Went to see Evil Dead Burn, and came away with mixed thoughts, which is a little surprising given that it ticks all of the boxes I want from an Evil Dead movie: plenty of gratuitous violence, dispensed gleefully; Deadites that manage to be both unsettling and charismatic; creative and frenetic cinematography and some well-timed humour.
This will contain spoilers, read on at your own risk.
The cast is universally excellent, in particular Erroll Shand, who’s imposing presence and physicality lend his scenes a palpable sense of threat; and Luciane Buchanan, who steals the middle portion of the movie entirely with a performance that really leans into the Deadites’ joy in the suffering they inflict.
Likewise the cinematography is on point, with some wonderful shots – the fight scene involving a clever mirror trick is particularly great, as is a very long shot featuring Alice crawling to safety as various characters are thrown around in a slapstick fashion at the edge of the frame. The entire film has a sense of claustrophobia, drawn out with lots of extreme close shots, and fights set in extremely restrictive environments, from inside cars to locked bathrooms. There’s also the progression of colour, from the opening with a completely washed-out grey tone to everything, through the dirty brown and burnt black hues of the middle to the obligatory blood red climax.
The effects are great, with some spectacular gore – the car headrest is, naturally, a highlight, as is the eventual use for Chekov’s pen. I’m not sure I really buy the comparisons to French New Extremity here: the violence is certainly visceral and shocking, but even in it’s bleakest moments the film gives its lead a sense of defiance and purpose that’s in contrast to the nihilism and despair so common to that movement*, and there’s a constant streak of (admittedly pretty dark) humour throughout.
The final reveal of the ultimate antagonist is a little disappointing, with some passable but obvious CGI that works for the tone of the character but doesn’t have the same impact or shock as the violence seen previously, Still, given the dreamlike nature the film takes on at this point it’s not entirely out of place.
What’s a little more difficult to handle is the character dynamics, with the majority of the characters wildly unlikeable and unpleasant to watch. It’s not that this is necessarily a bad thing, with the clashing personalities leading to a spectacularly tense scene around the dinner table, and of course giving plenty of reason to cheer once the Deadites finally arrive, but it does make the opening section of the film quite challenging to sit through. Lacking any characters to really root for besides Alice also does lessen the stakes: the director’s previous film Infested handled this better to my taste, with characters who could be similarly antagonistic to one another, but in a way that felt more nuanced and natural**.
There’s also the overarching theme of domestic abuse, which is certainly a loaded choice for a franchise known for the joy it takes in violence, although to my surprise I found it was handled mostly well (if unsubtly, but if you’re watching an Evil Dead movie for subtlety frankly that’s on you). It grants the lead agency over her abuser, allowing her over the course of the film to utterly reject his family’s justifications for and denial of his behaviour, and his assertion that his love for her makes it OK.
But then, at the very last moment, the film insists on showing that Alice too is suffering from possession from the Deadites, which felt like it really undercut Alice’s growth. Charitably this could perhaps be written off – throughout the film we’re shown that Alice and the other characters are able to resist the Deadites, so maybe she’ll continue to do so? – but to me at least it felt more like a rote and unnecessary last-minute twist than something that really served the plot of characters.
Still, complaints aside this was more or less exactly what I was looking for today, and a strong entry into the franchise that leaves me optimistic for where it goes with Wrath, and keen to see what Sébastien Vaniček is working on next!
*Not to disparage French New Extremity – been a while since I watched anything from that movement, but I absolutely have enjoyed them in the past, it’s just a very different tone. That said I never want to watch Martyrs again because fuck that movie is a difficult watch.
**Also, go watch Infested, it’s great and a much better spider movie than Sting from the same year!