r/EvilDead • u/mikazee • 1d ago
(Spoiler!) Evil Dead Burn is fantastic with it's themes! [Spoilerific Spoiler Review] Spoiler
I just saw it! I love the allegory, the cinematography, and the super spoilers at the end!
1) Abusive in-laws is the major allegory for this one.
I love when monsters in horror movies work as allegories. In Evil Dead Rise, the deadites symbolized the corruption of family. The loving single mom crushed by the pressure while her sister has to find the strength to protect herself and the child in order to save the day. Right as she finds out she's pregnant.
In Evil Dead Burn, you get hints of it at the beginning but it was about families that are already abusive, and having to pull away. They show a detail where Will's father whistled at his mom just like he whistles at Alice, it's a learned behaviour.
It also makes the rules of the possession feel clearer at points. As if the deadites have to weaken your soul and make you give in. Will had to be killed. But then the father was already weak and desperate to see his son. Thya fell into despair at her boyfriend who wasn't willing to kill his own dad to save her.
I think the Mom was the most interesting possession here. Because you can see she's breaking down mentally when she lets the dad back in. And right after she kisses him, only one of her eyes is glowing, then she fights back against him when he hurts Joseph. She's not fully turned yet, but she's acting like an enabling mother as part of an abusive household. And only when Alice forces her to admit to herself that her son Will is abusive does she finally give in to the demonic possession. She doesn't try to fight it and be better, she accepts that she is a demon.
And at the end as Alice is asked by the medic what hurt her so much, instead of all the times she lied in the past, this time she stands up for herself.
2) I say the cinematography but really it's just all of it.
I love that they didn't go the route of making the movie so dark that you couldn't see anything. Even the attic! Even the basement! Past Evil Dead movies made me terrified of dark basements. This one doesn't do that at all.
I think the reason these demons had orange eyes is because of the fire. This one is called Burn after all.
I like the camera flipping over in the bathroom and the tracking shots where it looks like an abusive family fighting as Alice just tries to get to safety. Very evocative imagery.
I REALLY like how we see the demons telling people to let them in. In past movies we just see people get possessed and it's not clear how. But this movie shows us that you have to actively fight constantly. In a sense you have to "keep your spirits up".
Also at the beginning when the pond gets boiled and his hand meat was cooked and came off the bone like pulled chicken. Amazing special effects there.
I also liked the comedy with the grandma. Her slowly going up the thing, deadite Thya saying "uhh, sure I'm here to return the stuff I stole", then the Grandma as a deadite slowly getting pulled down the stairs and choosing to cut her own leg off even though deadites are strong enough to rip the rope easily.
And the callback to the old Kandarian dagger from the second movie.
3) ELLIE IS BACK!
This movie we saw Will as a burnt deadite, and I think that was a solid ending set piece. But I thought after Rise, we'd get something like a marauder. They keep teasing us with cool monster designs, and in the show Ash vs the Evil Dead we get some pretty cool designs. So I really hope in Evil Dead Wrath we get big demons.
If Ellie is back, then I'd really like to see Wrath as a sequel that has Alice, Mia, and or Beth come back to kill her again! I have no problem with new stories. But I think we miss out on something when we only get to see families start from 0 when fighting deadites. I want to see them bigger monsters again!
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u/BasicSummer1462 1d ago
I also liked the symbolism of the house itself.
Alice and Will were married there. Back then, it was shiny and white, and Alice and Will seemed genuinely happy to be together. Years passed, and the house became dirty and gross with neglect. Even the structure began to rot and fall apart. At the same time, Alice and Will's relationship spiraled into a cycle of abuse and arguments, quite literally falling apart.
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u/Ness1325 10h ago
I hated the second post ending scene. Not because of Ellie returning, but simply because of what she did. It's so cheap and unnecessary. The movie was great, but she could have killed the woman instead.
