Evil Dead Burn review

EVIL DEAD BURN: 

LATEST EVIL DEAD FILM IS ANOTHER GORY, GROOVY GOOD TIME! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES, NEW LINE CINEMA, AND SCREEN GEMS

Every Family Has Its Demons in Evil Dead Burn

 

            The demons of the infamous Book of the Dead have risen again in Evil Dead Burn, the latest installment of the Evil Dead film series and follow-up to 2023’s Evil Dead Rise. I thought Evil Dead Rise was a good entry in the franchise, though I personally felt it paled in comparison to the original three films that Sam Raimi directed (Evil Dead 1 and 2 and Army of Darkness) and even the 2013 remake, but it had some gnarly and gory scenes and even some genuine heart with its family dynamic. 

            Which brings us to the sequel with the original trilogy’s director, Sam Raimi (Darkman, Spider-Man trilogy, Drag Me to Hell) as a producer and Sébastian Vaniček (Infested) taking over directing duties from Lee Cronin. I didn’t really have any expectations going into this; I knew what I was getting into after seeing the last film, and this one seemed like it was going to be more of the same…yeah, pretty much. 

            Out of the Evil Dead movies, I do consider this one to be the weakest, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun with Evil Dead Burn. It doesn’t try to evolve the Evil Dead franchise or take it anywhere new, but as a movie that just wants to entertain and give audiences the gory goods they come to expect, I think it does it well.

            The film follows Alice (Souheila Yacoub-Climax, Savages (2019), Dune: Part Two), who, after the tragic and sudden death of her husband, Will (George Pullar-Playing for Keeps, Home and Away, It Only Takes a Night), goes with her grieving in-laws to a rickety, old lake house for a family reunion. It turns out Will was infected by a Deadite, and now the curse has fallen onto the family, with each member gradually turning into bloodthirsty demons. 

            The film also stars Tandi Wright (Shortland Street, Love and Monsters, Pearl) as Will’s mother Susan, Hunter Doohan (Wednesday, Daredevil: Born Again, The Wilderness) as Will’s brother Joseph, Luciane Buchanan (Filthy Rich, The New Legends of Monkey, The Night Agent) as Joseph’s girlfriend Thya, and Erroll Shand (The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Safe House, Wolfram) as Will’s father Edgar. 

            Overall, Evil Dead Burn gives what it promises: over-the-top and bloody deaths, swearing Deadites, and hammy dialogue from the latter. Where Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness leaned more into comedy and the 2013 Evil Dead was a return to form for its horror roots, this and its predecessor aren’t exactly trying to push the envelope; they’re just kind of giving people exactly what they want. 

            Like every Evil Dead movie, the Deadites are a lot of fun as these pure evil, shit-talking demons that taunt their victims before killing and torturing them. It’s hard not to laugh at how over-the-top the actors playing them get. 

            Unlike Evil Dead Rise, which had some standout performances by the two sisters (One of whom becomes a Deadite), nobody who isn’t a Deadite really stands out in this, though I guess all the characters are acted fine. When you’re coming off of a franchise that initially had Bruce Campbell as the lead, that’s a difficult act to follow. 

            The gore ranges from over-the-top comical to wince-inducing, a Deadite drinking molten hot wax from a candle, someone accidentally falling onto a dishwasher drawer with a bunch of forks and knives facing up, flesh getting ripped off, and blood spurting all over the place. All that Evil Dead goodness. 

            The movie also has more of those camera shots reminiscent of the original films with tons of sweeping shots, spinning shots, and intense zooms when something bad is about to happen. Sam Raimi didn’t direct this outing, but you can tell Sébastian Vaniček has a lot of love for his work while he’s behind the camera directing this. 

            The narrative is pretty weak, though. I get that the movie is trying to tackle subject matter like toxic relationships and family drama, but the characters just aren’t that interesting, so it doesn’t really have much of an effective punch to it. The Invisible Man movie from 2020 did this thing infinitely better and was a lot more unique with its approach. 

            Evil Dead Burn is objectively the weakest of the Evil Dead films and doesn’t quite recapture the glory days of Raimi’s original three movies, but I still enjoyed my time with it. It isn’t the Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness of these new films, but fans should get what they want out of this.