Editorial · Article
Evil Dead Burn (2026) Review: Goriest Entry, Not Least Bloody
In theaters now · Directed by Sébastien Vaniček (Infested) · Produced by Sam Raimi & Rob Tapert
By Alan Willey · · Updated
Evil Dead Burn is in theaters now. It opened in the US on Friday, July 10, 2026, and two days earlier, on July 8, in France and Italy. It is the sixth installment in the Evil Dead franchise, directed by Sébastien Vaniček, the French filmmaker chosen by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. Vaniček's only prior feature, Infested (2023), was well received and found a strong audience in North America. Before release, Vaniček said Burn might be the least bloody film in the franchise, but the most violent and brutal. For a series whose reputation is built on practical gore, that was a significant claim. We've seen it now, and the claim did not hold. Vaniček did not make the least bloody Evil Dead. On our five axes it takes the highest Gore score in the series (8.6) and the highest Intensity (9.0): a relentless, oppressively grim entry, nastier than Evil Dead Rise. It is also less frightening than Rise and lands a step below it overall, 7.2 to Rise's 7.9. The full breakdown and all five scores are on the film page.
See our scores →
Quick facts
- Released
- Director
- Sébastien Vaniček
- Rating
- R
- Cast
- Souheila Yacoub, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Tandi Wright, Erroll Shand, George Pullar
- Streaming
- Theatrical only at launch. No streaming date announced.
Raimi's bet: handing Evil Dead to the Infested director
Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert have guarded the Evil Dead name for over forty years. Sébastien Vaniček's only prior feature is Vermines, released abroad as Infested, a 2023 French creature feature about a lethal spider infestation tearing through a cramped Paris apartment block. It is claustrophobic and grounded, and Raimi reportedly chose Vaniček off that film alone.
The pick suggests the franchise may be moving in a different direction, at least for this entry. Vaniček's strengths in Infested were a slow build of tension and the sense of a space closing in on people who cannot get out. How much of that carries into Burn is the thing to watch for.
The "least bloody" claim, and what actually landed
Speaking to the French magazine Premiere after filming wrapped, Vaniček said Burn might be "the least bloody of the Evil Dead films, but undoubtedly the most violent and brutal." He used the curb scene from American History X as his reference point: a scene whose effect comes from the anticipation of violence rather than from showing blood.
That is not the film that arrived. Critics called Burn one of the goriest films of the year, citing near-unbearable practical carnage and blood close to an NC-17 level. Our own Gore score, 8.6, is the highest any Evil Dead has earned on Darkly, just past the 2013 reboot. Where the claim does hold is intensity: at 9.0 it is the most punishing entry we have scored, a relentless ordeal more than a fright machine. Its Fear score, 5.0, sits below both Rise and the 2013 film. Brutal, yes. Least bloody, no.
The Evil Dead Rise connection
The recent Evil Dead films have been standalone, individual stories with no real shared thread. Burn breaks that pattern. It opens on Jessica, the Deadite from the lakeside-cabin prologue of Evil Dead Rise, tied to the car accident that kills the husband of Burn's protagonist, Alice.
In other words, the event that sets Burn in motion is a direct consequence of Rise. After a decade of standalone entries (Fede Álvarez's 2013 reboot, Lee Cronin's 2023 Evil Dead Rise), the franchise is moving toward a loosely shared continuity.
Does it top Evil Dead Rise?
Not quite, and the gap is a close and interesting one. Rise changed the formula by moving the horror out of the woods and into a condemned apartment tower, and scored 7.9 on Darkly. Burn mostly returns to the roots, a secluded family home standing in for the cabin, and lands at 7.2.
Burn is the gorier and more intense of the two (Gore 8.6 to Rise's 8.0, Intensity 9.0 to 7.8), but Rise is the scarier and the more rounded film (Fear 7.5 to Burn's 5.0). If you want the nastiest, most relentless Evil Dead, this is it. If you want the best of the series, our full Evil Dead ranking has all five scored entries.
