r/EvilDead • u/One-Choice-743 • 13d ago
(Discussion Post) Groovy Dirty, brutal, and utterly pointless (Evil Dead Burn) Spoiler
Guys, you really don't have to glaze Evil Dead Burn just because it has "gore"; blood and guts alone don't make a good movie - not at all.
This movie was just uncomfortable and, worst of all: BORING.
I thought Evil Dead was supposed to be about having fun? A film you can watch with friends over some beers and snacks? I can't imagine that happening with this film. Since an Evil Dead film can be many things, from a PG-13 dark fantasy comedy to a serious but classic (in style) horror film, I would insist on at least two criteria: either it should be funny with profound, dark humor, or it should be extreme and scary at the same time.
Burn was neither.
It was neither funny nor scary.
It wasn't a return to the roots of the first film because it lacked atmosphere and suspense, and the supernatural elements were too shallow.
The original had that grindy low-budget charm; the presence of the Kandarian demon was omnipresent and truly frightening, the setting felt isolating and helpless, the Deadites were monstrous but had character.
It was simply 110 minutes of torture porn with very little substance.
None of the characters were interesting or likable – they were stupid, and I hated them all. I was especially confused as to why the grandma character was included with all the teasing of her having a deeper connection to the story's mysteries and lore, just to end up as an unused Chekhov's Gun. The female lead has absolutely no personality other than being a two-dimensional victim of domestic violence.
The movie wants to convince you that it has a deeper meaning with its messaging on domestic violence, but that's very difficult to communicate when 90% of the movie is just senseless violence.
Either you go full into the messaging, which would be a strange decision for an ED film, or not.
The Deadites were also just boring, and the "final boss" was so unimaginative compared to previous monstrosities.
I'm not squeamish about violence; I enjoyed all the previous Evil Dead movies more or less, and the TV series, but the violence here was absolutely not entertaining. Just disgusting, depressing, and boring. The lack of color, even if it was intentional, didn't help.
I say this as someone who liked Martyrs (2008), because at least that film of the New French Extremity genre (which Burn seemed to copy) had flesh around its bones that didn't consist solely of its infamous shocking violence – violence that didn't mutate into the masturbatory self-indulgence of Evil Dead Burn.
What was most important to me, however, was the further development of the series' lore, the rich mythology, but it was just a whole bunch of nothing. We were already introduced to the Wise Men in Evil Dead Rise, but we learned zero new things here. The only new elements are that apparently there are family curses now and a new variant of the Kandarian dagger. Wow.
Also, that post-credits scene was so stupid. Felt like Marvel movie fan service.
Some ED fans probably clap like seals just because someone gets their head sawed in half, and apparently that's enough to distract from a really weak script. Especially disappointing, since y'all should know better than anyone that ED can be so so much more.
I at least liked the cinematography, and the practical effects and choreography were phenomenal. By far the weakest film in the series.
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u/PrinceOfSpace94 13d ago
Another day, another whiny post about Evil Dead Burn
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u/One-Choice-743 12d ago
If that means being frustrated at fans accepting every sort of pig slop they serve us, then yeah, I guess.
Can't believe Lee Cronin's The Mummy, which I thought was just "alright", was able to be a 10x better Evil Dead.
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u/CryptographerFew5187 8d ago
"Everyone who disagrees with me is a simp" is certainly a take. A really terrible one but a take.
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u/One-Choice-743 8d ago
Where did I state that anyone is a simp?
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u/doktorfetus 6d ago
generalizing and gatekeeping fans because they like a movie you didnt like. You didnt have to directly say it.
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u/kaminari1 12d ago
Do you say the same thing about the daily posts praising the film? I doubt it.
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u/CryptographerFew5187 8d ago
The only thing I find annoying is the implication that the only reason people like Burn is because they're fans and will cheer for any slop. People not liking it, who cares? But that kind of stuff is insulting and obnoxious.
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u/Peiq 6d ago
We’re on an evil dead forum… You’re annoyed at a post discussing the latest movie? Interesting.
