Outside of the slapstick-heavy Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, the DNA of Evil Dead has been very brutal in nature. Once we meet the souls that get an unexpected visit from the bloodthirsty Deadites, it becomes clear that the path Burn is going down is going to be quite extreme even by Evil Dead standards. The protagonist here is Alice (Souhelia Yacoub)-a widower who is invited to spend the weekend with her late husband's family (Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Errol Shand, Maude Davey) at their family's secluded lakehouse to honor the life of the deceased. A lot of resentment exists between both parties as Alice was verbally and physically abused by her husband (Geroge Pullar) and the family-who has never liked Alice-blames her for not stopping him from getting behind the wheel on the night he died in a car accident. These tensions manage to get considerably worse when some Deadites show up to look for an ancient dagger that is capable of sending them back to Hell that is hidden somewhere in the house (the long-deceased father of Wright's character abandoned the family to join a cult that dedicated their lives to containing Deadite threats that were awakened by any person who was naive or dumb enough to read from the Necronomicon). As this horrible dynamic grows worse with the slow turning of each family member, it's up to Alice to find the dagger and fight back against the forces both natural and supernatural that have been threatening her safety for far too long.
With such a bleak setup, Vanicek knows he has that opportunity to go balls out and takes full advantage of it. The relentlessness of the carnage and nastiness of its spirit is kind of stunning to witness as it is an American studio horror film that was widely released in theaters with an R-rating at the end of the day. While its non-stop sadism will certainly exhaust and/or disgust some viewers, I found it to be an inspired take on Evil Dead that matched the spirit of its characters perfectly. Alice's former family have been masquerading as this loving family for far too long and when this supernatural evil force invades their home, that facade washes away in no time at all to reveal the cowardice, malice and contempt that has always lied underneath their carefully curated exterior. It's pretty much the ideal antithesis to Cronin's Evil Dead Rise where a family that has grown estranged over time is able to overcome their differences to band together to fight for their survival when the Deadites arrived on their doorstep. Going in that "softer" direction just wouldn't have felt right for a group of people that are varying degrees of irredeemable (Buchanan-who plays the girlfriend of Doohan's character-is the only likeable character besides Alice) from the jump and I applaud Vanicek for being completely unafraid to lean into the inherent darkness of this story.
With such a bleak setup, Vanicek knows he has that opportunity to go balls out and takes full advantage of it. The relentlessness of the carnage and nastiness of its spirit is kind of stunning to witness as it is an American studio horror film that was widely released in theaters with an R-rating at the end of the day. While its non-stop sadism will certainly exhaust and/or disgust some viewers, I found it to be an inspired take on Evil Dead that matched the spirit of its characters perfectly. Alice's former family have been masquerading as this loving family for far too long and when this supernatural evil force invades their home, that facade washes away in no time at all to reveal the cowardice, malice and contempt that has always lied underneath their carefully curated exterior. It's pretty much the ideal antithesis to Cronin's Evil Dead Rise where a family that has grown estranged over time is able to overcome their differences to band together to fight for their survival when the Deadites arrived on their doorstep. Going in that "softer" direction just wouldn't have felt right for a group of people that are varying degrees of irredeemable (Buchanan-who plays the girlfriend of Doohan's character-is the only likeable character besides Alice) from the jump and I applaud Vanicek for being completely unafraid to lean into the inherent darkness of this story.
In addition to his impressive dedication to brutality and unpleasantness, Vanicek shows off a ton of technical skill as a director. The parade of gory setpieces are composed with some really dynamic camerawork and beautifully timed smash cuts that help give the film a playful streak underneath all of the horrific carnage. Honestly, there were a handful of times where I was on the verge of standing up and cheering in the theater at a creative choice he made that helped make the scene cooler, grosser, etc.. This type of confident, energetic filmmaking is imperative to keeping the horror genre lively and if this is any indication of what Vanicek is capable of behind the camera, he's going to be delivering excitement for many years to come.
When it comes to the non-Raimi Evil Dead movies, I can now safely say that Burn is my favorite of the bunch. Despite being the longest entry of the franchise by far at 109 minutes, it absolutely flies by thanks to its dedication to being a furiously nasty piece of work that never takes it foot off the gas once it gets going. Major props to Vanicek for coming in and executing his gleefully sadistic vision without being intimated by the weight of the Evil Dead mantle. Now, all eyes turn to Francis Galluppi (The Last Stop in Yuma County)-who took on the ambitious undertaking of being the first person since Raimi to try their hand at a period Evil Dead movie with his 70's-set prequel to the 1981 original entitled Evil Dead Wrath, which is currently set to release on April 7, 2028. While I certainly don't envy the pressure that's on him to keep up the franchise's current 1.000 batting average, there's absolutely zero reason for me to sit here today and expect that he'll do anything but deliver the goods.
Grade: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment