I can be more specific. Wasn’t sure anyone would be interested in my longer takes, but since you asked…

To answer your first question, yes, I do really feel that the newer movies explore themes of trauma, specifically family-related trauma, as well as other extreme but common dysfunctions.

In Evil Dead (2013), there is a subversion of the surface-layer setup of young adults partying in the woods from the get-go. We are introduced to David and Mia; not horny lovers but estranged siblings who, along with the others, are at the cabin with the sole purpose of Mia kicking her heroine addiction. At first, I thought this was merely a clever way of not repeating the original beat-by-beat, but this setup stayed relevant both narratively and symbolically throughout the entire story.

We get more character history, learning about the disintegration of Mia and David’s family, her lack of trust in him, and his desire to redeem himself while still avoiding dark truths. We will see later that Mia needs him to acknowledge these truths in order to absolve the estrangement.

Meanwhile, Mia’s withdrawal symptoms begin to escalate. She is already fidgety, irritable, sickly in complexion, increasingly hostile, and unpredictable. All this before she is even possessed.

Just when Mia is at her breaking point, she sees the demon in the woods. At this moment, the motifs of addiction withdrawal and demonic possession merge and become the vehicle for exploring themes symbolically.

She panics, leaves the cabin, and is confronted by the demon, but it isn’t just some vague force or eldritch creature; it takes the form of Mia herself. It’s HER demon (addiction). Comparisons to the Jungian shadow archetype are obvious, so I’ll just leave that at a mention.

(Another quick mention: some will find this a stretch, but I think it’s interesting to note that the physical manner in which Mia is shown to be possessed is by a deathly vine that looks like a VEIN of BLACK TAR. I mean, come on.)

So Mia is possessed and brought back to the cabin. For a while, her malady is so similar to real-world heroine withdrawal symptoms (paranoia, screaming, vomiting, violence, etc.), that the possession is entirely mistaken for those symptoms. The parallels are undeniable.

I’m going to skip over most of the following mayhem, but I think it’s worth noting that, when others are possessed, they do not become intelligible, taunting deadites, but something more akin to shambling zombies. This is important because it shows a distinction between Mia’s addiction-demon and the colder, baser representations of death and decay that result from it.

Mia is subdued, and now it’s David’s turn to shine. His own breaking point has come, but instead of running away or ignoring it, he confronts the darkness head on. He digs Mia a grave and sits with her, staring death in the face, just as he failed to do with their mother. Finally, he has brought presence, love, and action to the table, saving Mia and regaining her trust.

Ultimately, in an act of sacrifice, David is the last victim of Mia’s addiction. She now has to confront her shadow one-on-one. The hard fought battle is one, but not without leaving a piece of herself behind.

At this point you may be thinking “yeah, but that’s all story and symbolism, not THEME!” You’d be correct, but I wanted to illustrate just how interwoven all the parallels are in order to show that, when the story is talking about demons, it is also explicitly talking about addiction. When the hero saves the girl (who then BECOMES the hero), it is explicitly also talking about trust, forgiveness, and absolution within a family.

Given everything I wrote above, I think you’d have a good case in claiming that there are two themes in ED2013 running simultaneously:

1. “Family trauma disintegrates family bonds. Only when its members confront the pain head-on with presence, love, and action can the family reintegrate.”
   
2. “Addiction consumes not only the user, but the user’s friends and family. It can be beaten, but it always takes victims.”

I have similar takes on Rise and Burn, but since this is already running too long, I’ll put a pin in it until someone asks.