Movies
HORROR 101: THE KANDARIAN DEMON, DEADITES, AND YOU
Welcome to Horror Press’s Horror 101, a series of articles where we explain horror movie legends and their lore. For beginners, the confused, or just those who need a refresher, these articles are for you. In preparation for Evil Dead Rise releasing in April, today we delve into the Evil Dead franchise’s most iconic villains, explaining their origins, powers, and continuity. So, let’s begin with a question many viewers might have about the Kandarian Demon.
WHAT IS THE KANDARIAN DEMON?
Simply put, the Kandarian Demon is THE big bad of most of the Evil Dead series. Best known for torturing Ash Williams and company through three films, a television series, and numerous games of dubious canonicity, it doesn’t seem to have many goals outside of causing The Chosen One (and any human it can get its non-existent hands-on) as much suffering as possible.
Though it is usually an invisible, incorporeal force, it can manifest as a living dust storm. It can take on a physical form as seen in Evil Dead 2, where it makes a body for itself out of the trees surrounding Knowby Cabin.
The Kandarian Demon is no slouch, even without its body. It has considerable telekinetic abilities, uprooting entire trees and moving at incredible speeds, as seen in the series’ signature point-of-view shots. Chief among its powers is its infamous ability to create possessed humans (sometimes live, sometimes dead, always grody) known as Deadites. More on this later.
WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
Due to the wishy-washy nature of the film’s canon and timelines…this is harder to explain. First, we need to talk about the iconic Necronomicon Ex Mortis, the demon’s only method of being summoned.
The Necronomicon, or Naturom Demonto, was written by the Dark Ones, an order of demons who first penned the tome to control other demons and open passage to dark worlds beyond. When the Dark One who would come to be known as Ruby, lost the book, it would later be unearthed by archaeology professor Raymond Knowby and end up at Knowby Cabin. But from here, it gets more complicated.
The Kandarian Demon’s first technical appearance is when Ash accidentally summoned it during Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2, beginning the demon’s obsession with killing and possessing him. In Evil Dead 2, Annie Knowby uses the Necronomicon and launches both Ash and the Kandarian Demon into the past in an effort to destroy the demon. This only succeeded in landing them in England, where it would get its namesake from Castle Kandar, home of King Arthur.
Following the events of Army of Darkness, the Necronomicon would then be sealed in Castle Kandar following Ash’s victory…only to be discovered by Raymond Knowby in the present day, which in turn causes the events of Evil Dead & Evil Dead 2 to occur, starting the time loop all over.
It’s a very, “Which came first, the chicken or the chainsaw hand?” situation.
All that really is to say the Kandarian Demon, like the Necronomicon itself, is seemingly beyond time and space and possibly has multiple iterations of itself, unlike the Necronomicon’s uncertain number of copies.
…SO, WHAT’S A DEADITE THEN?
Deadites are the undead, monstrous servants of the Kandarian Demon. Created when a human is violated by the demon (through both traditional and more violent means of possession), the dark spirits corrupt humans to their very core. A Deadite is a demonic force of nature hellbent on torturing its victims and consuming their souls.
Though on a surface level, they resemble your typical zombies with rotten-looking flesh, sunken features, and pure white eyes, they are far from your average shambling undead. Deadites exhibit enhanced strength, invulnerability to pain, and superhuman durability. They can move at high speeds and on occasion, levitate. Even after being dismembered, Deadites can control their severed limbs.
It’s never explained fully whether each Deadite is an individual spirit, though Deadites occasionally use “we” in reference to the actions of an individual, suggesting a hivemind consciousness working in service of the Kandarian Demon. All that matters is their unified goal: desecrating human life in as many ways as it can.
HOW ARE THEY MADE?
While the Kandarian Demon can make Deadites with little effort by assaulting someone in its incorporeal form, Deadites can also create more of themselves by attacking other humans. While the most notable instance of this is the viral bite that forced Ash to sever his hand and replace it with that sweet, sweet chainsaw, any attack that breaks the skin or kills its victim should also suffice.
HOW DO YOU KILL THEM?
Simple! Have a magic knife.
The Kandarian Dagger, another of Raymond Knowby’s discoveries, is the most potent weapon against most if not all, demons. Carved from bone, the artifact cuts through the demon’s many invulnerabilities.
Barring that? Deadites are dispatched most commonly through dismemberment, capped off by destroying the head. Sunlight also causes the Kandarian Demon to retreat and reverses Ash’s possession in the second film, but most Deadites seem to have shed this particularly weakness by the time of Ash Versus Evil Dead.
