Evil Dead Burn (2026)

An Evil Dead Extra - my miniseries may be over, but the Deadites are still hungry.

Total Score: 14/23.

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Being in the horror space as I am, I have heard that this film was met with a mixed reception. Now that I’ve seen it in the flesh, I understand better what put people off.

However, I had a grand old time.

As usual, spoilers ahead.

Evil Dead Burn might not have the best plot, the best ending, or as many practical effects as might be hoped for, but it was still a gnarly and nasty film. This cannot be denied. The violence on show is excellent, and more often than not had me chuckling in my seat (fortunately I was alone in the entire row). Some vicious highlights for me were:

• Some disgustingly bloody tongue kissing between a Deadite, with perhaps half a face remaining, and his completely done-for wife.

• Molten flesh sliding off a boiled hand. Fuckkkinng gross.

• Boiling alive in a freezing lake in the pouring rain.

• Fish hooks in the face, and then having your lower half wrenched off.

• Fingers in the door. IYKYK.

• Skull crushing, twice.

• A pen in the earhole. Ouch.

• Sawing one’s own leg off with a piece of glass.

• Being choked out by someone standing on the ceiling. Ten outta ten idea.

All this served to give me a very fun time. There was an excellent amount of carnage, as there should be in an Evil Dead film.

I’ll move now to some other talking points. Firstly, the Deadite dog. Awesome, but we did not get enough of this and it disappointed me. Still, I want to see more of this.

Secondly, the abuse angle. It’s not for me to say whether this is good representation or not, but it did feel a bit mixed. Then again, nice to have a victim survive and destroy her abusers. If anyone has opinions, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

Every character served their roles well. The performances, very talented if you ask me, made several of them hateable, and you were largely glad to see them suffer and die. For those you didn’t despise, it wasn’t particularly painful watching them have a bad run of it either. More just good old fashioned fun. Our final girl, Alice, suffers terribly and you desperately want her to survive. She does, thank God, but it is miraculous (and borderline unbelievable, she gets knocked around like Ash). I’d definitely watch more of her, as she is both capable and likeable.

Me, having watched my country lose the football.

Vaniček was a strong choice for director. Vermines (2023) is a very decent film and showcases the tension and fast pace needed to direct an ED movie. Burn had some beautiful and creative cinematography.

The injury detail was mostly great. There were some CGI moments that I didn’t love, but overall things looked slimy and sloppy as you’d hope. Some perfectly gross and unpleasant visuals. Damn creative stuff too! I really appreciate a good bit of gore in the right moment, and watching Joseph get his face pushed into the mushy paste that was his girlfriend’s head was the ideal amount of horrible. Borderline silly, is how I like my ED violence.

There were a few jumpscares in this film, and I am generally unshaken by this stuff, but they were well-done. Not my favourite, but it did the job and I can respect that.

The look and movement of the Deadites in this film were pretty good. They didn’t get mean enough for me, and I can see the franchise moving very slightly away from perverted, manipulating monsters and more masochistic torturers. Not ideal, but it’s fine. That said, the denture scene was brilliant. I didn’t love the voice effects though, and had to strain my ears figuring out what the fuck people were saying at times.

The very ending had me feeling, well, not much. The return of the burnt husk that was once Will was a great reveal, even if we knew it was coming, but seeing him up close he got progressively less scary. His pursuit of Alice was forgettable, apart from the single moment where we almost think she’s going to use a chainsaw on him. Her use of the jackhammer was not only a fun subversion, but just super silly in the best way.

I thought that the second post-credits scene was unnecessary, and a little confusing. The first I have no comment. My question is, how did Deadite Ellie survive the mincing she got in Evil Dead Rise (2023)? Hard to say. Always a surprise to see a kid die onscreen though!

Overall, another ED film with a superb opening, a reasonable middle, and a borderline forgettable ending. This was definitely better than Rise, and I enjoyed the brutality displayed, as well as the general tone and feel of the movie. It wasn’t perfect, but I’ll probably go and see whatever comes next.

As ever, thanks for reading,

Until next time,

H.E.

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P.S. Twerking was not something I ever expected in Evil Dead, but this segue between scenes did make me laugh.