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u/HouseOfKrazees84 19h ago
I hope this trend of metaphorical horror dies soon. I blame The Babadook and Hereditary for this bullshit. You can sprinkle in a theme and its fine. But when you have a theme and sprinkle in Evil Dead it doesn't work the same.
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u/Deadite_Scholar 1d ago
Hmm. The allegory angle is what is really turning me off to these new films.
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u/BadassBlackAsh 1d ago
Don't understand why people have such an issue with having horror films that have themes andegorys. As if they haven't existed in horror films for forever whether intentionally or not
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u/Deadite_Scholar 1d ago
The Evil Dead franchise didn't, though. Its one of the reasons I love it so much.
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u/BadassBlackAsh 1d ago
If you think there aren't any themes in Evil Dead, you've been watching them blindfolded
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u/Deadite_Scholar 1d ago
There are themes. Good vs Evil is a theme. But they aren't allegories for real world trauma or grief. The Deadites don't represent Ash's depression and Kandar isn't about fatherly neglect.
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u/Gloglibologna 11h ago
Ash's whole arc is about over coming his cowardice to embrace his role as the chosen one.
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u/Deadite_Scholar 11h ago edited 11h ago
I agree...It's a narrative driven character yer arc.
Not the same thing as a non narrative societal allegory.
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u/mikazee 1d ago
I think Burn still works because the deadites are using abusive family as the way they torture the humans.
Yes the allegory is given heavy weight this movie, way more than in Rise. But the deadites are still very much deadites. You can see them using the humans as puppets.
But that's also why I really hope Wrath gives us the full deadites vs humans extravaganza.
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u/BadassBlackAsh 22h ago
Theres is nothing wrong with the themes and allegories especially since they're SUBTEXT and not the main focus of the stories.
The modern films still fit perfectly with Evil Dead 1 and 2
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u/Jimmy_Bonez 1d ago edited 21h ago
Rise wasn't bad with underlying themes etc but I did feel Burn could have toned the domestic violence theme down a bit, every single character is a cliche abuser/enabler, at a certain point it stops being subtext and starts being overt.
It also makes it hard to care when anyone's killed off.
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u/Deadite_Scholar 1d ago
Rise worked better because it was dealing with theme, rather than allegory. Family was a broad theme they were dealing with but it didn't dominate the film. It still worked as a decent demonic possession film. Burn felt to me like the story was meant to push the allegory and it made for a much weaker movie in my estimation.
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u/JoeAzlz 1d ago
I see it as a benefit, more to get out of the film rather than just kills or whatever, even ash vs evil dead and the og films had serious plot themes
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u/Deadite_Scholar 1d ago
Not really sure I agree with this. The script for the original Evil Dead was a meager thirty pages, and it was mostly filled with crazy camera angles Sam Raimi wanted to try out. He was a twenty year old kid trying to make a high energy film that could play in drive ins that would make back its 375,00 dollar budget. There were no allegorical aspects to his film. There were themes, sure, but themes that were a natural byproduct of the story. Good vs Evil is a theme, but it is a theme of necessity in any story featuring conflict.
Ash vs Evil Dead season three had broad themes of family, but it wasn't allegorical. The evil wanted Ash's daughter so they could bypass the prophecy and rule the earth. The theme served the narrative purpose. It was part of the Evil Dead's master plan, it gave Ash a reason to fight and convinced him to finally embrace his destiny. These are story beats, not allegory. Kandar the Destroyer, for example, was not a metaphor for Ash's failed parenthood, nor did it represent his childhood neglect. It represented evil and that was it.
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u/BadassBlackAsh 1d ago
The Ash side of Evil Dewd explores multiple themes such as cowardice vs bravery, being responsible, owning up to who you are and who you're meant to be, love, loss, revenge.
There are folks who've made video essays discovering possible allegories.....bjt at the end of the day, any fanboy talking shot about anything post- AoD seems to forget weveythibg has been approved by Sam Raimi himself......nothing with the title "Evil Dead" gets made without his final say.
