“Evil Dead Burn” (2026) is the sixth feature in the “Evil Dead” franchise, which currently consists of six movies, four graphic novels, a ton of comics, a television series and a partridge in a pear tree. It expanded a proof-of-concept short film “Within the Woods” (1978). It is the third film without Sam Raimi at the helm or Bruce Campbell as one of the main characters. It is the third best in the franchise after “The Evil Dead” (1981) and “Evil Dead Rises” (2023), which is really my favorite and secretly the one that ranks number one in my heart. “Evil Dead Burn” is my second favorite.
Against her better judgment, pink haired, chain-smoking, hard drinking, fun loving photographer Alice (Souheila Yacoub) decides to spend time with her in laws after her husband, Will Price (George Pullar), dies in a car accident. Unfortunately, her husband’s cause of death is connected to the Deadites, who have a special interest in this family. They have the Book of the Dead, possibly the last of the three discovered or the first of the three if you look at the family photos. Will she be able to stick to her guns and sever the ties that bind her to this family?
The direction of the “Evil Dead” franchise is confident and delightfully and undiplomatically refuses to tiptoe and frames abuse against women and making women forsake their identity and prioritize a family as demonic and another form of possession. During a time of global regressive war on women and anyone else who dares to be an individual who refuses to bow to that system, it is bold and badass to so firmly and clearly take a position that sides with unconventional women. Alice may be the most memorable woman character after Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) from the first movie and Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) from the fifth movie.
Alice ignores her instinct to flee, return to France and obeys polite society’s rules when she attends the funeral with her in-laws. Polite society cares about keeping up appearances, not an individual’s well-being, and walks around on eggshells for the most toxic person in the room. Alice wears sneakers to the sparsely attended funeral, but her mother-in-law, Susan (Tandi Wright, “Pearl”), lends her some pumps, which cause her feet to blister. It is a stupid gesture that seems like an easy concession, but it is surrendering to an act of control and conformity that makes pain and discomfort a requirement for family membership, especially for women. It is just the first of many incessant demands that the family will require. Even after her husband’s death, the family expects Alice to devote her life to Will. If the tradition required her to burn herself on a pyre after her husband’s death, they would expect it.
Susan was a sculptor who decided to be nothing like her father, who apparently left to protect them and research The Book, and devote herself entirely to the family. Unfortunately, she seems to believe that means leaving nothing for herself, which blinds her to the family’s flaws and makes her a problem before she becomes possessed. Susan was already stuck in the past long before the Deadites arrived to tempt her with resurrecting her family. She idealized Will but had to reach back to his childhood for a compliment. She does not seem to think that family should leave when the children become adults and wants to reunite everyone again. All the red flags are there even though she is one of the nicer family members.
Edgar (Erroll Shand) prefers his dead son over his living son, Joseph (Hunter Doohan), and even gets irritated with his faithful dog, Max (Dax, a versatile dog actor), who tries to soothe him. (The lobster lives, but the dog does not. I’m a softie, and it is done relatively tastefully, especially for this franchise.) He cannot stand Alice while simultaneously expecting her to continue wearing the wedding ring and keep his secrets from the rest of the family. Joseph and Alice get along well and even partied together when Will was alive, but Joseph is a bit aimless and accepts his family’s varied judgments against him instead of distinguishing himself and standing up for himself or anyone else. Before Alice came, he was likely the black sheep. His mom discourages his interest in his grandfather’s research. It soon becomes obvious that their real problem may be that he is the son who least takes after Edgar.
In contrast to Alice, Thya (Luciane Buchanan) is the perfect girlfriend to Joseph and would actually help the family level up. She is prepared for every circumstance (Band-Aids for Alice’s blister and makeup for the funeral) but still falls short of receiving acceptance even though she emulates Susan’s values. Grandma Polly (Maude Davey), who has memory issues, eyes her with suspicion. She will never be one of them, and once she becomes a Deadite, it is her mission to call out the “perfect family,” including Joseph for the way that he shows that he is not exempt from his family’s toxicity, it is just less obvious. His words reflect that he secretly blames Alice for his brother’s death even though he denies it.
“Evil Dead Burn” is an unexpected Gothic family melodrama that connects the dots of the mythology and every movie. It answers anyone’s questions about what happened to Jessica from “Evil Dead Rises,” or the last surviving Deadite. It was a neat trick to cast the stunt double, Greta van den Brink, to reprise the role. You need to stay for all the post credit scenes to see which Deadites will appear in the future announced seventh movie, “Evil Dead Wrath” (2028). It does not feel like a cash grab, though it is. It feels as if they have the formula down. The Deadites enjoy messing with families and are increasingly becoming like the vampires in “Salem’s Lot.” They convince their living loved ones to trust them, enjoy shrouding themselves like kids pretending to be ghosts, can defy gravity, and rather enjoy terrifying people by harming themselves. Unlike “Evil Dead Rises,” this movie retains a lot of the humor from the Sam Raimi cycle, but favors the grim, merciless violence of Lee Cronin’s film.
Cowriter and director Sebastien Venicek’s sophomore film shows that there is no slump after his strong debut feature, “Infected” (2023). The narrative structure is probably the strongest with special kudos for having flashbacks of scenes that were not shown earlier in “Evil Dead Burn,” but offers important information to validate suspicions that may have arose in the audience while they were watching Alice and Will before the accident. I saw this one on the big screen, but there was never a scene that made me scream like the cheese grater scene in “Evil Dead Rise” or stayed stuck in my noggin for decades like the tree rape scene from the first, but it is an easy sacrifice for such a meaningful story. He often uses the rapid editing style from the Raimi trilogy, but it is not in service of humor. The editing intensifies the tension regarding who will get hurt and how. It is like playing the horror version of “Clue.” The camerawork is at its best during the fight scenes otherwise you have seen similar movement work in other films. If not for the supernatural shenanigans, the action could seamlessly appear in a “John Wick” movie, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or any DC Comic live action film. The grandma Deadite fight style feels like a throwback to the Raimi cycle in a great way. It is more “Evil Dead” in the spirit of Cronin than Raimi.
Unlike the prior movies, “Evil Dead Burn” features the most people of color, and they die first, but I will sign a waiver because everyone usually dies in these movies so no harm, no foul. The waiver will have a tiny asterix because the Black people in the introduction, Leo (Victory Ndukwe) and Jared (Keanu Karim), heard terrifying tales about the area and still went. Are they descendants of Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) from “Backrooms” (2026)? It is whitewashing of horror storytelling if poor cremator, Jake (Shyamal Singh), is not a Deadite somewhere.
The “Evil Dead” franchise is likely going to showcase new filmmaking talent behind the camera as a chance to cut their teeth with more resources and keep fans guessing regarding what will happen next. While it adheres to some basic rules, it is a clever scheme to keep it fresh. Venicek may have been misguided to stick to a colder palette so the fiery scenes would stand out more and to reflect the family’s emotional state, he still managed to make a riveting story without pacing issues or recreating the past.
