The Evil Dead franchise is kind of like that old family summerhouse. The owners, producers Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, and Bruce Campbell, really don’t have any use for it anymore, so they occasionally rent it out to others as a way to make passive income in their twilight years. The previous tenant (the makers of Evil Dead Rise) really stunk the place up. Fortunately, the new folks who are taking care of the property are much more fun to be around.
Now I enjoyed the 2013 remake for what it was, namely an Evil Dead movie without Bruce Campbell. Evil Dead Rise on the other hand was pretty abominable in just about every regard. The new film, Evil Dead Burn is a nice amalgam of the new school Evil Dead aesthetic and the grueling terror that made the old films classics.
A family is mourning the death of their son along with his battered wife Alice (Souheila Yacoub) in their decaying country home. Pretty soon, the family members become possessed and start trying to kill each other. It’s eventually up to Alice to send them all back to Hell.
Director Sebastien Vanicek injects some humor into the film, which helps break up the tension. It’s needed too as the Deadite carnage is often harrowing and gory as Hell. In fact, this is probably the goriest major release in some time. (Consider that Obsession had to be cut for a similar scene involving someone’s face getting smashed in, but this one looks like it came out unscathed.) There’s some gnarly stuff here. Fishhooks, car seat headrests, pens, weed whackers, and jackhammers are all used to ghoulish effect. There’s even a Dog-ite in there too. The ickiest scene might be when a Deadite takes an old woman’s upper plate out of her mouth and sticks it in hers. We’re talking Puke City. This film is also notable for featuring the first instance of twerking in Evil Dead movie, so that’s cinematically important.
Yacoub is solid in the lead. This is one of those “trauma horror” movies, so the fact that her character is fighting her dead husband is meant to be a metaphor for the lingering effects of her abusive relationship. While it doesn’t quite land perfectly, it’s not as clunky as some of these movies. Hunter Doohan is the MVP though as he takes a beating and then some. I’m sure Bruce Campbell would be proud.
Sure, Evil Dead Burn is far from perfect. It’s way too long (nearly two hours) and the final showdown with a CGI baddie (which is reminiscent of the ending of both the Evil Dead remake and the original Terminator) is unnecessary. (If the film ended ten minutes earlier, it possibly could’ve scored Four Stars.) Those qualms aside, Burn shows there’s still life in the old franchise.
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