The Evil Dead franchise is in the same boat as the Toy Story franchise. It definitely peaked a decade or two ago, and now is settling into a new reality as something different. As I said in Evil Dead Rise, if this movie were not using the Evil Dead IP and just its own thing, I would have loved Burn much more. As part of a demonic possession horror comedy tapestry, Burn is fun, but going through the motions a little bit.
The deadites (demonically possessed people in Evil Dead world), have sensed that Joseph Price (Hunter Doohan) has uncovered a weapon to cleanse the world of their evil. As such, he must be eliminated. They get close to Joseph via William (George Pullar), causing him to crash and burn, literally, near the lakehouse where the deadites linger. William’s death gets the whole Price family together: Joseph and his girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan), parents Susan (Tandi Wright) and Edgar (Erroll Shand), dementia ridden grandma Polly (Maude Davey), and William’s estranged French widow Alice (Souheila Yacoub). But when an unsuspecting William tries to get one last moment with his son in the covered casket, knocks start coming from inside of it.
This new iteration of Evil Dead is 3 movies old now. I’m settled in at this point, knowing that the 1980s indy sensation is now a slick smartly produced higher budget version. There’s still remnants of Sam Raimi’s roots: Burn is a LOT funnier than the previous couple films. The funeral scene is one for the ages, with characters wallowing in misery while a eulogist is forced to scream her way through her story while construction goes on outside. In any other context, Grandma Polley would be a figure for deep sadness and empathy: but in Evil Dead world, she’s the comedic relief, completely unaware and unknowing of the supernatural craziness around her. Those pieces are necessary levity in a story without an ounce of it, as the Price family comes to grips with the loss of their son, and the illusion of their happy family unit.
Sebastien Vanicek really gives it his all here though. All the Raimi directing tricks are in use, especially the fast moving camera, more malevolent than funny this time. The practical effects look gross as ever, this time really pushing the boundaries like the Philippou brothers did with Bring Her Back. Props to the actors for really going for it, especially Tandi Wright and Luciane Buchanan, really committing to the possession. I had to look away a few times, and even gagged at the depths Vanicek finds. We’ve got the standard horror stuff too: there’s jump scares aplenty, and its equal and opposite slow moving tension building creep out. The big budget shots look great too: there’s a scene of a person running away from the house, with blood red clouded sky behind her that’s scary and beautiful in equal measure. The third act gets a little CGI lost unfortunately, but the good is so good beforehand in Evil Dead Burn that I forgave that forgettable 10 minutes.
I’m somewhere between Usher’s Burn and Ellie Goulding’s Let in Burn on Evil Dead Burn. I do partially want to burn this all to the ground and leave the deadites dead, aight. I also am a little burning for it to return cause for the most part the quality is good. I guess we’ll settle for Burning Down the House, letting go of this story angle, and hopefully moving onto something different for Evil Dead.