Directed by Sébastien Vaniček, Evil Dead Burn follows a family who comes together in a secluded house following the death of a mother’s son. The gathering becomes a “family reunion from hell” as members gradually turn into Deadites.
The Evil Dead series has proven itself to be one of the best horror franchises to exist over several decades. It has managed to survive all thanks to Sam Raimi allowing other creators to come in and bring new life into the series with their various takes on the series, with the most notable being Fede Álvarez with Evil Dead (2013) and Lee Cronin with Evil Dead Rise. Now it is French Filmmaker Sébastien Vaniček’s turn to give his very own take on the Evil Dead universe with a story about a dysfunctional family that gets infected with Deadites.
Despite being a fan of Evil Dead for years I have to honestly admit that this was the first film of the franchise that was really hard to watch. Evil Dead Burn is a harrowing and bold Evil Dead installment that may be perfect for some, but was just too much for me personally. It has nothing to do with the unhinged violence or gore, but more about the characters, story, and subject matter that left me feeling very uncomfortable and emotionally drained by the end of the film. I want to make it clear that I don’t think this film is terrible by any means, but it left me feeling very mentally uneasy, unlike previous installments that I always had some enjoyment out of despite how deranged they get. It’s a well-made installment that has great performances, bold themes, incredible technical elements, and gloriously bloody Deadite mayhem but I just couldn’t find myself loving it as many others have due to how it made me feel on certain levels. I’ve loved many films that can be considered emotionally devastating or mentally draining but there comes a time where there’s at least one film that ends up crossing a personal line and this turned out to be one of them.
The cast of this film consists mostly of numerous faces I’m not familiar with, except for two of them, but they all do a fantastic job playing their respective parts, delivering strong performances, whether they be human or Deadites. The dedication by the cast is there, but unfortunately I didn’t like any of the characters in this film apart from the lead played by Souheila Yacoub.
Souheila Yacoub plays as Alice Price, the wife of the recently deceased son of the family, and she is an absolute rockstar in this film, playing as a person who is dealing with a lot of trauma from both her former husband and his family who clearly have a hatred towards her to the point that they have enabled certain things to happen, such as extreme forms of domestic abuse. Their hatred for her, along with their own dysfunctional dynamics, gets majorly upgraded by the Deadites possessing them, forcing her to go on a bloody journey of survival that has her confront her trauma face to face, both literally and metaphorically. It’s an incredibly well-done journey that makes you absolutely root for her throughout the entire film as she proves herself to be another worthy final survivor to join the alumni of badass Evil Dead survivors.
I absolutely loved Souheila’s performance and her character, but I can’t say the same for everyone else involved character-wise. Most of the characters in this film are either vile pieces of shit or underdeveloped chopped liver for the Deadites that I just had no care for and highly contributed to the emotional drainage I felt throughout this film. In the past installments, I always felt some sort of sympathy for most of the victims of the Deadites, as the Deadites are usually known to change their victims from innocent souls into violent monsters, but here the family is already monsters who are just amplified by the Deadites control.
The Deadites are used as a tool to expose generational trauma and the enabling of domestic abuse within this dysfunctional family. While it is a unique idea that makes these Deadites different from past ones, I didn’t like how this film attempts to make me feel sympathetic to some of these characters in certain moments after they turn into Deadites when none of them deserve any sympathy.
The story follows the traditional narrative of previous Evil Dead stories by being a hyper-violent horror story of survival against demonic beings, but it leans heavily into mature themes involving domestic abuse, generational trauma, and dysfunctional families. The decision to tackle such serious subject matter in a series known for blood-soaked violence and sadistic humor is a bold move but for the most part it is executed well. That being said I felt it was executed too well in my view because it left me feeling emotionally and mentally empty to the point it was hard to enjoy much of anything going on in the film, including the moments of classic Evil Dead entertainment or lore exploration.
I didn’t feel like I was having any sort of fun but was instead feeling like I was drained by the characters, themes and surroundings, which I understand was the point the film was making, but I just felt was too much for me to handle. I am fortunate enough not to have endured any sort of dysfunction or abuse in my family, but I have witnessed it with people I’m close with, so I know just how terrible the situation is and how it makes one in that situation feel, which this film accurately depicts. Because of that I can see this film being extremely triggering for some who have or are currently experiencing this kind of situation making them feel as drained as I was watching it. Even the attempts at humor don’t really work to uplift the mood. The film’s narrative is not necessarily bad but it’s certainly not for everyone and I certainly feel it isn’t as perfect as some people say it is.
This film also does feature two post-credit scenes that are seemingly setting up the upcoming Evil Dead Wrath, but I will admit one of them I found to be extremely confusing for what it does, and I can’t help but feel a little concerned over where the series might be going with its strange revelation.
From a technical perspective, this film hits all the right notes in terms of being an Evil Dead film, delivering spectacular gory action, amazing practical work, stunning cinematography, and a stellar score. Practical effects and gore are the DNA of any Evil Dead film, and this film continues that trend with some perfectly crafted effects for the Deadites, the kills, and the surroundings. CGI isn’t used for a majority of the film until the final act involving one burnt Deadite that didn’t look all that visually appealing and did take me out of the film a bit. The cinematography is also perfectly crafted, enhancing all the intense and hyper-violent horror moments of the film in the best ways possible. Further amplifying it all is an extremely haunting and fitting score by French composers Double Danger that keeps you in a chokehold.
Evil Dead Burn is a passionately made film that has a lot to praise, but I personally just couldn’t find myself loving this film as so many others have due to how draining it felt to watch. This new installment is not a bad film, but it’s one that I can confidently say just wasn’t for me. I’m going to give Evil Dead Burn a C+ = 79.
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