"The Evil" follows a doctor and his wife who move into a historic mansion where they prepare to open a rehabilitation center for drug addicts. Unfortunately for them, there is a portal to hell in the basement, and it's about to cause a whole lotta trouble.
This aptly-titled, New Mexico-filmed supernatural horror flick is a romp that is somewhat off the beaten path in terms of the genre; it is not a film that is much talked about, and not one I was even aware of until recently. The good? "The Evil" boasts a fantastic setting: The house in which it takes place is glorious, atmospheric, and has a "Scooby Doo" quality that is delightful. It's a menacing, beautiful house that gives the proceedings an ambiance. The film is also fairly heavy on gore, dispatching the group who become trapped inside the home in a number of ways. The special effects are top-notch for the era, and there is a fantastic poltergeist attack that is well-shot and choreographed.
The bad? "The Evil" is a bit predictable, and when it reaches its final act and the bodies start to pile up, it does begin to feel somewhat rote--not enough to weigh it down entirely, but there is a stiff by-the-numbers quality. The film's real cardinal sin as far as I'm concerned is that it goes to the length of visually representing the devil in a kitschy sequence in a white chamber, with Victor Buono portraying Lucifer himself. It's rather ridiculous, and strips the fear of the unknown that permeates up to that point; on the flip side, it does add to the silly "Scooby Doo" nature of the film. This somewhat ties in with a subplot regarding a Spanish colonel ancestor who haunts the house, but the connection here never feels fully-formed.
All in all, I found "The Evil" an amusing product of its time. In some ways, it feels like a hyper-gory made-for-TV movie, and it has a handful of inventive sequences paired with a fantastic, dark atmosphere accentuated by the sets. For genre fans who appreciate the supernatural horror films of yore, there is some legitimate (and at times outrageous) fun to be had here, despite its shortcomings. 6/10.
This aptly-titled, New Mexico-filmed supernatural horror flick is a romp that is somewhat off the beaten path in terms of the genre; it is not a film that is much talked about, and not one I was even aware of until recently. The good? "The Evil" boasts a fantastic setting: The house in which it takes place is glorious, atmospheric, and has a "Scooby Doo" quality that is delightful. It's a menacing, beautiful house that gives the proceedings an ambiance. The film is also fairly heavy on gore, dispatching the group who become trapped inside the home in a number of ways. The special effects are top-notch for the era, and there is a fantastic poltergeist attack that is well-shot and choreographed.
The bad? "The Evil" is a bit predictable, and when it reaches its final act and the bodies start to pile up, it does begin to feel somewhat rote--not enough to weigh it down entirely, but there is a stiff by-the-numbers quality. The film's real cardinal sin as far as I'm concerned is that it goes to the length of visually representing the devil in a kitschy sequence in a white chamber, with Victor Buono portraying Lucifer himself. It's rather ridiculous, and strips the fear of the unknown that permeates up to that point; on the flip side, it does add to the silly "Scooby Doo" nature of the film. This somewhat ties in with a subplot regarding a Spanish colonel ancestor who haunts the house, but the connection here never feels fully-formed.
All in all, I found "The Evil" an amusing product of its time. In some ways, it feels like a hyper-gory made-for-TV movie, and it has a handful of inventive sequences paired with a fantastic, dark atmosphere accentuated by the sets. For genre fans who appreciate the supernatural horror films of yore, there is some legitimate (and at times outrageous) fun to be had here, despite its shortcomings. 6/10.