Evil Dead Burn Review – A Terrifying, If Familiar, New Chapter for the Franchise
In the latest addition to Sam Raimi’s horror series, originating in 1981 with The Evil Dead, we return to the franchise’s roots, following a family trapped in a house as they are picked off one by one. Directed by Sébastian Vaniček, Evil Dead Burn follows Alice (Souheila Yacoub), who goes to stay with her in-laws after the sudden loss of her husband. What starts as a painful family reunion becomes a nightmare as family members become possessed with a chaotic evil, which will certainly leave you with a new sense of perspective on every past uncomfortable family gathering.
As with Lee Cronin and Evil Dead Rise, Vaniček was handpicked by Raimi to direct this film after the success of his French horror film Infested, which follows a group of friends who must face off against an army of deadly, rapidly reproducing spiders whilst trapped in their apartment block. Vaniček co-wrote the screenplay with Florent Bernard, with whom he also worked on Infested, and Raimi produces the film alongside Rob Tapert.
The film picks up right where we left off with Rise, with an excellent extended prologue beginning with Jessica (Greta Van Den Brink) and connecting her with our central family, which we immediately learn is a deliberate decision from the Deadites. We’re introduced to the character of Benjamin Price, grandfather of the family and a member of a cult group known as ‘The Circle of Wise Men’. This group knew the history of the Deadites, and whilst he was alive, Price had travelled the world searching for the Kandarian dagger, which he had left in the hands of his family.
Following her late husband’s funeral, Alice and the family are grieving at the grandparents’ isolated home when the Deadites begin their familiar antics. However, in this iteration, it is not reading from the book that incites the carnage. While there is a scene where this occurs, this seems to be more of a fan service, as by this point, the Deadites have already begun to wreak their havoc. Instead, the Deadites are targeting the family due to their possession of the Kandarian dagger. This adds an interesting layer to the lore that you’d imagine will come into play in the forthcoming prequel, Evil Dead Wrath, as previously the only person we’ve seen the Deadites specifically target has been Ash.
Aside from this change, the film is your standard Evil Dead movie. It’s as gory and graphic as ever; the design of the Deadites looks great, and there is excellent camerawork throughout. The writing is solid, although it suffers from having two third acts, the latter of which arrives too late and is overly convoluted. Alice is an engaging protagonist, and Erroll Shand and Luciane Buchanan are extremely unsettling in their supporting roles. There were a few underdeveloped characters, which is pretty typical for a concept-driven film of this nature, although always a little disappointing. After the situational switch-up in Rise, it’s frustrating to see the franchise revert to the cabin-in-the-woods recipe. It does seem as though we’ve lost a lot of the creativity of the original trilogy, operating instead on an “If it ain’t broke…” mentality.
This is a film that probably didn’t need to be made, yet in a world where franchise films are getting lazier by the day, there’s still a lot to enjoy in the Deadites’ latest venture. Evil Dead films have always been bloody and brutal, and the film goes full steam ahead on this front. The tension and dread are built effectively, and the gore is delightfully uncomfortable. There’s an interesting message about the difficulty of escaping an abusive relationship, but as with past instalments, this socio-political element is slightly undercooked and is never the film’s real focus.
Overall, whilst Evil Dead Burn doesn’t reach the heights of some of its predecessors, Vaniček has delivered an enjoyable addition to the franchise, one that’s truly terrifying and will serve as a good reminder that somewhere out there, there is someone with worse in-laws than you.
★★★
In cinemas from July 9th / Souheila Yacoub, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Tandi Wright, Erroll Shand, Maude Davey / Dir: Sébastien Vaniček / StudioCanal UK, Warner Bros Pictures / 18
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