I’ve seen every EVIL DEAD. The originals, the Fede Alvarez remake, EVIL DEAD RISE, and even the ASH VS EVIL DEAD series that most people skipped. And this is the first EVIL DEAD entity I disliked.
Sébastien Vaniček comes to the franchise from the New French Extremity side of the house, and he made the movie that the background promises. Groovy is gone. The camera never once pulls back to establish where we are, which traps you inside a dilapidated family home, leaving audiences feeling claustrophobic throughout.
What’s left is ugly. The muted color tones drain the life of every frame, and the grotesque violence is taken far too seriously, making audiences long for Bruce Campbell. Sam Raimi built this franchise on the idea that you could laugh and scream in the same breath. Vaniček’s biggest crime is that he has made a horror film with all the bells and whistles, yet it’s not scary.
Credit where it’s owed. Philip Lozano’s cinematography is genuinely accomplished, and the action set pieces are staged with precision. The problem? I just didn’t care. EVIL DEAD has always earned its brutality by first making you like somebody, whether through humor, empathy, or Ash swinging a chainsaw at his own hand. Here, nobody is worth rooting for, so the carnage is just carnage. Hail to the king? There’s no king to hail, baby.
Final Thought: If this is the direction the Kandarian Demon is dragging us, let it burn. Somebody please crack open the Necronomicon and summon some fun for the next EVIL DEAD in 2027.
It’s in theaters now.
