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James Marsh

3/5 stars
The sixth instalment in Sam Raimi’s hugely profitable horror series, Evil Dead Burn sees a young widow (Souheila Yacoub) travel to a remote house with her grieving in-laws, only for them to transform into rampaging demonic Deadites.
Directed and co-written by Sebastien Vanicek, following the success of his French-language debut Infested (2023), Evil Dead Burn introduces a crop of new, mostly loathsome characters with no obvious connection to Ash (immortalised across the original trilogy by Bruce Campbell), the protagonists from the 2013 reboot, or 2023’s hugely entertaining Evil Dead Rise.
That said, the secluded setting, frenetic camerawork, buckets of gore and cohort of gleefully gurning demons help retain the anarchic tone of Raimi’s 1981 original, while a mysterious tome known as the Book of the Dead remains the source of the malevolent forces at work. Otherwise, Vanicek’s take stands apart on its own mangled and bloodied feet.


In the wake of a drunken argument, William (George Pullar) abandons his young French wife, Alice (Yacoub), and drives off into the night, colliding with a ghostly figure on a deserted country road.
Before William succumbs to his injuries, the ghoul informs him that “they” are coming for his family to retrieve what is rightfully theirs.
William’s parents (Tandi Wright and Erroll Shand) make no effort to hide their disdain for Alice.
Nevertheless, they invite her back to the dilapidated family home following the funeral, together with William’s younger brother Joseph (Hunter Doohan), his girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan) and the siblings’ infirm grandmother (Maude Davey).
Once there, they are set upon by demonic entities searching for a mythical weapon they believe was found and hidden on the property by William’s late grandfather.
The Evil Dead franchise stands apart from its horror contemporaries for its improbable knack of balancing gruesome violence with almost cartoonish slapstick humour.
Evil Dead Burn more than delivers in terms of copious bloodletting, as it unleashes a barrage of stabbings, impalings and bludgeonings, together with the franchise’s obligatory death by power tool.

Its sense of humour is a little less sure of itself, however, as Vanicek seems equally influenced by the straight-faced New French Extremity movement of the early 2000s.
Nevertheless, he brims with confidence behind the camera, concealing any limitations of scale and setting with a string of inventive set-ups and in-camera visual tricks.
With low-budget horror once again the toast of Hollywood, the Evil Dead franchise endures as a truly independently spirited endeavour, thanks to its unique tone and willingness to consistently hand off the reins to emerging young talent.

While Evil Dead Burn cannot quite match the fresh perspective of Obsession or Backrooms, it does prove that there is still plenty of life left in the Evil Dead.
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Ultra violence and slapstick humour continue in Evil Dead Burn, the latest instalment of the hit horror franchise that started in 1981


Ultra violence and slapstick humour continue in Evil Dead Burn, the latest instalment of the hit horror franchise that started in 1981.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ultra violence and slapstick humour continue in Evil Dead Burn, the latest instalment of the hit horror franchise that started in 1981

Ultra violence and slapstick humour continue in Evil Dead Burn, the latest instalment of the hit horror franchise that started in 1981