Evil Dead Burn

Spoiler Alert. Please don’t read any further if you have not seen EVIL DEAD BURN. Go on, scram. Get stepping. Vamoose. O.K. All clear?Um, I was under the impression that we as a society had decided that we were not going to kill dogs in movies? Did I just imagine that? Are we not all on the same page? I mean, I realize all bets are off in a horror film but didn’t we all have some sort of unsaid agreement on this matter? Intellectually, I know it’s not real, but it still bums me out and throws a wrench in the re-watch factor. Luckily, I was indeed warned of the canine death in EVIL DEAD BURN and so was able to properly prepare myself, but I’m still not a fan & did it have to be so aggressive and with a fork? I will say that the pooch in question, “Max” does come back as a possessed puppy for a spell and that is a comfort but it’s of the cold variety on account of he has to be killed once again! I guess I’ll just choose to be happy that it wasn’t a cat…or a squirrel…or a baby raccoon (like the one in my yard the other night!). Anyway, this movie makes a lot of questionable choices storywise and left me partially confused on a few fronts. For example, is it really all that threatening to recite the words in the Necronomicon when you’re already knee deep in possessed demon folk? I guess things could get worse? Suffice to say even though I’ve seen every EVIL DEAD film I can, I may be rusty on the rules and regulations. I’ll just go with it and assume anything can happen and the guardrails are fluid. In any case, this here move is dark, grim, and merciless. There’s usually a space right before the final confrontation in a movie when yours truly can run off to the rest room but not so here! No space! I had to wait! Plus, there’s two after credits scenes so I had to wait extra long! While listening to French rap Music!

Poor Alice (Souheila Yacoub) has just lost her abusive husband William (George Pullar) due to his raging out at her and then driving drunk smack into a deadite remnant of EVIL DEAD RISE and burning in the wreckage. As far as deadly accidents go, it’s rather fortuitous as the scary possessed deadite he runs into (and inadvertently decapitates) was in the midst of hunting down Will’s family on account of their deceased grampy was hoarding the powerful Kandarian dagger which is basically deadite kryptonite. After an extremely awkward funeral service in which Will’s burnt corpse covertly infects his grieving father Edgar (menacing Erroll Shand), the depressed group returns to the family homestead to console themselves with unappetizing food. Besides Alice and Pa, there’s mopey momma Susan (Tandi Wright: AKA, Yikes, the mom from PEARL (2022)), grumpy grammy Polly (Maude Davey), Will’s beyond feckless brother Joseph (Hunter Doohan) and his ill-fated girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan). The festivities are as healing as you’d expect for a clan whose home decor is clearly inspired by RESIDENT EVIL 7: BIOHAZARD (actually, the joint is a carryover from ASH VS. EVIL DEAD but either way, it's begging for a paint job). As said, dad is not quite himself and after losing any chance of being hired as a dog sitter by me, folks are falling like flies in the grizzliest ways imaginable.

I’m not exactly on board with the structure of the story or the semi-cluttered nature of it, but EDB certainly gets its themes of family dysfunction, abuse and entrapment across very clearly. What the film really has going for it is its eye-popping (or gouging) set pieces (including an impressive rooftop scramble) and super creative (Raimi would be proud) use of the camera. There are moments in which I was wishing I was crossed-eyed as it might be the only way I could catch everything that was occurring on screen. Obviously, much here is inspired by the previous installments but director Sebastien Vanicek (2023’s INFESTED) clearly brings his own extreme (and notably French) vision to the table, brutal and brunt though it may be. The CG laden, TERMINATOR-esque conclusion is a bit bombastic for sure but it’s hard not get behind the flick’s final heroine when she finally gets the opportunity to face her own complicity in her abusive relationship and confront and dispose of her abuser, albeit posthumously. In the end, I almost felt it was a better companion piece tho LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY than RISE but that’s what it gets for being so darn mean spirited and featuring a crazed granny as its near lone source of comic relief. Oh, that poor dog Max, what a way to go. If only he died attempting to save the family rather than in the midst of trusting his caretaker. Broke my little heart.