Evil Dead Burn
Review by Mark Woodring
While both Ryan and I are fans of the Evil Dead franchise, I am by far the more… devoted… fan.
I have enjoyed every entry in that world, including the 2013 entry and the most recent Evil Dead Rise.
And don’t get me talking about how many times I’ve seen Evil Dead: The Musical 4D Experience.
So you can imagine my delight that I could look forward to yet another Evil Dead cinematic experience with Sébastien Vanicek’s Evil Dead Burn.
**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below, then listen as he and Ryan discuss the film further. Remember, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
110 Minutes, Rated R Written by Sébastien Vanicek, Florent Bernard
Directed by Sébastien Vanicek
Synopsis:
After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws. As one by one they transform into deadites, she comes to discover that the vows she took in life – survive even in death.
A lot of people weren’t excited by the 2013 entry or Evil Dead Rise, saying things like it “didn’t feel like Evil Dead,” mostly because it didn’t have Ash Williams as it’s protagonist. I get it. Bruce Campbell IS what people think of when they hear the words “Evil Dead.” He is inextricably linked to the franchise on its most fundamental level.
But the fact Sam Raimi has blessed the additional projects and endorsed the expansion of the mythology is good enough for me, so long as the projects occupying that expanded space as GOOD.
2013? Good.
Rise? Good.
Burn? Well…
Here’s where things get complicated.
This one, despite director Sébastien Vanicek’s assertion that he wanted, really wanted, to make an Evil Dead movie, doesn’t feel like an Evil Dead movie.
Is it a bad movie? Not particularly. Not if you’re into the body horror and gore and increasingly disturbing physical damage inflicted upon the characters. In that respect, Evil Dead Burn is a pretty good movie, if one that seems willing to escalate sole for the sake of escalation to inflict further shock on the audience.
The story is solid enough, and while almost none of the characters are remotely likable (which is clearly the intent), they are developed enough to carry the plot along.
But the “Evil Dead” part is almost criminally underplayed, mostly feeling like a tacked on afterthought. A couple of nods to previous movies (the opening sequence, the tape recorder, the words…), but generally speaking, this could just as easily NOT been an Evil Dead movie.
We had discussed in our review of Ballerina how that film had been written as a standalone film which was then re-tooled into taking place in the John Wick universe, with just enough connective tissue to justify that association.
Evil Dead Burn has a similar feel: a movie which had been reconfigured into an Evil Dead story in the slimmest way possible.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the film quite a bit, but not as an Evil Dead film, but as an unaffiliated horror entry.
Check it out if it seems your thing, then reach out and let me know what YOU thought about it.
Evil Dead Burn is in theaters now and stars Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Errol Shand, Maude Davey, and George Pullar.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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