REVIEW: ‘Evil Dead Burn’ Teases An Endgame For Evil Dead

Evil Dead fans have long been used to waiting between films. Sam Raimi‘s original trilogy took place over the course of a few days, but still made fans wait six years between each title. There were twenty years between Army of Darkness and the semi-reboot Evil Dead, and then another decade before Evil Dead Rise. But Evil Dead Burn, the newest title from director Sébastien Vaniček and writers Vaniček and Florent Bernard, comes just three years after its predecessor. It’s the series’s shortest gap between titles, but it is set to be broken when the upcoming Evil Dead Wrath premieres in 2028.

It’s a pretty exciting turn for a franchise that has often been hampered by rights issues and production troubles, especially considering that titles have stayed relatively consistent in quality. It’s also, if Evil Dead Burn is any indication, a sign that the franchise is moving forward with a definite roadmap in mind.

Evil Dead Burn opens with an opening sequence that directly ties the film to the preceding Evil Dead Rise before cutting to Alice (Souheila Yacoub), a French immigrant struggling in her relationship with her abusive husband, Will (George Pullar). Or at least she was before Will took off drunk following an argument and got himself killed in a car accident. Now she just has to survive Will’s family long enough to make it through the funeral. Easier said than done.

Evil Dead Burn proves the franchise has a roadmap in mind.

Will’s brother Joseph (Hunter Doohan) and Joseph’s girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan) witnessed Will’s actions and were there the night he died, so they’re supportive of Alice’s complicated feelings about her husband’s death. Will’s parents, Susan (Tandi Wright) and Edgar (Erroll Shand), are the sort who think family togetherness means excusing abuse, so they actively and openly resent Alice. Will’s grandmother, Polly (Maude Davey), is too deep into dementia to have an opinion or even notice when people start being possessed by the murderous undead.

This marks the third film in the franchise since it was quasi-rebooted in 2013 with Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead. And while there has been some connective tissue between those films — primarily in the form of Bruce Campbell cameos — they’ve otherwise remained separate from each other and from Sam Raimi’s original trilogy.

Evil Dead Burn is different. First, Campbell’s only appearance here is via a photograph. Second, this film is actually very invested in weaving together the franchise’s various loose threads, both regarding the new films and the original trilogy. Both the Naturom Demonto and the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis are mentioned. The Kandarian Dagger appears. Events from pretty much every film are referenced at least in passing.

There are plenty of easter eggs throughout, giving fans fun surprises.

It would be very easy for this to lean too far into exposition. It would also be very easy for it to turn into mindless fanservice. Thankfully, the execution here does neither. The focus of Sébastien Vaniček and Florent Bernard’s script never strays too far from its protagonist. which means viewers who haven’t seen every past film will be able to follow along just fine. But there is an undercurrent that seems to imply to fans that, for the first time, really ever, the Evil Dead franchise has a clear plan in mind for how it moves forward.

The smaller cast and the strict prioritization of personal struggles over generic monster mayhem means that each performer is afforded the opportunity to shine. Souheila Yacoub is especially excellent as the film’s protagonist, and a scene-stealing Hunter Doohan is a consistent standout. Vaniček uses these performances to elevate the action in an exciting way, especially when it explores the difficulty of fighting for your life against a supernatural force, even as some of the very much alive humans alongside you wouldn’t mind seeing you dead. The result is some of the most visceral horror violence yet in a series famous for the stuff.

Evil Dead Burn relies more on CGI than non-Ash vs. Evil Dead titles. And while the visual effects only really struggle in a few scenes at the climax, it means the film falls just short of the franchise’s beloved visual aesthetic. While that’s disappointing, it’s more than made up for by other elements of the film’s production. This is the most technically exciting Evil Dead film in years. The choreography, action, and gore are absolutely outstanding, and very much on par with not just the best Evil Dead titles but also the best horror titles of the last decade.

There is more embrace of VFX this time, with some struggles at its climax.

The film’s biggest strengths come from relatively unestablished voices. Cinematographer Philip Lozano has previously worked on indie horror titles like Cobweb and MadS, but never anything that would indicate the level of prowess he’s demonstrating here. His cinematography manages to lend a vast scale to the film’s action and mayhem despite the relatively constrained setting, while still effectively capturing its smaller, more intimate moments.

The most impressive show is from editor Maxime Caro. This is Caro’s first time tackling a feature-length project, but he confidently delivers what is likely the best editing of the franchise to date, and, frankly, some of the best horror editing I’ve yet seen. This does wonders for the action and pacing, as expected. But it also elevates the aforementioned integration of wider franchise elements and is especially helpful for the film’s humor. Evil Dead Burn is the funniest Evil Dead title to not be directed by Sam Raimi, and a good number of those jokes are directly in the edit.

The Evil Dead franchise has yet to hit the highs it reached in the 1980s. But Evil Dead Burn comes awfully close, and it makes a very compelling case for what comes next. It’s an extremely exciting time to be an Evil Dead fan.

Evil Dead Burn is in theaters now.