Notable Cast: Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright, Hunter
Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Erroll Shand, Maude Davey, George Pullar
If there’s one thing that I am willing to give the most
recent run of Evil Dead films, starting with the remake back in 2013,
it’s that they very much feel like the directors are given a decent amount of
freedom to create ‘their’ Evil Dead film. So much so that, whether the
audience wants it or not, there is an underlying theme in each one. Fede
Alvarez used Evil Dead (2013) to explore drug addiction, and Lee Cronin
used Evil Dead Rise to delve into the complexities of motherhood. The
latest, technically the sixth film in the series, continues that trend with a
new director and new themes to eviscerate.
For the latest, the Evil Dead curators Raimi and
Tapert have handed off the franchise to up-and-coming French filmmaker
Sébastien Vaniček, and he has his own take on the demonic forces of this
franchise’s world that both doubles down on the visceral violence, suffocating
tension, and its traumatic themes. His film, Evil Dead Burn, represents
a continuation of the series with more continuity to previous entries, while
managing to certainly be a film with its own identity - which has already
resulted in some mixed reactions from fans. However, Vaniček ably blends the
two like blood and snow to deliver a vicious film that never pulls its punches,
even in its rather nihilistic themes and narrative choices. Yes, it’s
absolutely what I want in an Evil Dead film.
While most fans are going to be coming to a new Evil Dead
movie for its horror pedigree, it’s perhaps more fitting to discuss the film’s
plot and narrative first. Not that the film lacks in its horrors, in fact it’s
quite the opposite, but the most fascinating aspect of Evil Dead Burn is
how it manages to replicate the necessary components of the franchise: isolated
setting, a group of people to get Deadite’d, some lore around the evils
manifested on Earth, and a wild array of creative ways to get pulverized, while
still managing to push the series forward.