‘Evil Dead Burn’ review: Latest in long-running horror franchise has lots of gore, little of substance

Dir: Sebastien Vanicek. US. 2026. 110mins

Nearly five decades after the demonic Deadites first made their presence felt in 1981’s groundbreaking cult horror The Evil Dead, they are still intent on causing bloody mayhem – but this latest instalment of the long-running franchise makes less of an impact than its predecessors. Nevertheless, this tale of a troubled family battling a demonic infestation has some inventively schlocky setpieces and a strong central performance from Souheila Yacoub, and will undoubtedly prove a winner with horror fans looking for a fun time.

Makes less of an impact that its predecessors

Original director Sam Raimi is back to produce this sixth feature in the franchise, following The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II (1987), Army Of Darkness (1992) – all of which starred Bruce Campbell, who executive produces here – the lacklustre 2013 remake and 2023’s excellent Evil Dead Rise (whose director Lee Cronin is also an executive producer). The latter earned $147m worldwide, and Evil Dead Burn should do similar business, propelled by its much-loved IP and strong word of mouth. There is clearly ongoing confidence in this tried-and-tested horror stalwart; 1970s-set prequel Evil Dead Wrath, from director Francis Galluppi, is scheduled for release in 2028.

When volatile restaurant owner Will (George Pullar) is killed in a fiery car accident – the audience privy to the leering Deadite who forces him off an isolated road – his family, including French wife Alice (Yacoub) and brother Joseph (Wednesday star Hunter Doohan), gather at their remote forest holiday home for an intimate wake. But there is an unwelcome presence in their midst. At first, the erratic behaviour of Will’s father Edgar (Erroll Shand, one of several cast members from New Zealand, where the film was shot) could be explained away as grief… but then he gets his hands on a corkscrew and all hell breaks loose.

From this point on, Evil Dead Burn becomes a relentless battle for survival, lensed with a fluid, acrobatic intensity by cinematographer Philip Lozano, as the Deadite virus spreads to each family member in turn. Joseph’s girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan, excellent) is one of the first to go, in a brutally effective sequence that plays out in the tight confines of the family car. It also highlights the fact Joseph might be the shockingly weak link that leaves the rest of his family, including mother Susan (Tandi Wright) and grandmother Polly (Maude Davey), increasingly vulnerable.

The strength of Evil Dead has always been the way in which the Deadites manipulate individual weakness, turning loved ones on each other and digging into the deepest recesses of their psyche, their fears and insecurities, to plant their infection. The original trilogy tore apart lovers and friends, while Evil Dead Rise effectively targeted the supposedly sacred bond between a mother and her young children. Here, director Sebastien Vanicek (who previously made excellent 2023 French creature feature Infested) and his co-writer Florent Bernard attempt to do something similar, aiming for a sense of terrifying pathos as this family implodes – but their bonds were pretty fractured to begin with, so there’s nothing really to root for.

The real dark heart of this story is its themes of toxic masculinity, of blood that has been curdled by intergenerational trauma. The revelation that Will was a violent man, that aggression and control may be hereditary, is intended to add an extra dramatic layer, but never beds in fully. And a domestic violence subtext feels like nothing more than dramatic motivation for Alice to fight back just that little bit harder. (Yacoub must also shoulder most of the tenuous exposition about Will’s cult historian grandfather, and his discovery of a weapon that can kill the Deadites – one they will stop at nothing to find.) There are some interesting ideas at play – particularly surrounding loyal family matriarch Susan and her challenging relationships with both her husband and her mother, who is suffering from dementia. Yet, ultimately, these are lost in the barrage of blood and gore.

The effects team pulls no punches on that front, and this Evil Dead is perhaps the most ultra-violent yet. It is a breathless onslaught of broken flesh and shattered skulls fuelled by a bombastic soundtrack from French duo Double Danger; at one point, Alice wields an ancient garden strimmer in a fun homage to Campbell’s character Ash and his trusty chainsaw, one of several visual nods to the original trilogy.

But for all the visceral fear, grief, pain and guilt splashed across the screen, Evil Dead Burn has no real substance beyond its ever-increasing ick factor. Still, that is one of the franchise’s major selling points, and dedicated gorehounds are sure to revel in the carefully choreographed domestic carnage, which utilises everything from dishwashers to stairlifts for maximum impact.