Originally written September 22, 2026. Part of my Shocktober 2026 series.
Genuinely sadistic and just mean as hell, Evil Dead Burn simmers with the impatience of a movie bursting at the seams to be unleashed on this series. “What a cowardly bunch,” it seems to suggest, “to treat violence with such restraint.” Good news for fans of throat slitting, face pulverizing and other such traumatic events: Evil Dead Burn is here to assuage whatever ridiculous notions you may have had about these movies being too tame.
Of course no one actually thinks that, but the way Evil Dead Burn ramps up the carnage, the way it grounds itself in family drama and abuse and is just flat out uncomfortable to watch at every turn, makes it seem like a movie with something to prove. I don’t know if that was the case for director Sébastien Vaniček and crew but they truly left nothing on the table here. A dude shooting himself in the head multiple times? Check. A girl removing a grandmother’s dentures and sticking them in her mouth sumptuously? Check. A father faceplanting his son’s face in the decimated head gore of his girlfriend? Oh buddy, you better believe it.
I’m trying to figure out why Evil Dead Burn felt so much more fucked up than the others. The preceding two entries had already dispensed with the comedic elements of the original movies, so it’s not that. Maybe it’s that family element, which echoes Ari Aster’s deeply unpleasant Hereditary at times, though it’s not quite as potent. Maybe it’s the brevity with which it gets into its wicked violence. It’s a pretty quick ramp up and it truly never lets off the gas pedal at any point.
Letting things down somewhat is the film’s bookends, beginning with a forgettable intro sequence and ending with a bizarre post-credits scene that I still can’t decide if I hate or am rather indifferent about. The rules of the Evil Dead universe feel muddy in Burn, even more so with the surprise of that final stinger.
At least the direction is quite excellent throughout, with lots of great camera movement and a long take three quarters of the way through that is one of my favorite moments in the entire series. Performances are generally solid, with Erroll Shand as the father and second-to-turn in particular continuing the lineage of incredibly menacing Deadites. I’ll not soon forget his downward spiral at the family dinner that really kicks things into gear for these poor souls. Insane movie.
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