Polygon reviews Evil Dead Burn, the latest instalment in the long-running horror franchise, directed by French filmmaker Sébastien Vaniček in his English-language debut. The review argues that the film tries to fuse the series' two signature modes — slapstick camp and serious, emotionally weighted horror — but ultimately fails to master its tone, falling flat on all fronts despite its ambitions.

A standalone film that is quickly established as a canonical sequel to 2023's Evil Dead Rise, Burn follows Alice (Souheila Yacoub), a French woman recently widowed and secluded in a dilapidated home with her late husband's unwelcoming American family. Co-written by Vaniček and Florent Bernard, it attempts themes of domestic and familial violence and replaces the usual cursed book with a generational family tie, though the reviewer finds this contrived and the characters underdeveloped. The gore, ingenious kills, camerawork and sound design are praised, but the weak script and muddled tone are said to undermine the emotional stakes. The cast also includes Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan, Tandi Wright, Erroll Shand and Maude Davey, with the film premiering in cinemas on 10 July.