Body horror films such as this are something you either love or hate and no amount of positive reviews will convert you if you are not a fan. But if you have even a remote interest in this kind of movie, this supremely gory supernatural slaughterfest should tick many of your boxes.
It is the sixth film in this long-running franchise and serves as a sequel to 2023’s Evil Dead Rise. It’s not reinventing the wheel. There is a thin story which only serves to fill in the gaps between the gruesome slashing sequences. They have managed to attract a pretty big name for their male lead in the form of Hunter Doohan, who plays Tyler Galpin in the hit Netflix show Wednesday. Here he plays Joseph, a young man researching his late grandfather’s studies on the Naturom Demonto and Deadites. Through his work, he inadvertently attracts a Deadite who passes the possession onto his brother William (George Pullar) as he burns to death in a car wreck.
Fast forward to his funeral, and when his father Edgar (Erroll Shand) privately visits his son’s coffin, he too becomes possessed before returning with his family to an isolated lake house where they have a tense family dinner.
You can see where this is going. An isolated location, victims ripe for the picking, a possessed patriarch – it’s pretty standard horror fare. With the Deadites desperate to get their hands on the dagger, the family begin succumbing to possession in ever more gruesome fashions.
A lot of thought has gone into the scenarios, and there are some very creative death/possession scenes, if you are into that kind of thing.
These moments benefit hugely from practical effects, which are utilised where possible alongside brilliantly creative horror make-up.
There are also numerous homages to other classic horror and sci-fi films. The Shining and Terminator 2 references are pretty obvious, but film buffs will enjoy spotting the others.
Director Sébastien Vaniček has injected a lot of humour into this alongside the blood and guts – some of the laughs are of the awkward variety, but they still land.
While this isn’t a patch on the beloved original Sam Raimi trilogy and lacks the continuity of a leading character like Bruce Campbell’s iconic Ash, it does fit well into the movies’ universe.
It is extremely brutal and bloody, which will be a turn-off for some cinemagoers, but for those with a strong stomach, this is a satisfying, albeit tangential, addition to the Evil Dead canon. Also, audiences should be aware that there are two post-credit scenes which you might want to hang around for.
Evil Dead Burn is in cinemas July 10.
