PLOT: After the death of her husband, Alice (Souheila Yacoub) joins his estranged family at their secluded vacation home. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the property hides a terrifying secret that unleashes an ancient evil and sparks an unforgettable bloodbath.
REVIEW: The modern reinvention of the Evil Dead franchise has proven even more successful than many fans expected. Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise was a terrific shot in the arm for the series, while also establishing Cronin as one of horror’s most exciting new filmmakers (even if his follow-up, The Mummy, proved more divisive). Thankfully, lightning strikes twice with Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn, which may well be the goriest installment the franchise has ever produced.
While Evil Dead Rise cleverly transplanted the Deadites into a high-rise apartment building, Vaniček returns the series to more familiar territory, with most of the action unfolding inside an isolated cabin deep in the woods. However, Burn has stronger ties to the mythology established in Sam Raimi’s original films. At its center, the family has direct connections to Raymond Knowby and the original reading of the Necronomicon, making the events of the classic trilogy canon in this story, even though the plot otherwise stands on its own.
Vaniček wastes no time announcing the film’s intentions. The opening sequence features two shockingly brutal kills involving fishing line and a peaceful lakeside setting, immediately setting the tone. From there, the carnage escalates in increasingly inventive ways, with everyday objects—including car headrests, fountain pens, and, in one particularly stomach-turning sequence, molten candle wax—transformed into horrifying instruments of death.
The story itself follows a familiar Evil Dead formula. A fractured family gathers at a creepy cabin to mourn the death of Will (George Pullar), who died in a horrific car accident. But grief isn’t the only thing weighing on the group. Despite being the family’s golden boy, Will was an abusive husband, and his widow, Alice (Souheila Yacoub), had been planning to leave him before his death. Now she’s forced to spend time with his deeply dysfunctional relatives: the gruff patriarch Edgar (Erroll Shand), his disapproving wife Susan (Tandi Wright), their timid younger son Joseph (Hunter Doohan), Joseph’s girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan), Susan’s elderly mother, and even the family dog. As any Evil Dead fan can predict, nearly everyone eventually finds themselves face-to-face with the Deadites.
While the setup is familiar, the tone feels refreshingly different. Aside from a few affectionate nods to Raimi’s originals and occasional bursts of dark humor, Evil Dead Burn is an intensely grim horror film. Philip Lozano’s atmospheric cinematography creates an oppressive sense of dread, while Double Danger’s unsettling score constantly ratchets up the tension.
Where the film truly excels, however, is in its practical gore effects. Buckets of blood are spilled, bones are shattered, and no character feels safe. Vaniček has said that Raimi and the studio gave him remarkable creative freedom, and it shows. The film regularly pushes beyond what most mainstream horror releases would dare attempt, resulting in several sequences that are likely to become instant franchise highlights.
The cast also delivers. Souheila Yacoub gives Alice genuine emotional weight while making her a tough, resourceful heroine without simply turning her into another Ash Williams. Hunter Doohan is especially effective as Joseph, whose initially timid nature gradually gives way to surprising courage as the nightmare spirals further out of control. Erroll Shand and Tandi Wright are equally memorable, bringing plenty of menace to their performances even before their inevitable Deadite transformations.
Evil Dead Burn doesn’t reinvent the franchise, nor does it try to. Instead, it embraces everything fans love about Evil Dead while pushing the violence, intensity, and craftsmanship to exhilarating new heights. It’s expertly paced, consistently entertaining, and features some of the most inventive gore the series has ever delivered. This is another outstanding entry in one of horror’s most consistently satisfying franchises, and with another sequel already in the can, it’s exciting to see where the series goes next.
The post Evil Dead Burn Review: The Bloodiest Evil Dead Yet Doesn’t Hold Back appeared first on JoBlo.
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