French director Sébastien Vanič* spoke to Variety about "Evil Dead Burn", the latest instalment in Sam Raimi's long-running horror franchise, which is now in cinemas. Vanič* embraces a limit-free approach to brutality — including a controversial scene in which a dog is killed — arguing that the "Evil Dead" films are the natural place for such extremes, even while knowing audiences would recoil.

The film picks up loosely from 2023's "Evil Dead Rise" and centres on a grieving family after Will (George Pullar) dies in a car accident, leaving his abused wife Alice (Souheila Yacoub) and relatives to be possessed one by one by Deadites. It is Vanič*'s second feature after the smaller French film "Infested", and was shot primarily in New Zealand. Notably, the director told Raimi and producer Rob Tapert he was less interested in traditional gore, favouring practical effects, real fire and unsettling kills over buckets of blood, with the interview also touching on the film's post-credits scene and the franchise's future.