The Evil Dead series is one horror franchise that always stayed in its own pocket, never bowing to industry trends or chasing borrowed ideas. Instead, viewers – and by extension, its devoted fans – know exactly what they’re getting: mean, vicious, visceral horror that’s creatively grotesque in its appeal. Evil Dead Burn delivers more of what audiences have come to expect. In fact, I’d dare call it the most mean-spirited entry in the franchise to date, almost jarringly so at times. While some elements don’t always work, what keeps Evil Dead Burn burning (pun intended) is its relentless fun factor, if you have the stomach for it.

Evil Dead has never really been about creating compelling stories. What you need to know about Burn is that there’s a creepy cabin in the woods, there’s a family dealing with a tragic personal loss, and the Deadites are practically foaming at the mouth to take advantage of this family’s grief. At the core of it all is Alice (Souheila Yacoub), a widow grieving the loss of her husband with her in-laws at a cozy lakeside cabin. Things transpire and now we have Deadites, bloodshed and horror in all shapes and sizes.



On paper, the blueprint is the same: Evil Dead Burn is perfectly in-tune with the series’ unique identity. It knows the horror needs to come in waves and never stop, giving audiences very little breathing room before it assaults your senses with at least five of the top 10 most disturbing things you’ll ever watch. Burn doesn’t colour outside of the lines which is its greatest strength and weakness. If you’re familiar with 2013’s masterful Evil Dead reboot or 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, it’s all going to seem fairly familiar and mundane. What keeps it fresh is some impressive camerawork and direction from director Sebastien Vanicek and a desire to do Sam Raimi’s classics proud.

It knows the horror needs to come in waves and never stop, giving audiences very little breathing room before it assaults your senses with at least five of the top 10 most disturbing things you’ll ever watch.

Evil Dead Burn definitely leans more on the mean and menacing side of the Evil Dead franchise, much in the vein of the 2013 reboot, rather than injecting any of the campy, off-shoot horror the original films have become known for. This might upset long-time fans, understandably so, but it’s by no means disrespecting the source material either. Burn still manages to walk a very fine line between being over-the-top and grounded – what constantly surprises me about this franchise is how effortlessly it switches between the two. Vanicek got the memo and so did the other directors in the series so far, so I’m pretty happy.



I will say that Evil Dead Burn is unflinchingly visceral, and this might be the closest we’ve seen the series get to some type of NC-17 or X rating (that’s saying a lot considering we’re talking about Evil Dead here). There are moments in Burn that made my skin crawl while I scraped my jaw off the floor. It got me asking, “who comes up with this stuff?” before shoving popcorn in my face and going along for the ride, because that’s what these movies ultimately should be treated as: cinematic rollercoaster rides, and they’re the best of their kind in the horror genre. They’re not for everybody, but everybody should at least understand what type of movie they’re getting into.

There are moments in Burn that made my skin crawl while I scraped my jaw off the floor. It got me asking, “who comes up with this stuff?”

I don’t think any other horror franchise deserves that level of specificity more than Evil Dead because Burn encapsulates all of the best – and unfortunately some of the worst – elements of the series. For the most part, this is a rock-solid, grotesque thrills-per-minute horror that’s going to alienate and divide people based on multiple factors.



For example, the acting is pretty inconsistent. Yacoub clearly gives it her all as the main character, Alice, but everyone else around her feels like they auditioned for five different types of movies – each delivering performances ranging from melodramatic to hilarious emotional detachment. Admittedly, some of it can be forgiven since there’s an air of campiness to everything that never takes itself too seriously, but actors have to at least emote when confronted with the most horrifying things they’ve ever witnessed and their lives are on the line. Some of the cast seems to breeze through those moments with stoicism while others at least attempt to play up the severity of it all. The acting is a mixed bag and honestly one of my biggest gripes with Burn.

Thankfully, I love everything else about the movie. The cinematography is phenomenal, visually setting Burn apart from the other Evil Dead movies with its heavier use of shadows, atmospheric lighting, and grim greys and browns. When the violence pops off, the practical effects are stunning (you’ll probably ask how the hell they did that about ten times throughout the movie). The camerawork is also very energetic and unconventional. It takes on a life of its own and pays homage to Raimi’s monumental technical achievements without ever coming off as blatantly ripped off. If you’re the type that doesn’t pay attention to camerawork when watching a movie, Burn is definitely going to force your attention on it because it’s that damn good.



Evil Dead Burn is the meanest entry in the series yet and unflinchingly grotesque – needless to say, this isn’t for the faint of heart. Long-time fans are probably going to adore what it has to offer, and what it means for the franchise going forward (one aspect I didn’t touch on is how cleverly Burn interweaves its story from its predecessors, particularly Rise). While the acting could’ve been better and some fans might get a sense of déjà vu, the impressive cinematography, great practical effects, and relentless horror might reel you right back in.

Evil Dead Burn is now showing in cinemas.