EVIL DEAD BURN (2026) MOVIE REVIEW
Joshua Lightfoot
7/10/26
115 minutes
A widow’s get-together with her in-laws turns into a nightmare in Evil Dead Burn, the 6th installment in the Evil Dead film franchise. Here is a movie that delivers what it promises, massive amounts of gore, sadistic torture, cringe inducing scenes of pain, 100% pure chaos. I’m here for it. If you’re going into this movie with expectations of lots of blood and guts, then yee-haw, you struck gold!
Alice (played by Souheila Yacoub) is put in a difficult spot when her abusive husband is unexpectedly killed in a car accident. This accident occurs when her douchebag husband Will (played by George Pullar) plows through a possessed Deadite standing in the middle of the road with his vehicle. What is a “Deadite” exactly? Oh, you don’t know? It’s a Kandarian demon possessed by the Book of the Dead. These Deadites are never referred by name in this film, but after watching all the other installments multiple times, you just kind of know things. It’s Alice’s brother in-law, Joseph (played by Hunter Doohan) who is writing a novel about this ancient book and its demon resurrection passages. You see, this family’s grandfather studied and spent years researching the Book of the Dead and even recorded himself reading some of its passages on a Panasonic reel-to-reel tape recorder. Fans of the franchise will definitely see call-backs to the first original 2 movies here.
After the funeral, newly widowed Alice is invited to temporarily stay at her in-laws secluded, run-down home that was previously owned by their grandfather. This house has an attic filled with research and artifacts about the Book of the Dead, so of course it doesn’t take long for family members to make stupid mistakes, start getting possessed, and kill each other. There’s quite a bit of emotional baggage to unpack here. Alice’s husband was abusive, the family she is staying with are difficult to be around, blame games, grief, animosity, loss. All of this on full display here and we haven’t even gotten to the possessions yet, but when it starts, it really does let loose. You might have seen the scene in the trailer of a young man falling on top of an open dishwasher with the sharp utensils sticking pointy side up (who the hell loads their dishwasher this way?). Or the scene where a girl gets the loose end of a car headrest stabbed through the back of her head and through the front of her face. This is only what is shown in the advertisements. There’s plenty more where that came from and it’s not for the squeamish.
Director Sebastian Vanicek follows the footsteps of directors like Fede Alvarez and Lee Cronin, an up-and-coming director handpicked by Sam Raimi (director of the original Evil Dead films) to helm a new installment in this franchise. Vanicek directed one other film titled Infested back in 2023, and as of this writing, I’ve unfortunately not seen it. With Evil Dead Burn, I see his craft and style, his signature and fingerprints all over this thing. The massive number of cuts in the editing is a bit of a nuisance near the beginning, and some might not care much for the low lighting. I do admire the unique camera angles and the structure of the story. The way animosity and stress builds tension and for it to explode on screen in many shocking ways, it all works pretty well. Tense moments end with a satisfying payoff every time as well. There’s plenty of scenes that will make you wince or cringe, maybe even upset, and they accomplish what is intended.
Souheila Yacoub fits well as your lead and “final girl” character. Tension fills the screen when she shares scenes with her in-laws Susan (played by Tandi Wright) and Edgar (played by Erroll Shand). So many scenes of mental anguish and physical torture might strike a nerve or two. Might even be relatable to some viewers when it comes to relatives they can’t stand. It’s the kind of smart chemistry that gets under your skin, even more so than every Evil Dead movie that has come before it. It’s serious in tone unlike earlier installments. There are scenes that involve a grandmother named Polly (played by Maude Davey) who is going through a severe case of Alzheimer’s. This might be the only place in the film that has any kind of comedic relief, if you want to call it that. The real highlight is the gore effects. This franchise does not play around when it comes to the glorious practical effects that many horror fans prefer. A few spots of rough looking CGI are noticeable, especially near the end. For the majority of the Evil Dead Burn, the satisfying gore effects are mostly practical. This is one spot I can guarantee will not disappoint.
OVERALL
There are massively successful horror films out now like Obsession and Backrooms. The Bone Temple is in my top 10 of the year so far. Weapons won an Oscar last year for Amy Madigan’s performance. The Substance got 5 Oscar nominations. Get Out received 4 including Best Picture and got Jordan Peele a win for his Screenplay. Even A Quiet Place received a small nod at the Oscars in 2019 for Sound Editing. All of this and more in the past decade. Horror is having a moment. So, does Evil Dead Burn have place in all of this, seeing how far horror has come? Probably not. And that’s okay. There are many different flavors of horror, and sometimes you don’t need anything too deep, sometimes you just want the gore. There’s lots of that, I promise you. Given in a unique and stylized way. Not to say that Evil Dead Burn isn’t deep in moments. It’s plenty deep… and disgusting too. If that’s what you’re looking for, enjoy the ride.
RATING
***1/2 out of 5
