This summer, one of the sequels to the Evil Dead franchise hit theaters. Evil Dead Burn takes place after the events of Evil Dead Rise. However, the movie was not as iconic as either its original or its remake in 2013.
The Evil Dead franchise centers on people finding a book, reading it, and summoning a demon who wants to kill them as part of a bigger scheme. The book is known as The Sumerian Book of the Dead, and it is called the Naturom Demonto. Without this item as the centerpiece of conflict in the stories, you have no movie. As a result, the movie leaves you shrugging your shoulders at the end, and here’s why.
The Original Evil Dead – The College Years
The first movie, The Evil Dead, was directed and written by Sam Raimi in 1981. The film was created while Raimi was in college. It tells the story of a group of friends going on vacation in a cabin, where one of them stumbles upon a book hidden within a cellar.
We learn through found audio recordings that the book is made out of human flesh. Upon deciphering the book and reading the words out loud, one of the friends unknowingly awakens a malevolent demon who seeks to murder everyone in the cabin. The group is possessed one by one, until a young man named Ash is the sole survivor.
The Evil Dead Remake – Heroin vs Heroine
In 2013, The Evil Dead movie, despite its sequels, gained a reboot under the name Evil Dead. The plot, although similar to the original, is in no way the same. The film tells the story of a group of friends staying in a cabin to relax. However, their main goal is to help a woman named Mia, who is the younger sister of their friend David, in her battle against heroin addiction.
Eventually, one of them discovers the book, reads the words out loud, and the events follow a similar path as the original, but with a twist. In a more ritualistic tone, the deaths of each friend are sacrifices to summon a more powerful demon. Mia is the sole survivor after the human sacrifices awaken the malevolent spirit from within the book. So, our heroin addict becomes our heroine.
The Evil Dead Rise (Again)
The sequel to Evil Dead from 2013 is Evil Dead Rise. The story takes place under different events with a different cast, but with the same framework. The movie tells the story of a pregnant woman named Beth who returns home to her sister Ellie, after touring with her band. Ellie lives in an apartment, taking care of her three kids. We learn from Ellie that her husband recently abandoned the family. Now, everyone must work harder together to maintain the family as Beth is contemplating abortion.
After an earthquake strikes the area, Ellie’s son Danny investigates the parking lot and finds a hidden chamber containing old recordings and another volume of the notorious book. Danny takes the book, reads it out loud, and a malevolent spirit strikes the apartment complex, taking out residents one by one, which heightens once Ellie becomes possessed. The only survivors of the conflict are Beth with her unborn baby and Danny’s sister, Kassie.
Same Old Story? – Evil Dead Burn
The latest release in the franchise tells the story of a small group of friends at a nightclub run by their friend Will. With Will’s wife Alice, they plan a small party for Will’s brother Joseph at the club. The night starts well with the three of them and Joseph’s girlfriend, Thya. However, after a drunk Will has a fierce argument with his wife, Will drives off and crashes into a demonic female entity while on the road. As Will tries to get out of the car wreck, the demonic being sets Will’s car ablaze, thus ending Will’s life in the process.
During the funeral, Alice, Joseph, Thya, and Will are invited back to the home of Will’s grandparents. As they settle in, they are unaware that Joseph’s father is undergoing possession because of his contact with the corpse of his son, Will.
We later learn that Joseph had uncovered his late grandfather’s work on The Sumerian Book of the Dead, including the method of stopping the demons for good. Because Joseph uncovered the items and read from the book, the demonic entity that killed Will arose to find the items in Joseph’s possession and destroy them. In the end, Alice is our sole survivor, or is she?
Evil Dead And Buried
Evil Dead Burn follows the same plot devices of its predecessors, with the twist of a weapon that could kill the demons. Another twist is the bloodline connection between the brothers Will and Joseph and their grandfather. The grandfather was part of a secret society that helped organize The Sumerian Book of the Dead. It was his voice on the audio recordings throughout the franchise. Although gory, the new film is nowhere near the level of visual gore as Evil Dead back in 2013, perhaps due to an overuse of computerized effects.
Evil Dead Burn ends with you not feeling much of anything for any character. The essence of the movie should have been placed on Joseph, but they decided to focus on Alice and her abusive relationship. The story is somewhat predictable, as it brings more revelation to the lore surrounding the overall tale. With an upcoming sequel, Evil Dead Wrath, set to release in 2028, if you are heavily interested in the lore of the Evil Dead series, then this will be something for you.
