Evil Dead Burn is the best one.
Sue me.
This is French brutality meets one of the most gruesome franchises in modern horror. The result is one helluva fun ride and I cannot recommend it enough.
I do want to preface though… I held off on writing this review until I got the chance to watch the 2013 Evil Dead reboot per a fellow horror nerd’s suggestion. As far as Evil Dead goes –
2013 is pretty good.
Not as good as Burn.
But pretty good.
In fact, now that I’ve seen them all, here is the correct ranking:
- Evil Dead Burn (S-tier)
- The Evil Dead 2 (S-tier)
- Evil Dead (2013) (A-tier)
- The Evil Dead (A-tier)
- Evil Dead Rise (B-tier)
- Army of Darkness (F-tier)
First off, if you’re on the fence about going to see Burn then do yourself a favor and see it while it’s still in theaters.
What makes this one stand above the rest? Honestly, it’s the characters and pacing for me. The Evil Dead franchise has a penchant for its hard and fast brutality. Whereas the most recent installment is much more of a slow burn… (get it???).
This slower pace allows for strong character development, which is something that I find lacking in other Evil Dead movies. I think that may be why this latest film is so divisive… it ventures pretty far away from the traditional Evil Dead formula.
What do I mean by that?
Having seen them all, I feel we tend to learn the most about our characters (more like “victims”) from their interactions with the Deadites themselves. The Deadites are the primary foil and their crass prodding of each character’s insecurities serves as the main storytelling device. My problem with that is that these details are so often over-shadowed by intense gore that it dilutes the message. It’s too late to care about the characters if they’re already half-dismembered by the time I know anything about them…
Burn takes a big risk venturing from this template, but in my opinion, it pays off massively.
Alice is a bad ass and her trauma is central to the plot. The Price family history is a maze of secrets. Each family member is deeply flawed in very realistic ways. Plus, the film is set primarily in a place of deep significance to all of these nuances and helps unravel the layers underneath the Price’s tense family dynamic.
It really is just masterful storytelling.
And yes… the house is a metaphor for trauma. I know it’s cliche.
I don’t care as long as it’s done well.
Aside from the compelling characters and strong setting, Burn is also the first installment in the franchise to really expand on the lore. The Deadites have motivation and it makes sense why they’re tormenting this family, in this location, at this time.
And as far as “rules” go for the Evil Dead universe… there are no fuckin’ rules. In the original, Ash is able to exorcise a Deadite by burning the Necronomicon and yet in the 2013 reboot the book is literally impervious to flames???
We’re talking about the Evil Dead here. The only rule is that 99% of the people are gonna die and the hero is gonna walk away covered in blood, probably missing a limb or two. If that’s the standard, then Burn is right on the money.
There’s a fire in my heart and it yearns for more French cinema.
This movie fuckin’ rules.
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