PR in the Philippines

(SeaPRwire) –   Over the span of 45 years, the Evil Dead franchise has only released five films, making it one of the few horror series that can boast it has never put out a poorly received installment… so far. The closest the franchise has come to a critical letdown was the 2013 dark, gritty Evil Dead reboot helmed by Fede Alvarez; that film earned a lukewarm 64 percent score from both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, though 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, directed by Lee Cronin (you may recognize him for Lee Cronin’s The Mummy), won both groups back with a solid 85 percent critic and 75 percent audience rating split.

Next to the 10-year gap between the two prior Evil Dead films, the three-year stretch between Evil Dead Rise and the upcoming sixth entry in the film franchise (don’t forget the separate Ash Vs. Evil Dead series exists), Evil Dead Burn, feels barely noticeable. Upholding another longstanding franchise tradition of lifting up emerging horror filmmakers, French director Sébastien Vaniček is leading this new release, following his eerie 2023 debut feature Infested. That film was set in the tight, cramped space of a suburban Paris high-rise apartment block, and was filled with the creative camera work and high-stakes horror action that have come to define modern Evil Dead titles.

The first teaser for Evil Dead Burn carries that same urgent energy, tracking a woman played by Swiss actress Souheila Yacoub in a single, uncut shot as she wakes up with a head wound in a dim, dusty house, then crawls across a living room floor, twisting and ducking out of the way as Deadite chaos erupts all around her.

Similar to Infested, the teaser hints at a non-stop, high-intensity viewing experience — the soundtrack is dominated by screams and crashing noises, layered under Yacoub’s frantic gasps — making use of the larger budget that comes with a major American studio production. The stunt work is particularly striking, as characters dart in and out of the frame before being grabbed and dragged off (or hurled through furniture) by ravenous Deadites. The only notable potential drawback is that the cinematography is very dim, making the action hard to make out on all but the most perfectly calibrated screens.

Warner Bros. clearly has high confidence in Evil Dead Burn, shifting its release forward two weeks from its original July 24 slot to a new premiere date of July 10. This puts the R-rated horror feature up against Disney’s live-action Moana remake in theaters, though audience overlap between the two titles is expected to be very small.

The official synopsis for the film reads as follows:

“EVIL DEAD BURN delivers the franchise’s most brutal, bone-chilling ride to date, exploding onto big screens with an all-new chapter of bloodshed and demonic chaos. After her husband passes away, a woman seeks comfort with her in-laws at their remote family home. As household members are turned into Deadites one by one — turning their gathering into a nightmarish family reunion — she learns that the vows she took while alive… remain binding even in death.”

Evil Dead Burn will premiere in theaters on July 10.