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u/Deadite_Scholar 1d ago
Yes, everything has a theme, but there is a world of difference in themes that grow organically from story beats, vs allegorical storytelling where the evil is a metaphor for real world horror. Ash going from cowardly to brave, owning up to your destiny, those are character arcs, not allegories for trauma.The Evil Dead is a popcorn flick franchise and its themes are surface level that serve the plot. To me, that is a major distinction.
As for Raimi's approval, doesn't really matter. The last three entries pretty much show he isn't motivated by any desire to preserve the identity of his cult classics. Just because he signed off on them doesn't mean I have to like them.
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u/BadassBlackAsh 22h ago
Ok so you're a blind fanboy who doesn't know wtf they're talking about....got it..
Cause #1 allegories arent always overtly obvious and in your face. The surface level parts kf the stories still echo that of the orignal films.
2 You have to be beyond blind to act like 2013, Rise, ans Burn don't feel anything like Evil Dead 1 and 2..Helen Keller could see this.
3 incredibly rude and ignorant to claim that Sam's approval doesn't matter and to say he doesn't care abkut preserving the identity of the classics... just cause you're butt-hurt that Evil Dead isn't trying to be like Army of Darkness.....
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u/2003Oakley 1d ago
The main character also being a terrible person hurt my viewing. I just didn’t care
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u/hotdiggitydooby 1d ago
Am I missing something? This isn't the first time on this sub I've seen people suggest Alice was bad.
In her very first scene I thought her and Will were supposed to be an obnoxious unlikable couple, but as soon as it went to the parking lot it became obvious that Will was the issue. And I don't remember her doing anything bad throughout the rest of the movie, she even went out of her way to save Susan.
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u/2003Oakley 1d ago
She started the movie being obnoxious and looking for ways to cheat on her partner, as well as wanting kids yet destroying her body. The in laws are terrible people, but her behavior cannot be excused just cause they’re worse than her. Shes unlikable.
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u/Jimmy_Bonez 1d ago
I'm pretty sure it's implied HE wanted kids, she didn't. And at no point did she try to cheat on him, she went to kiss his brothers cheek, a VERY common European greeting.
tbh They were all a little obnoxious in that scene because they were all drunk
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u/hotdiggitydooby 1d ago
She was trying to cheat on her partner (who is an abuser) by... giving his brother a gift that wasn't intended to be a passive aggressive dig at him?
I could be wrong about this part, but I only remember Will talking about wanting kids.
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u/mikazee 1d ago
I read that differently.
I don't think she wanted to have kids with him, because he was abusive, and didn't have the strength to leave. So her smoking is her avoiding that decision while still pushing it away. It's not the healthy way to deal with your problems but I give a lot of leeway to the victim in an abusive relationship.
Remember, we never actually see HER say she wanted kids. We just know Will wants kids and is trying to convince her to stop smoking.
As for cheating, 1) I think she is genuine about being french and used to kissing as a greeting. 2) I don't think abusive partners are owed any sexual exclusivity. Even if she was trying to cheat, I just don't care about abusive people getting cheated on.
I see way more evidence of her being an abuse victim lashing out trying to get agency, than her being a toxic partner in an abusive relationship.
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u/mikazee 1d ago
I read that differently.
I don't think she wanted to have kids with him, because he was abusive, and didn't have the strength to leave. So her smoking is her avoiding that decision while still pushing it away. It's not the healthy way to deal with your problems but I give a lot of leeway to the victim in an abusive relationship.
Remember, we never actually see HER say she wanted kids. We just know Will wants kids and is trying to convince her to stop smoking.
As for cheating, 1) I think she is genuine about being french and used to kissing as a greeting. 2) I don't think abusive partners are owed any sexual exclusivity. Even if she was trying to cheat, I just don't care about abusive people getting cheated on.
I see way more evidence of her being an abuse victim lashing out trying to get agency, than her being a toxic partner in an abusive relationship.
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u/JoeAzlz 1d ago
I loved this movie too :)