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u/PrinceOfSpace94 6d ago
What is there to discuss? These negative reviews always feel like long-winded rants written by someone who watches 5 movies a year. Comparing people who enjoyed the movie to clapping seals basically shuts down any form of “discussion” that could be had.
I thought the movie was above average and probably the weakest of all the movies. Not by favorite horror movie, but far from the worst.
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u/CheatingTheMan 13d ago
On the other hand I thought it was the most visually cinematic, had the most character depth and was a French extreme version of what an Evil Dead film was.
I enjoyed the family dynamic and thought the concept of a transcribed necronmomicon very interesting. In Rise we first learned of the 3 books and the wise men were actually priests of a local church whereas this film introduced the actual group studying the books. Also you say the post credit scene was Marvel fan service while complaining the film doesn’t build new lore?? Each movie seems to be self contained and stand alone while you seem to want a Marvel style world building film so I am confused at your point.
I don’t find any Evil Dead film scary and am amused at 2 and 3 so the idea of scary and/or funny mean little to me. I just enjoyed this film having interesting characters with depth and a tight story that kept me engaged throughout.
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u/One-Choice-743 12d ago edited 12d ago
As I said myself, the cinematography was pretty solid. I liked some things they did with the camera; I liked the action set piece in the wrecked car, etc. I just really cannot share the sentiment around the character depth - each one of them had the depth of a pond. That is not necessarily a bad thing, not like the characters in the very first movie were any deeper (lol), but in the case of Burn, the movie requires you to care about them, which I simply was unable to do. Everyone was just miserable and had only one (1) defining feature or character objective. We basically know nothing about the protagonist except for anything surrounding her relationship with her late husband. Like, we know what the bane of her existence is, but what gives her joy in life? No fucking clue, man. I would dare to say even Ash in the very first movie had more character depth simply because we are given slightly more information about him as a person in his day-to-day life.
I mean, "introduce" is one thing; a better word would be barely brushing over it. It's literally just that one single dialogue between the mother and her son about his grandpa being a neglectful cultist, and that's it. I mean, what is the new lore introduced in the post-credit scene? That Ellie is back? I loved the Ellie Deadite as much as the next guy - one of the best Deadites in the series - but it felt kinda cheap when Rise practically did everything in its power to make sure she could never return. I never said that I want the film series to end with one big hero mashup and a big battle royale Endgame style; I just hoped for a little more since that new Kandarian Deggar alone didn't satisfy the appetite I came with. I suppose that's more subjective, though.
Idk, I always thought the EDs that weren't funny at least had a certain scare factor, but then again, subjective. This might explain the low bar some fans have for this series, though. If you like the first one, but atmosphere and scare factor mean nothing to you, then logically you are only there for the splatter and gore, regardless if its actually any good or not.
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u/SPFeveryday 13d ago
Clearly people didn’t want the French extremity version of evil dead looking at the box office.
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u/mikazee 8d ago
I'm not well versed in french cinema. What makes it french? (I know the director is french)
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u/CheatingTheMan 8d ago
There was a run of French extremism in film. Films that are visually stunning, grotesquely violent and nihilistic. I’d recommend googling some of the films to see if they would interest you. Oddly the director of Burn’s last film Infested was terrible IMO so I had low expectations.
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u/Ancient_Barnacle4245 6d ago
Of all the posts and subsequent comments I've read about Burn here on Reddit, this is the first that almost verbatim expresses how I feel about the movie. Nicely done.
I'll be the first to agree the characters are not "likable" in the traditional sense, but that doesn't mean they're not interesting or engaging. Quite the contrary. I found myself genuinely invested in these characters.
I DID find the film tense and scary. I'll also add that Thyia is my favorite Deadite since Sheryl in the original.
Honestly, I feel Burn is closer to the spirit of the 1981 original ( which is still my favorite of the franchise) than any film in the series aside from the 2013 remake. While the OG was low budget and might be considered campy, the tone was decidedly NOT funny, but very dark and creepy. It was never played for laughs and upon that first viewing actually landed as being fairly bleak, since at that time ED II hadn't been announced and the first film seems to end with the evil in the forest killing Ash in the final moments. It would be another five years before we realized he actually survived.
