The sixth installment in the franchise, Evil Dead Burn, sees Sam Raimi return to the producer seat while handing directorial control to Sebastien Vanicek. That change came after Raimi spotted Vanicek’s horror feature Infested. Now available to stream on HBO Max, the film pushes the series forward with ever-escalating violence and bloodshed.
The Deadites Return
The film opens with a classic tone-setter: a “we’re baaaa-aack” introduction to the signature Evil Dead Deadites, a slight variation on traditional zombies. That’s as puketastic as mainstream horror gets. From there, it only gets worse — or better, depending on your tolerance for minimalist storytelling paired with maximalist gloop.
Meet the Victims
Alice (played by Souheila Yacoub) is married to Will (George Pullar), a man who treats her poorly and speaks to her with contempt. His younger brother, Joseph (Hunter Doohan), has a girlfriend named Thya (Luciane Buchanan). During an evening out, Alice walks away from Will in anger, and he gets behind the wheel of a car while under the influence of alcohol. He then drives away even though he has had several drinks. A female Deadite appears on the road ahead of him, and the sight of her sends him into a crash that sets him on fire, burning him alive — which leaves the world better off for it.
The Family Curse
Will and Joseph’s grandpa was an occultist who fuxxed with the Necronomicon. His stuff is still up in the attic, including a dagger that’s the only thing that can kill Deadites. The Deadites want it because then they can’t be killed, and they’ll convert anyone in their way into Deadites in the most sickeningly gross manner possible. The new Deadites then do even more sickeningly gross things to themselves and others.
What Other Horror Films Does It Remind You Of?
Decider’s review described Lee Cronin’s The Mummy as being extremely disgusting for its own sake.
The Star of the Show
Yacoub is a capable final girl, but since she’s playing a French woman, the review coins a new term: the femme finale. Her performance anchors the film’s central revenge plot, even as the script treats the characters as little more than slabs of meat ripe for inventive slaughter.
The Gore Is The Point
The nastiness of domestic violence is thoroughly erased from any thematic consideration by the simple fact that Evil Dead Burn amounts to nothing more than a blecch fugue. The film is nasty nasty nasty, about as mean as horror gets this side of Terrifier. The practical gore FX for stabbings and beheadings are impressively staged, and Vanicek’s ambitions rest largely on physicality and tactility.
“It’s easy to be impressed with Vanicek’s kinetic oners, action-sequence choreography and cinematography.”
The Comedy Is Missing
The review mourns the lack of Raimi-esque comedy, which is present but sporadic at best. The characters are functionally little more than slabs of meat, and the reviewer admits they aren’t giving a single damn about them. Still, the urp rises in the throat on multiple occasions, and the fear is that Burn might become the wearisome 21st-century horror cliche in which monsters are Symbolic Manifestations of Grief and Loss in a feminist revenge tale.
Our Call
The film’s primary strength is its commitment to being grossly entertaining, which makes it a fine time if you go in with low expectations. It is not trying to be anything beyond what it is, and it succeeds at delivering exactly that. So, if you can take it on those terms, then STREAM IT.
A critic from Grand Rapids, Michigan wrote the review. His name is John Serba, and he works freelance with film criticism. Once, Werner Herzog embraced him.
Source material: “Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Evil Dead Burn’ on HBO Max, a Fresh Bloody Display of Necronomicononsense in an Undead Franchise,” Decider.
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