Dead cinematic universe this fall. IGN confirms that the actress will be returning to her role as Ash’s sister in the upcoming season of Ash Vs. Evil Dead on Starz. “Ash’s sister makes a tiny little guest appearance, causes a little commotion,” explains executive producer Rob Tapert. “It’s all street cred,” adds series star Bruce Campbell, referring to the show’s constant nods to the original films (including Army Of Darkness in the upcoming season). “It’s like pork rinds to the fans. I think it’ll freak them out, and that’s the idea…it’s going to look really accurate [to the original film.]”
Yes, Cheryl Williams—whose interests include card tricks and who always keeps a sketchbook and pencil nearby—will be returning to the world of the Deadites, continuity be damned. In the 1981 original, after being attacked by the woods, locked up in the cellar, and taking a shotgun blast to the face, Cheryl finally met her maker by decomposing into a puddle of goo after Ash finally destroys the Necronomicon in the cabin’s fireplace:
So how Cheryl survived—or was revived—so she could appear on the sequel TV series is a mystery. Of course, though, this is the same franchise that has featured three different Lindas, and has Ash actually return to the same cabin where all of his friends were murdered with a new girlfriend, also named Linda. (“If any of you are wondering if Ash would be stupid enough to go back to that cabin,” Campbell says on the Evil Dead 2 DVD commentary, “he is.”)
Sandweiss has been a longtime associate of Raimi and the gang, having appeared in the original short film Within The Woods, which was shot on a budget estimated to be around $1,600 and which Raimi shopped around to attorneys and local businesses around Michigan in order to raise $90,000 towards the production of the original “ultimate experience in grueling terror,” The Evil Dead.
What does Ash vs. Evil Dead have in store for Sandweiss this time around? It’ll probably be gruesome, gory, and maybe a little bit funny, but nowhere near as bad as the abuse the original Linda, Betsy Baker, took at the hands of that Peter Pan kid in those Geico commercials:
Ash Vs. Evil Dead returns to Starz this October.