Real talk – there’s not been a bad Evil Dead thing yet. In the wake of the beloved trilogy by Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert, there followed a surprisingly effective remake and groovy television series, offering two very distinct variations on the three stooges’ original work. The franchise then turned over a new page in its Book (of the Dead) with the alarmingly effective Evil Dead Rise. As of 2026, it remains the most consistent horror series ever made. No pressure on director Sébastien Vaniček, then.
The French filmmaker (of icky spider-’em-up Infested) joins the series soon after it found a renewed sense of spirit (and level of violence) in Lee Cronin’s 2023 sequel. With Cronin having moved on to pastures not-so-new with his Mummy film, this leaves Vaniček to steer the ship. And steer it he does, straight into a land of French Extreme Cinema.
The gruelling violence of Inside and Martyrs is a clean fit for the Evil Dead universe, and Burn feels both new and also comfortingly familiar. ‘Comforting’ is a strange word for a film with this level of brutality, but it fits like a glove prosthetic chainsaw, hitting the franchise’s usual beats to deliver all the shock and gore one expects from an Evil Dead joint. At the same time, it’s quite unlike anything the franchise has done before.
Evil Dead Burn concerns another family – although they couldn’t be more different from the close-knit clan of Rise. Adjusting to the recent loss of her husband (George Pullar), Frenchwoman Alice (Souheila Yacoub) feels the pressure as her in-laws gather at their remote holiday home to mourn as a family. Between the passive aggression of mother-in-law Susan (Tandi Wright) and more straightforward, uh, aggression of father-in-law Edgar (Erroll Shand) it’s a fractious affair long before the Deadites come a-knocking.
When they do so, it’s with unexpected purpose. Picking up where Rise left off, the arrival of Vaniček’s Deadites is no coincidence. They’re after a certain something, and they’ll stop at nothing to get it. Not that they’ve ever been in the habit of holding back before. These, however, are Deadites with purpose – torturing for a reason, rather than for the usual shits and giggles. This is Evil Dead at its most malicious, turning the screw at every opportunity. Everything you see here is to set up future bodily trauma. Never mind Chekhov’s gun – here’s his dishwasher, pen, false teeth and kitchen sink. That dishwasher sequence, by the way? Somehow it’s even longer and more upsetting than the overly spoiler-y trailer ever indicated.
The screenplay by Vaniček and Florent Bernard is perhaps a little too concerned with setting up its upcoming prequel (Evil Dead Wrath, coming 2028), but it’s an otherwise relentless experience, barrelling from one outrageous set-piece to the next.
Evil Dead Burn is another success story for the 45-year-old horror franchise. Blending obscene levels of violence with a surprisingly deep emotional throughline, it’s an emotional and physical gut punch, anchored by a devastatingly vulnerable performance from Yacoub.
‘Groovy’ is probably the wrong descriptor for a film as thoroughly punishing as this one, but it’s another top-notch entry in a series which is only getting better with age.
EVIL DEAD BURN is out in UK cinemas on July 9th, 2026.
