Evil Dead Burn Review: The Latest Entry Is a Bloody and Hilarious Good Time

The Evil Dead franchise has been reborn with much success after the well-received Evil Dead Rise. With two more films in the series making their way to theaters, the first, Evil Dead Burn, is perhaps the most violent and grotesque so far, and it still caters to fans.

There’s a lot of blood and gore to go around in Evil Dead Burn. So anyone who can stomach this incredibly uncomfortable gorefest may enjoy it quite a bit. These insane horror tropes are what the franchise excels at, dating back to the first one from filmmaker Sam Raimi.

Now another director is taking a stab at another entry, which is more standalone than the previous film, but it still carries the theme of family trauma. There is a lot to unpack with this family as they go through a death in the family, but all of their demons come to the surface once the Deadites make their way into their lives.

The film kicks off in a big way with the Deadite causing some gruesome deaths along the way before the main story begins. Audiences are introduced to Alice (Souheila Yacoub) along with her husband William (George Pullar) as they celebrate his brother Joseph’s (Hunter Doolan) birthday and his girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan). When Alice and William get into a fight, William storms off in his car, but he soon meets an untimely death.

It’s been some time since Williams’ death, as Alice and her late husband’s family are grieving over their loss. William’s parents, Susan (Tandi Wright) and Edgar (Erroll Shand), arrange his funeral and have everyone come together at their old home to mourn.

Things take a drastic turn after the Book of the Dead is discovered in the premises, causing demonic forces to invade their home. Slowly, the family begins turning into Deadites, with both Alice and Joseph trying to fight them off while searching for an ancient weapon prophesied to kill the infested creatures.

With nowhere left to run, they both must fight for their lives and survive the night while also facing family secrets being exposed.

We don’t get to spend much time with our protagonists, but the movie offers a bit of insight into the lives of this toxic family. It is Souhelia who makes a great first impression as our lead, as we get to spend a lot of time with her.

The rest of the cast do their finest when they start to turn into Deadites, especially with Erroll and Luciane to deliver some of the grossest scenes on film. It is filmmaker Sebastian Vanicek who gives fans what they love about the Evil Dead franchise with his take.

There’s a lot of carnage on screen, but it’s the family trauma that helps build the story. Visually, this movie is very good, and the use of camera angles to showcase the horror the Deadites inflict on this family is quite creative and hasn’t been done before in this franchise.

What works is how the film builds tension through the horror and gore, which are plentiful here. Unlike previous entries, this one has more gruesome elements, which can be hard to digest if you aren’t into that.

There’s so much blood in these scenes, even going into the actors themselves, so props to them for undergoing all that just for our entertainment.

Don’t expect any connections to the previous films in the franchise. Evil Dead Burn feels more like a standalone entry, much like Evil Dead Rise. Even with some loose narrative threads and hidden Easter eggs, this feels more in line with other entries, with its dark humor and bloody chaos that comes with the territory.

Evil Dead Burn is the most bloody version of the franchise to date, and it gives everything that horror fans want. There’s a lot of goriness to get through here, but that is what this series is all about, and Sebastian understood the assignment to deliver a fun and groovy time with the Deadites.

Evil Dead Burn is now out in theaters everywhere.

 

Follow us on X and on Instagram!
Like us on Facebook!