It’s hard to believe that the Evil Dead franchise has been around for over 40 years. To put that in context, the original was released in 1981 and if you counted back 40 years from the original it would put us squarely around the time the US entered World War II. To say that this franchise has a deep history is an understatement. The movies, however, have been rather hit-or-miss lately. As with many movie franchises, each sequel tries to one-up the previous one, and in the case of the Evil Dead movies, that means upping the amount of blood and gore over the previous film.
With the most recent release of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, the reins of the franchise have been handed to director/writers Sébastien Vaniček and Florent Bernard to continue the story of the cursed book and the evil Deadites. Taking place after the events of Rise (although you certainly don’t have to have seen it to watch this film) we are introduced to the next chapter.
Following the horrific car crash of Will Price (George Pullar) his wife Alice (Souhelia Racoub) must confront her in-laws who have never approved of the marriage. Along with Will’s brother Joseph (Hunter Doohan) and his girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan) the family all meet at their summer house to grieve their loss.
Things rapidly degrade when Will’s father Edgar (Erroll Shand) kills the family dog at the dinner table and attacks Thya. A trip to the hospital for Edgar sets the events of the movie into motion. Where the Deadites seek an artifact that has come into the possession of Will’s grandfather that has the power to destroy them. A very brief introduction to both the book of the dead and the artifact are presented in an old family movie in the beginning of the film. If you don’t pay attention, then it will be a real struggle to understand what is going on for the rest of it.
Evil Dead Burn certainly ups the ante on blood and gore which has become a staple of the franchise. It is an over-the-top blood-filled extravaganza, which is meant to shock the viewers and provide a bit of comedy relief. That’s one of the main problems I had with the film among many others. When done right excessive blood and gore can add to the story or even border on such ridiculousness that you can’t help but laugh and be entertained. The problem with Burn is that it can’t decide when it should be taken seriously or when it should be taken in a lighthearted fashion. Every scene constantly attempts to outdo the other and it never truly moves the story forward
I guess that’s the main problem I have with Burn, is that it forgoes any attempt at story telling. While the premise is interesting and certainly has a story to tell, we the viewers never get that. It’s one chaotic scene after another, with the director constantly pushing the movie forward. For a movie that is almost two hours long, there is about 20 minutes of actual storytelling and the rest if simply pain and suffering (both physically and mentally). I wouldn’t say I got desensitized to the violence, but it all got a little old and stale halfway through the movie.
That’s not to say that there aren’t creative and inventive ways for people to die. Vaniček is certainly creative when it comes to that, maybe not as creative as say the Final Destination movies, but creative in the sense of other horror movies that have come before it. Vaniček ‘s attempt to make a hedge trimmer as iconic as Bruce Campbell’s chainsaw just falls flat, and the artifacts power to dispense of the Deadites is grossly underutilized, to a point where what should have been the focus of the film becomes an afterthought. Sadly violence for the sake of violence with no purpose detracts from what the film might have been.
At the end of the day Evil Dead Burn is a forgettable chapter in the long running franchise. It lacks any depth, and the viewer never truly connects with any of the characters. Unfortunately, the best parts of the movie are in the trailer, and you could simply just watch that and save yourself time. I wish I could say Evil Dead Burn was a fun time, even if the story was lacking, but honestly, I found myself looking at my watch just waiting for it to end. It’s a tough decision as to which horror movie is the worst this year, it’s really a toss-up between Lee Cronin’s The Mummy and Evil Dead Rise, neither of which I’d recommend spending money on.
2 out of 5 stars.
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