Evil Dead Burn Teaser Breakdown: Plot, Deadites & Franchise Connection, Explained

Director Sam Raimi is responsible for one of the greatest independent horror movies of all time, The Evil Dead. Released in 1981, the film remains a mainstay on ‘Best of Horror’ lists everywhere. 

Famous for its brutal cacophony of camp comedy, pulsating gore, and darkness, The Evil Dead has become an institution, spawning remakes, sequels, and even TV shows. Its popularity shows no signs of dying. After the success of Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise, it was no surprise when another Evil Dead film was announced. 

In fact, not just one, but two movies were revealed to be in production – one from Last Stop in Yuma County’s Francis Galluppi, currently titled Evil Dead Wrath, and Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn. 

Of the two, it is Evil Dead Burn that will arrive first, and fans of the franchise have recently been given their first glimpse of what Vaniček has been cooking up as a teaser appeared online. Rather than a series of clips stitched together, as per the typical trailer formation, this Evil Dead Burn promo is instead a short 70-second snippet from a wider scene. Although short, the teaser packs in a whole lot, most notably the July 10 release date. After a little digging, here’s everything we can glean thus far. 

What Is Evil Dead Burn About?

Trailers are often accused of spoiling the movie, and having a part of your film as the basis of the teaser is a risky move. 

However, without the full context of Evil Dead Burn, it can’t really give away too much outside of tone and style. As demonstrated in the marketing for Final Destination: Bloodlines, this footage could also be a bit of a red herring. The teaser for the sixth Final Destination movie appeared to feature the demise of a character, showcasing their extravagant death sequence in all its glory. The reality was very different, and it seems safe to assume that this Evil Dead Burn teaser will follow a similar path. 

As with Evil Dead Rise before it, much of the reveal of the plot of Evil Dead Burn is being kept vague, but the teaser release does feature an official synopsis, which reads, “After the loss of her husband, a woman seeks solace with her in-laws in their secluded family home. 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.” Many people complain that their in-laws are hellish, but it looks like those of the protagonist in Evil Dead Burn are going to have people rethinking their words. 

One really interesting aspect of this Evil Dead Burn teaser is that, in addition to being a snippet from a single scene, it is also all told in one shot. The camera stays with a woman that we assume is the film’s protagonist as she tries to sneak out of the bloody chaos that has taken over. Behind, above and around her, Deadites savage people, the lack of cutaways heightening the intensity. No news has been shared yet as to whether the rest of Evil Dead Burn will be told in one shot. It seems unlikely, but even if it is just for a sequence or two, as the one displayed in the teaser, it is going to be instrumental in raising the stakes. 

The most exciting component of Evil Dead Burn, though, is director Sébastien Vaniček. His debut feature, Infested, is an excellent fusion of creature feature and political commentary as it tells of a group of impoverished residents who find themselves trapped in a high-rise block of flats with mutant spiders. Infested is not a movie for arachnophobes, as Vaniček taps into exactly what makes people afraid of spiders and manipulates those elements with finesse. A standout sequence set within the confines of a bathroom gets the skin-crawling, and even the most spider-friendly viewer will find themselves challenged. 

If Evil Dead Burn is half as intense as this scene, then Evil Dead fans are in for a treat. 

How Evil Dead Burn Connects To The Larger Franchise

When both Evil Dead Burn and Evil Dead Wrath were announced, it was stated that neither film would connect to Evil Dead Rise. Rather, both of them would be a new chapter and exploration into the world of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and the devastation that it can reap. However, eagle-eyed fans have already picked up on one big connection to the wider franchise. 

As the teaser opens, there’s an establishing shot of a house. While this house could just be a generic horror movie house, fans on Reddit have put their detective hats on and appear to believe that it isn’t just any old house – it belongs to Ash Vs Evil Dead character, Ruby. 

Except for a newly added gazebo and some changes to the interiors, the two properties look pretty identical. Does this mean that Ruby might be one of the in-laws? Or could it simply be that the story follows the new residents of Ruby’s abode? 

Speaking on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast Inside of You, Evil Dead Burn actor Hunter Doohan confirmed that the new film will feature connecting ties. When asked about the project, he shared, “Once it gets going, it is non-stop. It also does a really good job of just tying all the stories together, I think. I think fans are really going to like it.” Fans of Ash Vs Evil Dead have been desperate for some kind of continuation since the show’s cancellation, and they might finally be about to get their wish. 

Evil Dead Burn Gives Us The Scariest Deadites Yet

It wouldn’t be an Evil Dead movie without the presence of Deadites, and rather than hold back until the release, this Evil Dead Burn teaser showcased maximum Deadite brutality. Although terrifying creatures, Deadites also have a reputation for being funny, but that looks to be one aspect that Sébastien Vaniček is stepping away from. 

Speaking about the project, the French director has said that he has intended to "create a visceral, sensory experience that punches the audience in the gut. I want people to feel physically drained when they leave the theatre, as [if] they've been through an emotional and intense journey." This intensity is most definitely going to come from the most serious and violent-looking Deadites. 

Not only do the Deadites glimpsed in this teaser seem more serious, but at least one of them is gigantic. This monstrous Deadite demolishes person after person as the protagonist desperately tries to hide. Its size and ferocity easily make it the most formidable Deadite yet, and we can’t wait to see the true extent of its fury when Evil Dead Burn arrives in cinemas this summer.