Evil Dead Burn is a very good horror movie that is not quite as good as Evil Dead Rise, and the gap between those two statements is where most of the conversation around this film lives. Director Sébastien Vaniček returns after Rise and delivers exactly what the franchise promises — relentless, genuinely brutal practical horror, Deadites that are terrifying to look at, and set pieces that don’t let up once the film finds its gear. The issues are character depth, a third-act CGI climax that undercuts what came before it, and a nagging feeling that the film is content serving the same dish rather than pushing the franchise somewhere new.
For Evil Dead fans: you’ll enjoy this. You’ll wish it was better. You’ll stay for the post-credits scenes and have opinions about what they mean for Evil Dead Wrath. For general horror audiences: this is one of the more brutal theatrical experiences currently in cinemas — just know what you’re walking into before you sit down.
The Cast
What Works
The horror itself is the movie’s reason for existing and it delivers. Evil Dead Burn is relentlessly brutal — the director explicitly stated he wanted the film to require the audience to breathe when it was over, and the clinical description of what happens in this film across its runtime would sound absurd outside the horror genre. The practical effects work is extraordinary. The kills are inventive. The Deadites — led by Edgar — are frightening in the way that only something with genuine malevolence behind it can be, and Edgar in particular is the kind of horror movie villain that earns his scenes by making the audience genuinely uncomfortable rather than just surprised.
Alice as the lead is the film’s strongest character achievement. Souheila Yacoub carries the weight of a woman who has been surviving abuse long before the Deadites showed up, and the film’s most emotionally effective sequence — Alice confronting Susan about her decision to ignore Will’s behaviour in service of the family mythology she’d built — lands because of the groundwork the script laid for both characters. The weed whacker sequence is exactly what Evil Dead is for. The film earns the survivor it puts on screen.
Cinematography is also a step up from Rise in places. Vaniček and Philip Lozano create some genuinely striking long-take sequences where horror plays out in the background or periphery, and the visual language of the film is more confident than a franchise entry typically feels. There are shots in this film that are legitimately well-composed in a way that horror as a genre too rarely bothers with.
Where It Falls Short
The Deadites in Evil Dead Burn are less intimidating than they were in Rise, which is the central paradox of the movie. They’re also more restrained in the darkly comic menace that the franchise has always used to balance the horror — the Deadite banter and taunting that made Ellie in Rise so memorable is largely absent here, replaced by focused aggression that paradoxically makes them feel less dangerous rather than more. The film’s logic for why they don’t simply possess Joseph to find the dagger — which is what they eventually do anyway — is a convenience that doesn’t quite hold up.
The third act is where the film stumbles hardest. Will’s return as a charred CGI corpse for a climactic chase at a construction site is visually unconvincing and structurally unnecessary — Alice had already reached her emotional resolution with the family, and the extra confrontation adds length without adding meaning. The CGI is noticeably rough against the practical quality of everything preceding it, and the sequence drags a film that had been tight and relentless into something that feels padded.
Character work beyond Alice and Susan is thin. Joseph’s arc — the man who can’t commit — never resolves. The domestic abuse theme that runs through the film is interesting and gives the movie more substance than a standard franchise entry, but it’s never fully integrated into the horror in a way that makes the two layers reinforce each other. The film gestures at something more meaningful than pure gore delivery and doesn’t quite get there.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
| The Good | The Bad | The Ugly |
|---|---|---|
| The Gore and Practical EffectsThe set pieces are genuinely inventive and the practical work is exceptional. The film delivers on the franchise’s core promise without compromise — if you’re here for body horror and visceral kills, Evil Dead Burn earns its runtime in this department. | Deadites Less Intimidating Than RiseA more mission-focused, less charismatic set of Deadites loses some of the franchise’s defining menace. Edgar is terrifying, but Ellie’s specific combination of taunting, dark comedy, and threat level hasn’t been matched. | The Third Act CGI FinaleWill as a charred CGI corpse chasing Alice through a construction site. Rough visuals on a character that didn’t need the extra scene. Drags the ending of a tight film and undermines the practical work that came before it. |
| Alice and SusanTwo characters who get actual arcs. The confrontation between Alice and Susan about Will’s abuse is the film’s most effective dramatic scene, and Yacoub’s performance as Alice carries the weight the film needs her to. The rest of the cast is fine; these two are the ones worth caring about. | Thin Characters Beyond the LeadsJoseph’s arc stays incomplete by design but never quite lands as intentional. The rest of the family members exist to be killed. For a film that gestures at depth through the domestic abuse theme, the character work mostly stops at Alice and Susan. | The Post-Credits ControversyEllie’s return in the final post-credits scene breaks established franchise lore in a way the hardcore fanbase is not happy about. Whether this is frustrating or exciting depends entirely on your relationship to the series mythology. |
| Cinematography and DirectionVaniček is a genuinely talented horror director and this film is more visually confident than franchise entries typically are. The long-take background horror sequences and Philip Lozano’s cinematography elevate the craft above what the story needs to sustain itself. | Content Just Below Evil Dead RiseThere is no individual failure in Evil Dead Burn so much as an aggregate sense that Rise did everything this does and did it slightly better — more memorable Deadites, more effective character investment, more satisfying payoffs. Burn is a good film in the shadow of a better one. |
The Post-Credits Scenes — No Spoilers Beyond What You Need to Know
There are two. A mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene. Stay for both if you have any interest in where the franchise is going. The post-credits scene in particular has generated significant debate in the Evil Dead community for what it means for established lore. Evil Dead Wrath is confirmed for April 7, 2028 and will be set in the 1970s, functioning as a prequel.
The Verdict
Evil Dead Burn is a good horror movie — maybe a very good one — that can’t quite escape comparison to its predecessor. Evil Dead Rise delivered a genuinely memorable franchise entry with a high concept, a performance in Ellie that became an immediate horror icon, and practical horror sequences that held up through repeated conversation. Burn has most of those elements at slightly lower intensity and with a third act that undercuts them. The 71% on Rotten Tomatoes is the right number: this is a certified good time for horror fans and a step below what the series briefly felt capable of becoming.
If you’re an Evil Dead fan: see it. If you’ve never seen an Evil Dead film: watch Rise first, then come back. If you’re a casual horror viewer who doesn’t need franchise context: it’s brutal enough to be memorable and directed well enough to be more than torture porn, but the character investment will need to come from the Alice-Susan thread rather than anywhere else.
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Score Breakdown
