GamesRadar+ Verdict
Sébastien Vaniček's Evil Dead Burn sets out a relentless and oppressive tone from the outset. There's no hope or salvation to be found as the film ramps up the barbarism, sadism and gore to almost unbearable levels. This may well be the evilest Evil Dead film to date.
Pros
- +
Excellent gore
- +
Relentlessly tense
- +
Fantastic set-pieces and camerawork
Cons
- -
The finale is mired by over-reliance on CGI
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Once the fuse is lit, the horror never truly extinguishes in Evil Dead Burn. Alice Price (Souheila Yacoub) is mourning the untimely death of her husband, William Price (George Pullar) and has reunited at his cremation with his dysfunctional family out in the barren nothingness of middle America. The Prices have their own demons before even one utterance of the incantations that spew forth the forces which roam the forest and the dark bowers of man's domain.
Headed up by oppressive patriarch Edgar (Erroll Shand), this family seem beleaguered by familial darkness stemming back to a family lineage of Kandarian research which appears to be rotting their home and the family itself from the inside out. Resentment and distrust permeate through every tortuous conversation as the family try to pick the bones of Alice and William's relationship, turning a blind-eye to his many faults and failures as a man and as a husband – laying the blame at Alice's feet for his passing.
The root of all evil
One of the main themes throughout Evil Dead Burn is the disintegration of family and the difficulties in assimilating into a family not your own – especially as Alice is an immigrant and this family don’t seem particularly interested in respecting different mindsets and cultures. The in-laws from hell were out for Alice's blood long before their bodies are overtaken by the demons residing in the Book of The Dead.
Release date: July 10 (UK & US)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček
Runtime: 1h 50m
Joseph (Hunter Doohan), the brother of William and close friend of Alice, along with his partner Thya (Luciane Buchanan), are placed in the awkward position of supporting their friend and respecting their family.These scenes feel like a powder keg, ready to explode at any minute and Vaniček ensures we sit in the awkwardness for as long as humanly possible. Things could explode at any minute especially with Edgar at the helm – Erroll Shand's menacing performance dominates the screen, his volatility only exacerbated by his Deadite possession.
His anger and resentment flits between all members of the house but it's when we get to the subject of Joseph letting the family home fall into ruin (due to his obsession with his grandfather's research into the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis) that one of the most impressive scenes – the family dinner table – becomes the epicentre of home-truths and violence. Vaniček ramps the tension up to unbearable levels before a cathartic and chaotic culmination sends this family and Alice straight to hell.
Gore galore
From here on, no punch is pulled. Vaniček constructs scenes and set pieces that will have even the most ardent and feverish of gore fans squirming in their seats. Mundane domestic appliances become torture weapons (you’ll never forget to load the dishwasher after this) and the family home becomes a battleground – all brilliantly captured by director of photography Philip Lozano. These scenes feel frenetic and reminiscent of the work of Gareth Edward’s The Raid franchise in their pulsating inventiveness as the camera traverses the home in unimaginable ways to showcase the sheer mayhem within.
It's so wonderfully mean-spirited and chock full of memorable wince-inducing moments
The terror continues as we move from one unspeakable horror to the next as the family is picked off one-by-one by the Deadites and assimilated into their new form of fucked-up-family. A family who slays together, stays together.
Alice endures pain, torment and suffering as the family stalk her throughout the decrepit ruins of their home. The pacing never relents as she seemingly never gets any respite from attack as the family find new and cruel ways to inflict harm to her and each other.
Another standout moment is Thya's return to the family home after an incident. She arrives back forever changed, impaled by a car headrest and under complete control of the Deadites will and becomes the catalyst for all the family's misfortune. "Cheers, to your perfect family," she toasts, sealing her as one of the franchises most iconic Deadites to date.
Burn it to the ground
Alice must confront her own grief as the Deadites continue to exploit her emotional vulnerability, weaponizing her grief. Each family member inhabits a different animalistic form of attack – trying to find any weakness within her. But Alice is no push over and fights back against this demented family's expectations as the movie builds up to a blazing final confrontation.
A relentless endurance test of blood-and-bile soaked nightmare fuel, Vaniček's form of New French Extremity will bludgeon you beyond recognition. It's so wonderfully mean-spirited and chock full of memorable wince-inducing moments.
Tying together this film with previous entries (viewers should certainly stick around as the credits roll for 2 post-credit sequences that will certainly delight fans).Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn is brutal and unrepentant and a blistering addition to the Evil Dead franchise.
Evil Dead Burn arrives in theaters on July 10. For more scares, check out our guide to all the upcoming horror movies you need to know about.
