Warner Bros. Pictures has put fresh blood on the calendar with the trailer for Evil Dead Burn, the sixth film in the long-running horror franchise launched by Sam Raimi more than four decades ago.
Directed by Sébastien Vaniček, the new installment is set to open in theaters on July 10. It follows Evil Dead from 2013 and Evil Dead Rise from 2023 as the franchise’s third standalone entry, meaning viewers should not need a flowchart to understand who is being possessed, maimed, or otherwise having a very poor evening.
A family visit goes very wrong
The official logline centers on a woman grieving the death of her husband who turns to his family for comfort at their isolated home. That comfort, unsurprisingly, has a short shelf life.
“After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home,” the synopsis reads. “As one by one they are transformed into Deadites — turning the gathering into a family reunion from hell — she comes to discover that the vows she took in life… live on even in death.”
The cast includes:
- Souheila Yacoub, recently seen in Dune: Part Two
- Hunter Doohan, known for Wednesday and Daredevil: Born Again
- Luciane Buchanan of The Night Agent
- Tandi Wright from Pearl
- George Pullar, seen in It Only Takes a Night
The trailer wastes no time getting nasty
The preview opens with a mother at home, interrupted by a knock at the door. The visitor is not exactly bringing dessert: she appears as an undead corpse with severed fingers and a car headrest lodged through her skull.
The trailer later flashes back to the crash that caused the injury, then keeps escalating. Among the images teased are a Deadite drinking burning candle wax and a particularly unpleasant confrontation involving a dishwasher packed with knives. Subtlety has never been the franchise’s main selling point, and nobody seems confused about that here.
Raimi’s horror machine keeps moving
Sam Raimi began the series with his 1981 feature directing debut, The Evil Dead, about five friends in a remote cabin who accidentally unleash demonic forces. He followed it with Evil Dead II in 1987 and Army of Darkness in 1992.
Bruce Campbell, who starred in the original film, returns here as an executive producer alongside Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin. Raimi produces with Rob Tapert through Ghost House Pictures.
The film is co-financed by New Line Cinema and Sony Pictures. Sony will handle international distribution through Columbia Pictures.
The franchise is not stopping with Burn. A seventh installment, Evil Dead Wrath, is already in development for 2028, which suggests the Deadites have a more reliable long-term strategy than most cinematic universes.