Related films on Watch Darkly
Vermines(2023)
Vaniček's first and only feature, and the film that got him the Evil Dead job. A spider infestation in a Paris apartment block, claustrophobic and grounded. The best available preview of what he'll bring to Burn.
Evil Dead Rise(2023)
The franchise's most recent entry and the film Burn is directly connected to. The Jessica cameo in the Burn trailer ties the two together; watch this first if you want the full thread.
Evil Dead(2013)
The 2013 reboot that proved Evil Dead could work without Ash. It is one of the franchise's most gore-heavy entries, the mode Vaniček says he is moving away from.
The Evil Dead(1981)
Come on. The 1981 original that started it all, from the producer now entrusting the series to Vaniček. The cabin-in-the-woods template it made iconic still defines the franchise.
Common questions
- When did Evil Dead Burn come out?
- Evil Dead Burn is in theaters now. It opened in the US on Friday, July 10, 2026, and two days earlier, on Wednesday, July 8, in France and Italy.
- Is Evil Dead Burn a sequel or a reboot?
- Neither. It's a new standalone story, but the trailer reveals it's directly connected to Evil Dead Rise (2023). So it functions as the next chapter in a loosely shared continuity rather than a clean reboot or a numbered sequel.
- How is Evil Dead Burn connected to Evil Dead Rise?
- The green-band trailer shows Jessica, the Deadite from Evil Dead Rise's lakeside-cabin opening, connected to the car accident that kills the husband of Burn's protagonist, Alice. That death is the event that sets Burn's story in motion, making the new film a direct consequence of Rise.
- Who directed Evil Dead Burn?
- Sébastien Vaniček, the French director of the 2023 creature film Vermines (released abroad as Infested). He co-wrote Burn with Florent Bernard, and was chosen for the franchise by series creators Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert.
- What is Evil Dead Burn about?
- After losing her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. One by one they're transformed into Deadites, and the family gathering turns violent.
- What are the Deadites in Evil Dead Burn?
- Deadites are humans possessed by the Kandarian demon, the recurring evil of the Evil Dead franchise. They are awakened by passages from the Book of the Dead, then move and speak through the bodies they take and spread by attacking others. In Burn, the possession carries over from the events of Evil Dead Rise to Alice's husband, and then works through the family one by one.
- What is the Book of the Dead in Evil Dead Burn?
- The Book of the Dead is the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, also called the Naturom Demonto, the ancient text whose passages awaken the Deadites. It was discovered by Professor Raymond Knowby, the voice heard on the recordings in the first two Evil Dead films. In Burn, copies of its pages and old cassette recordings tied to Knowby's research are scattered through the family home, which is how the curse reaches this new family.
- What is the Kandarian dagger?
- The Kandarian dagger is an ancient ceremonial blade, and in this film's telling it is the only thing that can kill a Deadite for good. It was forged by the demonic Dark Ones and unearthed alongside the Book of the Dead. In Burn, the family has one, and the newly turned Deadites will do anything to get hold of it, because it is the one real weapon against them.
- Does Evil Dead Burn have a happy ending?
- Not really. Burn ends on a deliberately open, ambiguous note rather than a clean resolution. To avoid spoilers here, the specifics are in the spoiler-gated ending section on the Evil Dead Burn film page.
- Who's in the cast?
- Souheila Yacoub plays the lead, Alice. The ensemble includes Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Tandi Wright, Erroll Shand, Maude Davey, and George Pullar.
- Is Evil Dead Burn gory?
- Yes, very. Despite the director's pre-release comment that it might be the least bloody Evil Dead, critics called it one of the goriest films of the year, with blood close to an NC-17 level, and our Gore score is 8.6 out of 10, the highest in the franchise. The violence is fast and relentless rather than slow and sustained, but there is a great deal of it.
- Where can I watch Evil Dead Burn right now?
- In theaters now. There is no digital rental or streaming release yet, and no date has been announced. We'll update this once one is confirmed.
- Will Evil Dead Burn be on streaming?
- Theatrical only at launch; no streaming date has been announced. We'll update this once one is confirmed.