With Evil Dead Burn having just hit theaters, the movie is performing fairly well and netting some extremely positive reviews (ours very much included, which called it “the best Evil Dead sequel in decades”). However, anyone hoping that Burn’s co-writer and director, Sébastien Vaniček, might return for another installment of the legendary horror franchise is going to be left disappointed, according to the filmmaker himself.
Vaniček was far from the first filmmaker to tackle an Evil Dead film, following in a long line of filmmakers getting the chance to go absolute buck-wild with the basic structure and template of these elastic, kinetic, and gonzo horror films. Famously, the original three installments were all helmed by genre legend Sam Raimi, but even those three are about as different from one another as possible. The Evil Dead is a grimy low-budget horror film; Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn is an insanely accomplished horror-comedy; and Army of Darkness tips all the way over into a go-for-broke horror-comedy-fantasy mash-up.
Ever since Raimi relinquished the directorial reins to the franchise, each installment has been helmed by a different filmmaker. The 2013 remake Evil Dead was directed by Fede Álvarez, the 2023 sequel Evil Dead Rise was directed by Lee Cronin, and now Evil Dead Burn has been directed by Sébastien Vaniček. And according to a recent interview with Variety, Vaniček is passionate about continuing to pass the baton forward.
The French filmmaker said, “I don’t think I would write and direct another Evil Dead… The only one who can do two Evil Dead movies is Sam Raimi! It’s a franchise that needs a fresh vision and fresh directors all the time. Fans want to be surprised, and if we want to keep the franchise alive, we need those different visions.”
Vaniček’s remarks are very much in keeping with the way in which the Evil Dead franchise has continued operating over the course of the past decade-plus. In fact, the next film, a prequel titled Evil Dead Wrath, is already in production and set for release in 2028. That film is directed by Francis Galluppi, yet another up-and-coming horror filmmaker who is getting his big break via the franchise. This seems to be Sam Raimi and co.’s modus operandum; using the franchise name to give new filmmakers within the genre an established playground to work in with a built-in audience. And I think that’s awesome as fuck.
So for as much as I would love to see what else Vaniček might have in the tank, I completely respect his comments here and his conviction to continue this trend. Much like Álvarez and Cronin before him, I have no doubt that Vaniček will go on to other projects within the genre, wielding an increased amount of pull and power thanks to his time spent in the Evil Dead horror boot camp.
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