Evil Dead Burn ★★★

Released: 9 July 2026

Director: Sebastien Vanicek

Starring: Souheila Yacoub, Hunter Doohan

Directed by Sebastien Vanicek (Infested) and starring Souheila Yacoub (Climax), Evil Dead Burn is the sixth film in the long-spanning franchise which sees the dead come back to life in increasingly gruesome ways. After the loss of her husband, Alice (Yacoub) seeks solace with her in-laws. As one by one they transform into deadites, she comes to discover that the vows she took in life – survive even in death. Evil Dead Burn might be the weakest in the franchise thus far due to its generic storyline and some new ideas that don’t always work, but with solid direction from Vanicek, excellent performances and brutal gore aplenty, there’s still plenty left in the tank.

Evil Dead Rise from 2022 proved that this franchise can be taken to new locations, with entirely fresh characters and ideas, and still provide the entertainment value, madness and overall likeness of the originals. Evil Dead Burn explores that further, as we follow directly on from the events of Rise to see the evil latch onto a brand new family. The difference here – this family has links to the evil, and their appearance may not be an accident. Our core family are battling grief, so they seem like perfect prey. With an abusive past haunting our main character Alice, and a backdrop of abandonment, death, neglect and family illness looming large over her in-laws, there’s quite a lot of character development here to flesh out our new cast. We know we won’t get long with the majority of these characters, so even caring about their arcs a minimal amount is an achievement. All have their quirks, problems and pasts, adding to the gritty nature of the film whilst giving us something tangible to chew on.

It might take some time to get to the film’s central location, a long-forgotten family house under a banner of snow, but the opening act is filtered with strong scares and decent character development to pass the time by. Unfortunately, once we get to the house, the story becomes quite mundane. Of course, viewers are openly signing up for a wild ride, but when intriguing story is completely replaced by gore and scares, it becomes a little tiresome. The script fails to balance brutality and violence with interesting story beats, introducing some new ideas to the franchise that won’t work for all viewers. A mystery weapon that may be able to fight the evil seems like a generic place for the Evil Dead lore to go, and the final fight of the movie featuring a villain unlike anything we’ve seen before feels more cheesy than it does either scary or campy like the originals. Whilst it’s enjoyable to see some fresh ideas enter the franchise, there’s some that feel like a bit of a stretch. Pair that with a plot that fails to fully flesh out the themes introduced in the first act, especially the allegory for domestic violence, it unfortunately falls slightly short of great.

Luckily, Vanicek’s direction comes in clutch, along with other technical aspects, that ensure to keep Evil Dead Burn afloat. The camerawork on display is truly fascinating, offering up an onslaught of playful shots that make for a visual treat. One in particular, involving two characters fighting in a bath, is jaw-droppingly impressive and hard to figure out the technicality of. Of course, we have the famous Evil Dead tracking shot through the forest, but cinematographer Philip Lozano (Cobweb) offers up some tricks of his own to elevate it further. As we saw with his previous feature, Infested, Vanicek certainly has a knack for creating horror films that utilise a single space particularly well. Once we get to the family house around the middle of the film, we don’t leave it again, and Vanicek ensures we don’t notice we’re stuck in a pretty plain location. Every room utilised from the loft to the bathroom, every household item you can think of weaponised, and the snowy landscape outside provides something fresh. The cherry on top here is the performances. Souheila Yacoub is fantastic in the leading role as Alice, a woman not just mourning her husband but coming to terms with the abuse he put her through. Her will to survive gives her a likeable ‘final girl’ vibe, and her past helps us root for her further – Yacoub puts in a strong shift. Hunter Doohan (Daredevil: Born Again) and Erroll Shand (Deathgasm) also provide notable turns.

So… the gore. As we’ve come to expect from the franchise, Evil Dead Burn is full to the brim with brutal and inventive horror sequences, many of which get quite creative and offer up something completely new for the genre. Whether it be drinking hot candle wax, being pulled into a lake with fishing lines or a three way deadite fight inside a car, there are multiple impressive set pieces and buckets of bloodshed. The cinematography never shies away from giving us the money shot, ensuring one wince-inducing frame after the next. There’s likely at least one scare to turn away from for every audience member. No stone is left unturned in terms of injuries or weaponry – Vanicek proves that even a dishwasher is something to be feared. Not for the faint of heart, Evil Dead Burn doesn’t just carry over the gory torch handed to it, but somehow ignites it further.

The generic story and weak third act prevent Evil Dead Burn from hitting a true home run; in a franchise full of greats, even a slight misstep can be detrimental. Suffice it to say that if this is your weakest film in the franchise, you’ve got little to worry about. Despite its flaws, Evil Dead Burn is equal parts entertaining and disgusting, earning its place amongst the other five films. The performances are strong, the links and references to prior entries are particularly pleasing and the camerawork ensures you’re consistently engaged and impressed. Just make sure you stay for both end credit sequences – one in particular is unmissable for fans.