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warning: the following review discusses topics of domestic abuse if you or anyone you know is in danger call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233 or text BEGIN to 88788

For forty-five years “The Evil Dead” franchise has always been two things; groovy and gnarly. An energetic world built on our wildest and bloodiest nightmares. Like any series fans can argue the ups and downs that have occurred, but overall “Evil Dead” seems to always find a way to satisfy. Maybe it is because all of its iterations have been overseen by its creator and original trilogy director Sam Raimi. Or maybe (and most definitely so) it is a franchise that understands it was built on a young director taking a chance so future installments should do the same thing; believe in young filmmakers and take chances on them. EVIL DEAD BURN arrives at a time where falling into the familiar is the easy way out. And it would be lying to say the film directed by Sébastien Vanicek doesn’t hit the right beats we’ve come to expect, however it is also a film that is clearly from a specific vision of a new and exciting talent. Vanicek with just one other full length feature in his resume (2023’s “Infested) gets to be a part of an exciting legacy that as of lately has allowed new talent to make a quick name for themselves in the horror world. Both Fede Alverez and Lee Cronin had great success with their own iterations respectively and continue to show the horror community what’s up their demented sleeves. Vanicek is no different and EVIL DEAD BURN benefits all the more from its leader. A film that holds both the gnarly and groovy but clearly chooses one over the other and in doing so creates a never ending vicious film that is less an endurance test for its audience and instead just an appreciation for those that seek out the hardcore. The Deadites have always had their fun and have allowed the audience to join in but with EVIL DEAD BURN they remind us once again that this is their world and they want us living to have no enjoyment when they are around. Little do they know that they are in one of the most enjoyable twisted films of the year.

Trauma and horror may go hand and hand and at times almost desensitize us from the film’s heavier topics. And while BURN may start off with a bloody prologue it is in its heroine’s introduction where the biggest horror takes over. Alice (Souheila Yacoub) a French photographer lives in fear of her husband Will (George Puller). The two co-own a night club together and spend their time with Will’s brother Joseph (Hunter Doohan) and his girlfriend Thya (Lucianne Buchanan). But everyone is aware of Will’s anger and more so how Will has abused Alice over the course of their marriage. The film’s screenplay (co-written by Vanicek and Florent Bernard) knows it will eventually reach the world of the dead and all the brutal kills that come with that, but it rightfully so takes its time allowing us to see this deeply disturbing scenario Alice is trapped in. The film and specifically Yacoub never make Alice weak by her circumstance, she can stand up for herself but in domestic violence this is far from the point when all things wrong are and should be put on the abuser. Early flashbacks of Will’s treatment towards Alice are far more upsetting than anything to come later. But BURN doesn’t intend on Will’s abuse to be the sole pain for Alice, the film has bigger ideas in its relation to abusers and the families that protect them.

Eventually Alice finds herself in a harsh mourning when Will is killed in a drunk driving crash and her ability to move herself back to Paris is hindered by Will’s family and more so his parents Susan and Edgar (Tandi Wright and Erroll Shand respectively). Two people brutal in their own ways but both unwilling to even hear the possibility that their son was anything less than perfect. Both performers never find themselves in cartoonish portrayals but rather deeply disturbing in its truthful depiction of how for many, blood is everything and any outsider is lucky enough to have a seat at the table. When Alice finds herself back at her in-laws cabin (a house that could not look in worse shape if it tried) it isn’t long before family tension arises and a very pesky and evil book of the dead comes out. Most of the “Evil Dead” films have stupid people making stupid choices by reading words from the book of the dead that clearly come with a big warning. And while BURN somewhat follows the same beats there is a greater emphasis on what is making this book so enticing for this specific family. There is history here that while expands the lore can come with a little eye roll. It is good fun but can teeter on unneeded world building. Nonetheless the words of the dead are read and all hell breaks loose. Welcome to family dinner.

It would be easy to stop right there for Vanicek. The final girl has trauma, the Deadites are unleashed and there is a slew of bodies for the taking. Thankfully BURN has set up its real life horror in a fashion that almost makes its brutal massacres a breath of fresh air. That is until he starts using every household item as a weapon. BURN gets off to the races once Hell is unleashed and delightfully so enjoys the idea that not only is there not a safe place in the house, any weapon that could help you will quickly become your enemy. Kitchen sets are not your friend, sharp corners are your biggest enemy and that beautiful wedding video of a once happy moment will be on loop in the background reminding you of every violent incident. There is big credit that Vanicek was given a chance but even more so that the French filmmaker got to take some Hollywood money and make his new French extremity film. This is not to say BURN pushes the boundaries so far that you’ll be left in disgust but that NC-17 rating must have been pretty damn close.

But all this bloodshed can be survivable as we’ve seen in previous installments, so what makes BURN feel more like a house of horrors is again its inhabitants. Will’s family whether consumed by Deadites or not continue to remind Alice that she is an outsider. Even Thya is victim to this unwelcomed behavior. Both women are victims to a family dominated by the violence delivered by men and unfortunately the women who both accept the abuse and keep it swept under a very exposed rug. There are some twisted fun moments throughout including a stellar oner that greatly utilizes a limited set design and practical effects, but the film always knows where the real pain comes from. There is generational pain in Will’s family that includes both self-harm and parental abuse. But even with this destructive family the act of working together comes easy for them especially when it means turning against someone no longer bearing their family name or worse a child. The idea of motherhood is used as less of a focus on the joy that may come from being a mom and more so on the disbelief that someone would not want to carry on the name of their once husband. For Will’s family that is the greatest horror and they have no problem letting Alice know this in the most violent of ways.

BURN for all its relentlessness knows at the end of the day it has someone we can hold onto. Yacoub as Alice is not only another strong final girl in the franchise but as a performer is given a weight of pain that far exceeds the world of the dead. For Yacoub it comes naturally as even in a previous film “Climax” she was dealt the task of dealing with the darkest of inner personal pain amongst a decaying world. All this makes it more exciting when Alice gets to go full carnage in BURN’s satisfying and always bloody finale. And while the film feels the need to fit itself in the larger world of things it stays true to Vanicek’s specific abilities that once again show this is a series that allows its new talents to expand their craft as well as just be themselves. To make the film they want to make knowing its them vs the world. No matter how evil it gets.

A-

EVIL DEAD BURN IS IN THEATERS JULY 10