The Evil Dead franchise is one that I’ve loved for a long time. I even have a chainsaw tattoo inspired by the first film. I love its campiness. Even though the original Evil Dead wasn’t trying to be comedic in the same way that its sequels were, it felt fun. This is likely because of campiness as a byproduct of its lower budget. It’s no secret that prior to Evil Dead Burns‘ release, Evil Dead (2013) was my least favorite of the franchise. My reasons for that are very similar to how I feel about this one. Both films’ attempts to be completely serious and mean-spirited miss the mark on what the franchise does best, providing either a campy or straightforwardly comedic experience. However, in my opinion, Evil Dead Burn has more missteps overall.
This review will have spoilers, so consider yourself warned.
In Evil Dead Burn, ” after the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. As one by one they are transformed into Deadites—turning the gathering into a family reunion from hell— she comes to discover that the vows she took in life live on… even in death.” 
I went into this film very excited. I loved Evil Dead Rise. Sadly, this film completely missed the mark for me. Let’s start with the story, or what little story we get. We are introduced to Alice, who has been the victim of domestic abuse by her husband, Will. After a fight at their restaurant, he speeds off and gets into an accident after crashing into a deadite (from the previous film, more on this later), becoming a deadite himself in the process. This is how we find ourselves entangled with his family. It’s clear that his parents don’t like Alice, but it’s never really clear as to why Will’s parents don’t like her. In fact, even prior to their deadite possession, they are barely civil to her. This was one of my first issues with the film. The parents’ possession doesn’t really change them; it just seems to enhance what’s already there. If that’s the case, then we as an audience deserve a bit more background on why Edgar and Susan excuse Will’s faults but not Joseph’s. Even more bizarre is that, with the exception of the grandmother, Polly, they treat Joseph’s girlfriend Thya better than they do Alice. Given the almost two-hour runtime, this could have been handled better.
The film also has a contrived way of leaving various weapons around the house to be used later, which doesn’t make a lot of sense outside of the expectation that a deadite will do something with them. Chekhov’s weed whacker, anyone? I wish I were joking about that. The dining room table during the dinner scene looked more like a game of Clue than an actual meal. Normally, I am all about an uncomfortable dinner scene, but this really pushed the limits on that. The food’s only purpose was to look disgusting as Edgar ate it. The family discussion in this part of the movie could have also served as exposition, but Deadite Edgar randomly reaching for weapons, the dog whining, etc made it clear from this point that the story of the film absolutely didn’t matter; it was the distraction, not the other way around. Then we get to one of the most egregious parts of the film, Edgar kills the dog. We’re not talking an off-screen or quick thing here. It’s long, brutal, and completely horrific. I realize that I’m more sensitive than most around dog death in film, but this was egregious. I covered my eyes, and I still wanted to vomit. To add insult to injury, Max the dog gets stabbed two more times throughout the duration of the film. Given that a dog was killed in Infested, albeit off-screen (so I’m told), I do wonder what Sébastien Vaniček has against them. 
This viciousness carries throughout the film. Fans of the franchise expect some level of campiness or comedy. This film’s attempts at that usually involve Polly. I’m not sure when dementia in the elderly became an often-used punchline, but it just doesn’t feel funny. Especially when so much of the surrounding scenes are so mean. There is a lack of cohesiveness. Even Evil Dead (2013) had some campy moments. I may not have liked it much, but at least it didn’t feel like it was trying to completely abandon what makes Evil Dead fun. It goes back to what I was saying before. When writing this film, it was clear that they wanted more emphasis on the kills and making them look cool than trying to get the audience to care about the characters. You don’t really feel sad when anyone dies or gets attacked, except for Thya, and maybe Joseph (though his death is mainly offscreen). The constant barrage of people being thrown around or impaled with/on objects becomes tedious.
Additionally, the story of the film left me with questions. Was Professor Knowby from Evil Dead 2 one of the Circle of Wise Men? We’ve established that there are 3 Necromicons. Does that mean there are different Kandarian daggers? If making out with a deadite or having one suck on your dentures (again, wish I was kidding) or being injured by a deadite is enough to turn you into one, why didn’t Joseph become one after his encounter with the dishwasher and Deadite Thya licking him? Why didn’t Alice turn into one after being stabbed in the eardrum by Deadite Polly (sort of like Linda being stabbed with a pencil in the original Evil Dead)? I know we are asked to suspend our disbelief a lot with horror, but this feels more like bad writing. I’m hopeful that Evil Dead Wrath, being a prequel, will answer some of these questions. 
Now, all of that said, there were a couple of things I did like about the movie. Despite most of the scenes of violence playing out for too long, the effects work was stellar. The initial moments of those shots were insane. It’s just unfortunate that they either overstayed their welcome or the deadites started to feel like Zach Snyder zombies. The scene where Thya drinks the hot candle and the scene where Joseph falls onto the dishwasher full of dirty silverware had me squirming! I also liked the connections to Evil Dead Burn. They were effective in making the films feel connected without feeling like the movie was trying to hold your hand and guide you along. Those moments were also not so integral that if you missed the previous film, you can’t watch or enjoy this one.
Overall, Evil Dead Burn was not my jam. I recognize that, for the most part, this is a subjective opinion when it comes to its tone. However, if you’re going in wanting more than 2 hours of unrelenting gore, your mileage may vary. Evil Dead Burn is in theaters now.
My Rating: 2.5/5