Whether Ash will ever actually finish off the Kandarian Demon and its forces, however, is uncertain…
AND IN THE EVIL DEAD REBOOT?
Though Deadites retained their most important qualities (except for those pure white eyes), the main villain of the remake is a different beast altogether. The entity in the Fede Alvarez masterpiece Evil Dead (2013) is not the Kandarian Demon but is a being known as the Taker of Souls. Still, it’s not that big of a stretch to assume they’re of the same or a similar species, given their comparable levels of power and similar means of operation.
Whether the upcoming Evil Dead Rise will show us the Kandarian Demon’s return, the Taker of Souls next attempt at taking form, or a new beast altogether hasn’t been confirmed.
…IS JASON A DEADITE?
No.
The answer is no.
I will personally fight Adam Marcus on this.
No.
And that will be it for today’s Horror History 101 lesson. See you in the next class, and stay tuned for more content concerning horror movies, television, and everything in between!
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
Tragedy Girls (2017)
A dark, comedic, high school romp about best friends gaining internet clout through murder. It may feel dated due to its use of Twitter rather than X, but it adds charm and reminds us of a simpler internet age. Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp deliver devilishly fun performances, and their slasher personas are heavily under-appreciated in the horror community. There are lots of familiar faces here, including Josh Hutcherson, Jack Quaid, Craig Robinson, and not to mention the director, Tyler MacIntyre, who went on to be one of the writers for Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023).
Seance (2021)
This Is Not a Test (2025)
School’s Out (2018)
Graduation Day (1981)
One of my absolute favorite things to do when I’m on vacation is to visit horror filming locations. Wherever you happen to be going, odds are that at least one horror project was filmed there at some point. There’s something magical about seeing the places that helped bring iconic scary stories to life on the big and small screens.
However, some locations are better than others. A lot of them (like the original A Nightmare on Elm Street house, Stu’s house from Scream, and the schoolhouse from The Birds) are private property and aren’t always owned by people who are particularly happy to have horror fans milling around out front. Others (like the schools from Buffy, Elm Street, and many other teen horror titles) are active educational institutions that don’t welcome strange visitors.
But I’m here to deliver a guide to some of the coolest horror filming locations in North America that give you that magical vibe without somebody calling 9-1-1 on you. Because the best things in life are free, so are all the locations on this list.
The Bridge from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Location: Linnie Canal Ct. Los Angeles, CA 9029, USA
The bridge where Glen (Johnny Depp) and Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) discuss the Balinese method of dreaming is nowhere near the movie’s fictional town of Springwood, Ohio. It’s actually one of the bridges over the human-made canals in Venice, California. Specifically, it’s the bridge over the Eastern canal that connects to Linnie Ct. It’s totally free to visit, and once you’re done taking photos and quoting “I’m into survival” to your heart’s content, you’re still in Venice. Not a bad place to be!
The Movie Theater from Scream 2 (1997)
Location: Rialto Theatre, 1019-1023 Fair Oaks Ave. South Pasadena, CA, 91030 USA
Although the majority of the campus scenes in the college-set slasher sequel Scream 2 were filmed at Agnes Scott College in Georgia, a lot of the school’s surrounding environs were filmed closer to Hollywood, in sunny Pasadena. While the movie theater where poor Phil (Omar Epps) and Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith) are killed in the movie’s prologue is no longer an operating cinema and you can’t go inside (the building has been taken over by a church), the exterior has been well preserved and looks more or less exactly the way it did in the late 1990s.
This horror filming location is also just an 11 minute drive from the street where the film’s famous car crash sequence was shot, which is part of Green Street between South Los Robles Avenue and Madison Avenue in Pasadena.
The Myers House from Halloween (1978)
Location: 1000 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030, USA
Although the building has been moved from its original location, it was rebuilt to look exactly the way it does when young Michael Myers is stalking his way around it in the iconic opening sequence of Halloween. There is a business operating out of the building, so don’t bother them or try to get inside (the interiors aren’t the same, anyway). But at this point, they’re very used to people doing photo ops out front. If you find yourself in Pasadena on October 31, it’s a can’t-miss destination, as a nonstop torrent of cosplayers swarm the area.
Other free Halloween locations in South Pasadena include the exterior of the hardware store where Michael gets his mask (right around the corner at 966 Mission St – it’s now the Radhika Modern Indian restaurant) and the famous hedge he hides behind when stalking Laurie Strode (just one mile away, at 1019 Montrose Ave S).
