Evil Dead Burn (2026)
Evil Dead Burn Review: A Gore-Soaked Return That Divides Critics and Fans
Evil Dead Burn arrives with the weight of a legendary franchise on its shoulders. As the sixth entry in the Evil Dead series and the third standalone installment following Fede Álvarez’s 2013 reboot and Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise (2023), this film had a lot to prove. Directed by Sébastien Vaniček (Infested), who co-wrote the script with Florent Bernard, Evil Dead Burn attempts to balance the franchise’s signature over-the-top gore with a more grounded, family-driven drama. The result, according to critics, is a film that delivers the blood but struggles to find the heart.
The numbers reveal a film that audiences have embraced more warmly than critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, Evil Dead Burn holds a 72% critics score based on over 40 reviews, debuting at 80% before settling. The audience score is an impressive 82%, setting a franchise record for the highest audience score since 1992’s Army of Darkness (87%). IMDb shows a 6.7/10 rating. Commercially, the film grossed $32.2 million domestically on a reported $20 million budget, a softer debut than its predecessor. It became 2026’s biggest horror debut in India, earning Rs 15.36 crore gross and Rs 12.60 crore net.
Sight & Sound (BFI) was appreciative, noting that “everything an Evil Dead fan could want and need — DP Philip Lozano’s restless, canted camerawork, a toolshed of domestic weapons, and shrill ordeals always bordering on the comic — are present and correct, making it a welcome new member of the family”[reference:0]. The review highlighted how the film uses the Deadite possession as a “vehicle for expressing — in a visceral genre movie vocabulary — all the bitter recriminations, deep dysfunction and repressed violence that can easily tear any family apart”[reference:1].
ScreenRant gave it 7/10, with critic Jordan Williams writing that “there are some incredible ‘hell yeah’ moments in Evil Dead Burn that will satisfy franchise fans while making the wait for 2028’s Evil Dead Wrath more excruciating”[reference:2]. However, the enthusiasm was far from universal. Mashable was scathing, writing that “graphic violence and buckets of blood alone aren’t enough to make for a satisfying or even scary film” and that the result is “a sequel that feels tedious, gray, and soulless”[reference:3][reference:4]. Nerdist called it “a gore-soaked disappointment,” noting that “the characters? Maybe the thinnest and least likeable you’ll ever meet”[reference:5]. India Today concluded that “for hardcore gorehounds, this is probably paradise, but for everyone else, it becomes exhausting”[reference:6]. Evil Dead Burn is a film that knows exactly what its core audience wants — and delivers it with brutal efficiency — but critics agree it lacks the twisted glee and dark humor that made Sam Raimi’s original trilogy so unforgettable.
Evil Dead Burn Cast: Souheila Yacoub Leads a Talented Ensemble
The film features a strong international cast, led by Souheila Yacoub in a physically and emotionally demanding role:
Souheila Yacoub (Dune: Part Two, Climax) delivers a committed lead performance as Alice Price, a grieving widow who becomes the film’s final girl. Critics have praised her work, with Mashable noting that “Souheila Yacoub is engaging, but can’t elevate this mess of a movie”[reference:7], while Sight & Sound highlighted how her character “represents a response” to horror tropes, proving “as final girl, to be the last to live”[reference:8]. India Today wrote that “Souheila Yacoub does her best to inject humanity into the role”[reference:9].
Hunter Doohan (Wednesday, Your Honor) plays Joseph Price, Will’s brother and an aspiring writer. Tandi Wright (Pearl) is commanding as Susan Price, the family matriarch. Luciane Buchanan (The Night Agent) plays Thya, Joseph’s girlfriend. Maude Davey delivers a memorable turn as Polly Price, the dementia-afflicted grandmother whose confused ramblings hint at the family’s dark history. Erroll Shand is effective as Edgar Price, the father who becomes the first of the family to be possessed. George Pullar plays William “Will” Price, Alice’s late husband whose death sets the plot in motion. Alyssa Sutherland, star of Evil Dead Rise, returns to the franchise in a supporting role as Ellie Bixler. Victory Ndukwe, Tapiwa Soropa, Keanu Karim, and Greta Van Den Brink round out the cast.
Evil Dead Burn Plot: A Family Reunion From Hell
The story opens at a lake, where a demonically possessed woman named Jessica (Greta Van Den Brink) emerges to murder two young men who have gone fishing. She then causes Will Price (George Pullar) to crash his car while speeding in a drunken rage, killing him in a fiery explosion. His death was no accident — Will was killed by a Deadite, though his family doesn’t know it yet.
Will’s widow, Alice (Souheila Yacoub), a French woman who was estranged from her husband’s controlling and abusive family, reluctantly attends his funeral. The family — mother Susan (Tandi Wright), father Edgar (Erroll Shand), brother Joseph (Hunter Doohan), Joseph’s girlfriend Thya (Luciane Buchanan), and dementia-afflicted grandmother Polly (Maude Davey) — gathers at their secluded, dilapidated summer home to mourn. The tensions are already high, with the family resenting Alice for her aloofness and her desire to move on with her life.
Joseph discovers old papers and reel-to-reel tapes belonging to Susan’s father, who was some kind of occultist in a secret society. He also finds a sacred relic — an artefact that alone can send the Deadites back to Hell. When he plays the tapes, he inadvertently awakens the demonic entities that descend on the family. One by one, the family members are possessed, beginning with Edgar. The Deadites want the artefact, and they will tear the family apart to find it. Alice, the outsider who was never fully accepted, becomes the unlikely hero. She fights back against the possessed Susan, kills her way through the corrupted family, and even destroys the Deadite form of her late husband, finally escaping his shadow. By the end, Alice is the sole survivor — but the final shot sees her eyes briefly turn red, leaving her fate ambiguous and setting up future installments.
“The vows you take in life… live on even in death.”
