Evil Dead Burn

In 2023, French filmmaker Sébastien Vaniček released the stellar spider horror film Infested (Fr: Vermines), showcasing his aptitude for putting disturbing atrocities committed by inhuman creatures to screen. Luckily for genre legend Sam Raimi and his Ghost House Pictures, Vaniček’s talent was perfect for the visceral gorefest that is The Evil Dead. And in Evil Dead Burn, though sans spiders, the atrocities never seem to end, resulting in possibly the cruelest franchise entry to date.

The third part of the rebooted Evil Dead cinematic universe, following 2013’s Evil Dead and 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, Evil Dead Burn takes place some short time after the previous film. Now, the Price family falls victim to the Deadite menace after Joseph (Wednesday‘s Hunter Doohan) uncovers the research and associated artifacts of his grandfather, Benjamin Price, a member of a secret organization committed to studying the Necronomicon and putting an end to the Kandarian demon scourge.

Courtesy New Line Cinema

The setup is consistent with other Evil Dead films, as is the overall film structure—uncover the evil, (accidentally) summon it, chaos and death, amputation by power tool, fight the big bad, profit. To some, this formula may be predictable and repetitive, but for Evil Dead fans, it can be comforting to experience the hallmark format and technical motifs of Raimi’s timeless universe. What Burn does differently, however, just like its contemporary predecessors, is frame the Deadite menace around significantly dark human themes. This time, instead of tackling addiction or motherhood and abandonment, Burn addresses abusive family relationships.

Alice—our protagonist, played by Swiss actress Souheila Yacoub—loses her husband Will early in the film’s 110-minute runtime, after an explosive marital argument that suggests Will’s controlling nature over their dynamic and a poor temper he claims only Alice brings out of him. Sure, Will, sure. Flashbacks expound on the true nature of their marriage, providing ammunition for the Deadites to emotionally manipulate Alice, and subsequently give our hero a constant reminder of the trauma she must wield to overcome the demonic force. The journey from weak-willed wife to badass heroine works to carry the story, and the Price family’s toxic qualities accompany this thematic vehicle fairly well.

Courtesy New Line Cinema

The father, Edgar (Errol Shand), and matriarch Susan (Tandi Wright) are accompanied by grandmother Polly (Maude Davey), who all resent Alice and feel hardly less partial to Joseph’s girlfriend, Thya (Luciane Buchanan), and disapprove of Joseph’s lackluster writing career. The circle of abuse and negative emotion feeds much of the Deadite dialogue, which is characteristically quippy and savage. Screenwriters Vaniček and Florent Bernard understandably focus most of the thematic beats around Alice and Will, though there are allusions to the other relationships in the family that only scratch the surface, forming thinner characters than perhaps some viewers would like. Joseph, in particular, feels more important early on than he ultimately is, which feels like a missed opportunity to create a high-quality, multi-faceted character alongside Alice and introduce more vital lore to the story.

At the end of the day, however, what Evil Dead Burn does best—like its counterparts—is thrust these characters into a maelstrom of carnage and blood. As the title implies, Burn pays particular attention to fire and heat within the halls of the Price family’s ancestral home, and Vaniček and team showcase the element admirably, from the highly marketed moment of Deadite Thya drinking hot candle wax to an overloaded furnace turning every radiator in the house scorching to the touch. Household tools and other items make for brutal and unique murder weapons and methods of Deadite dismemberment. All in all, the effects and makeup departments craft an impressive array of gnarly Deadites and sickening bodily malformations sure to please any Evil Dead fan.

Courtesy New Line Cinema

Burn also carries over other classic cinematographic and editing maneuvers from Raimi’s original Evil Dead films and subsequent entries, like the snappy interconnected cuts of objects and characters foretelling a tragic death, to classic camera movements. Burn certainly feels like an Evil Dead film at heart, despite its different themes and hyper-exaggerated meanness. And although many of the film’s characters suffer from being underwritten or underutilized, and the finale contains a questionable creative component, Evil Dead Burn is an overtly gory thrill-ride for the least squeamish horror fans navigating a jam-packed 2026 summer season of terror.

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