Brennan’s Tip: If you do have money to burn, check out the SugarMynt Gallery next door, which is chock full of horror-themed artwork. Also grab a snack at the Heirloom Bakery across the street! They’ve got all kinds of great treats (I even had them do the desserts for my wedding), and you can enjoy them on the outdoor patio with the Myers house looming over you.
The Town Square from Scream (1996)
Location: Healdsburg Town Square, Healdsburg, CA 95448, USA
Scream was filmed in and around Sonoma County, but the core town playing Woodsboro was the real-life wine country borough of Healdsburg. The town square, complete with fountain, is still there, and surrounded by cute shops and restaurants. You can also find the police station exterior where Sidney punches out Gale at Oakville Grocery (124 Matheson Street) nearby, but it has changed enough to be barely recognizable at this point.
Derry from It (2017), It: Chapter Two (2019), and It: Welcome to Derry (2025-)
Location: Port Hope, Ontario L1A 2Y7, Canada
The majority of the important locations in It and Welcome to Derry’s fictional town of Derry, Maine are all located along the main road of Port Hope, including the movie theater (Capitol Theatre on 20 Queen St), the library (Port Hope Town Hall, 56 Queen St), the park with the bandshell, and the alleyway outside the butcher shop, which still has the door painted with the faux sign from the movie.
Brennan’s Tip: Check out the river that runs parallel to the main street. When I went, there were hundreds of fish making their way upstream for spawning. Multiple species do this in Port Hope, in various seasons, so you never know if you’ll get lucky.
The University from Black Christmas (1974)
Location: Soldiers’ Tower at the University of Toronto, Hart House Cir, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H7, Canada
The college from the 1974 proto-slasher Black Christmas is played by the real-life University of Toronto, with the most notable area being the plaza outside Soldiers’ Tower, where Clare’s dad is seen waiting for his ill-fated daughter.
Brennan’s Tip: If you’re a huge Killer Party (1986) fan like I am, the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada building (25 Spadina Rd), which plays the haunted frat house, is just a short walk away.
Abe’s Snake Bodega from Scream VI (2023)
Location: Dépanneur St.Ambroise, 5701 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, QC H4A 1W9, Canada
Our next horror filming location is of a more recent vintage, but it’s an instant classic: the “New York City” bodega in which Ghostface hunts down Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) in Scream VI. Both the exterior and the interior of the shop were used for filming, though they changed a great deal of the inside to make it look more New York-y. You don’t have to pay to visit, but if you want to do a photo op posing like Ghostface at the end of the row of refrigerator cases, you might as well buy a soda on your way out as a thank you.
Other worthwhile free Scream VI filming locations in the area are the campus of Blackmore University (McGill University at 845 Sherbrooke St W), and “Central Park” (Parc La Fontaine, 3819 Av. Calixa-Lavallée).
Crawford Academy from Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
Location: Concordia University – Loyola Campus, 7141 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6, Canada
The fictional high school from this classic Canadian slasher was played by the real-life Concordia University (except for the opening kill scene, which was shot around Douglass Hall at McGill University). It’s a relatively small campus, so you can’t miss the grand brick buildings, which look exactly the same now as they did 45 years ago, though the quad has been relandscaped.
The Steps from The Exorcist (1973)
Location: Corner of Prospect St and 36th St NW, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., 20007, USA
William Friedkin’s landmark classic The Exorcist is home to one of our most iconic horror filming locations yet. The steps that claim the lives of both Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) are still there more than 50 years later, and you’ll almost certainly find people exercising on them, as if they aren’t worried that Pazuzu is gonna fling another victim toward them when they least expect it.
While the house from The Exorcist is indeed at the top of the steps (at 3600 Prospect Street), it is more set back than the movie implies (the exterior of Reagan’s window was a facade). But it’s still there, as is the Georgetown campus, where other scenes from the movie were filmed.
The Crystal Shop from Obsession (2026)
Location: The Green Man, 824 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505, USA
Our tour of some of the greatest free horror filming locations of North America comes full circle now, bringing us back to Southern California with the most recent movie on the list. Curry Barker’s Obsession was entirely shot in and around Burbank, and the metaphysical supply store The Green Man looks almost exactly like the fictional store from the movie, both inside and out. Just don’t go in hoping to find a display of One Wish Willows.
