Evil Dead Burn Delivers Blood, Gore, and Demonic Chaos Review

Forty-five years ago, a group of college students went to an isolated cabin in the woods...there's always an isolated cabin in the woods (sigh). Upon arrival, they noticed some weird things happening - a swing moving and stopping on its own, a clock stopping, a trap door to the basement flying open, etc. Though spooked, they decided to stay until a demonic creature was unleashed, tormenting them. Thus began the Evil Dead franchise with the first film making $29 million on less than a $500,000 budget. All these years later, and five films to date, the series has garnered somewhat of a cult following. This week, movie number six, Evil Dead Burn, is making its way to theaters nationwide.

Joseph (Hunter Doohan; Wednesday) lives in his grandfather's dilapidated home that is filled with his grandfather's life work dealing with "monsters" and "demons" and the artifacts that surround them. Hidden in the wall of his grandfather's office, Joseph finds a dagger that "awakens" the demons. After Joseph's brother, William (George Pullar; A Place to Call Home), gets into a fight with William's wife, Alice (Souheila Yacoub; Dune: Part Two), he drives off while drunk, crashes, and dies. A short time later, Alice and William's family convene at Grandpa's/Joseph's house, where one by one they turn into Deadites looking for the dagger.

Unlike previous films in this franchise, this entry was once again not written or directed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), though he is listed as a producer. This time the film was written by Sébastien Vaniček and Florent Bernard (Infested) and directed by Vaniček. The script is rather pedestrian besides a few well-placed jokes, but the direction is what makes the film worthwhile. Vaniček knows how to build the tension and does a great job with the supernatural and the gory scenes, the latter of which there are aplenty.

Vaniček's cast is another check in the plus column. Yacoub brings a vulnerability to the role of Alice while at the same time exuding an outward toughness needed if she is going to fight demons. Doohan is good as well, and Pullar holds his own, even though we don't see much of him during the almost two-hour run time. Tandi Wright (Love and Monsters) stands out as Joseph and William's mother, Susan. Other cast members include Luciane Buchanan (The Night Agent) as Joseph's wife, Thya, and Erroll Shand (The Twelve) as Joseph and William's father, Edgar.

Also, unlike previous films in this franchise, Evil Dead Burn spends a lot of time on the gorier aspects of a horror film. As I mentioned previously, there is quite a bit of gore and much of it is graphically disgusting. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie used tens of thousands of gallons of blood, as it is prevalent in over 70% of the scenes. Blood gets splattered on the walls, the ceiling, and the characters time and time again, almost to the point that one has to wonder if a few of the actors didn't bathe in it. If you are the type of person who loves horror movies for the blood and guts gore, then this film is right up your alley.

As far as the Evil Dead franchise goes, this installment doesn't really fit in with the other movies, akin to its most recent predecessor, 2023's Evil Dead Rise, which didn't either. Those two movies also have practically nothing in common, so it seems the producers are just making horror movies and loosely weaving them together simply by title and a mysterious grimoire that is present throughout each film. This latest movie also was a little bit too long, with the last 15 minutes reminding me of Terminator 2. Also, be forewarned, there is an end-credit scene should you choose to sit and wait for it.

As horror movies go, Evil Dead Burn isn't a bad one, especially if you are a fan of gory, bloody scenes with some supernatural, demonic elements. As far as the Evil Dead franchise goes, this movie could have been given a different title unassociated with the five movies that preceded it, and nobody would blink an eye or think that it was even in the same universe.