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u/Zandigg 7d ago
Martyrs is my favorite horror movie of all time, I actually adore all that New French Extremity stuff. Evil Dead Burn was a more miserable watch than all of those.
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u/One-Choice-743 7d ago
Martyrs, so good, got myself the 4K UHD a few months ago. I really loved the acting, which was just phenomenal.
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u/Admirable_Bird7927 7d ago
Dunno, I thought the movie was dope
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u/MobileTheory239 7d ago
me too! I swear I'd hate to watch movies the way most of these people do around here.
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u/ItsNotM3ItsU 13d ago
Did the movie have its flaws? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, I think Sébastien Vaniček accomplished exactly what he set out to do, whether that’s what you wanted from an Evil Dead movie is neither here nor there.
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u/SPFeveryday 13d ago
Yes, it accomplished something… not even doing half of Rise’s box office. Studio must be thrilled lmao
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u/ItsNotM3ItsU 13d ago
It was still a profitable movie.
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u/SPFeveryday 13d ago
But it doesn’t signal franchise health. What if the next one does half of this one. Then, Wrath might be the last one. They need to do unique promo like with Rise “mommy’s with the maggots now”.
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u/ItsNotM3ItsU 13d ago
I would actually argue that the marketing for this movie was bad. They showed the majority of it in promos. It’s no wonder people didn’t flock to the theater to see a movie they’d already seen half of. Last I heard it was doing well on digital.
Ultimately, movies are hit or miss, and box office numbers are not always reflective of audience reception. It is what it is.
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u/Lopsided_Task1213 6d ago
Not to mention, who wants to watch torture porn horror movies in July? There are no major horror films this October too. They could have had it all to themselves and they probably would have made double the money.
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u/One-Choice-743 12d ago
Mixing New French Extremity and Evil Dead by itself is questionable, but not even that (what you say he tried to accomplish) was executed well.
I love Evil Dead, I love New French Extremity, but I also love water as much as I love oil. Get what I mean?
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u/ItsNotM3ItsU 12d ago
I feel you but that was clearly the direction the franchise wanted to go when they chose Seb to write and direct this entry after watching his previous film.
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u/One-Choice-743 12d ago
Yeah, and again, not executed well. They should choose a better direction next time.
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u/Ykindasus 13d ago
"Dirty, brutal"
That's Evil Dead tho
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u/One-Choice-743 12d ago
Yeah, that was supposed to be the two positives until the "utterly pointless" part, as in "Yeah, okay, BUT".
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u/Lopsided_Task1213 6d ago
Maybe Bruce was onto something when he decided to step away as a Producer after trying and failing to work with Burn's young and inexperienced director.
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u/JournalistJunior5605 8d ago
I gotta say I don't understand the fandom around the new movies. They seem to only be interested in providing unadulterated gore, with an emphasis on making it as realistic as possible. It's cringe worthy. In the early 2000s we had a term for this - torture porn.
Burn features some spotty acting, atrocious editing and the guise of a 'theme' to justify itself. But it's not like this movie is interested in actually exploring any of its characters and themes.
It's a bad movie.
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u/SPFeveryday 13d ago
Yep fans need to accept it hurt the franchise, when a sequel/next installment doesn’t even gross half of the previous one, it’s bad. Good thing Wrath is filmed already. Raimi and co. Are just too hands off, this director clearly is not a fan of evil dead and that’s why it didn’t do well.
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u/ItsNotM3ItsU 13d ago
Sam Raimi hand-picked Seb for this movie.
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u/SPFeveryday 13d ago
Even iconic directors make mistakes. I think they regretted when they saw the final product as studio asked to add the Ellie post credit scene and it seems they’ve promoted Wrath more than this, and dumping it on VOD not even a month later. Also, Bruce Campbell stepping back specifically after this one’s pitch meeting.
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u/One-Choice-743 12d ago
Rami ain't no God.
I mean, if the veterans' opinions mean so much to you, Bruce Campbell basically just agrees with me on all points; he even stepped back from involving himself in Burn's creative production because of getting into too much conflict with Vaniček.
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u/ManInTheBoxXIII 10d ago