History of Evil

One of the worst movies I have seen in a very long time. I can not describe how bad it truly is. There is no need for me to be more verbose. The actors have clearly chosen a career that is not suitable for them, with the exception of the older gentleman who played the ghost\malevolent spirit. He was the only thing worth watching, and there was not enough of him.

It is so tiring to see these types of uninspired films being released all the time. This movie doesn't even know what it is, or what it's trying to say. It just vaguely alludes to trendy, triggering topics in a way that will appeal only to children raised on a diet of internet memes and tik tok videos.

I recently watched History of Evil (2024) on Shudder. The storyline unfolds in a post-apocalyptic society devastated by civil war, where the US government has been overthrown. A group of rebels attempting to sneak an activist under the radar find themselves trapped in a haunted house. The ghost(s) in the house causes some of them to flip perspectives which threatens everyone's lives.

This film, written and directed by Bo Mirhosseni in his directorial debut, features Jackie Cruz (Orange is the New Black), Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries), Rhonda Johnson Dents (Renfield), Murphee Bloom (Clock), and Thomas Francis Murphy (12 Years a Slave).

While it had a promising start reminiscent of "The Handmaid's Tale," the haunted elements fell short for me, particularly with a less-than-creepy misogynistic ghost. The characters' reactions felt oddly handled, leading to a rapid deterioration of the storyline after the initial setup. The horror elements lacked intensity, and there was a shortage of impactful kills.

In conclusion, History of Evil fails to deliver in any area, making it a waste of time. I would give it a 3/10 and recommend skipping it.

The film starts as a knock-off of "Civil War." The year is 2045. America is a fascist nation and has taken over Mexico but not Canada. They form the North American Federation. States form militias to hunt down people of the resistance who have not bowed down to what appears to be White Christian Nationalism. People swear oaths on Bible apps. Resistance leader Allegra Diah Rodriguez has escaped the Louisiana prison and is on the run with her family and Trudy (Rhonda Johnson Dents) of the resistance. They hide out at an old abandoned home the locals claim is bad and stay away. We quickly discover the house is haunted by the former residence. Cain (Thomas Francis Murphy) was a Klansman who killed his wife and child because they didn't like his politics. Cain gets inside the head of husband Ron (Paul Wesley) to "take back your power." Their daughter also sees ghosts of the dead family, but it doesn't play any real part in the plot.

The mashing of genres didn't work well. There were things we missed, like what did the cellar look like. The plot went nowhere. Characters are not well developed. Dialogue was poor.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

When I stumbled upon this 2024 movie from writer and director Bo Mirhosseni, I had never actually heard about it. But that hardly mattered, as it being a movie that I hadn't already seen was sufficient enough to make me opt to sit down and watch it. And thus, I had zero idea what I was in for.

It was a little bit difficult to delve into the storyline and concept of the movie, because there simply wasn't sufficient information to make it believable. So it was not an easy movie to enjoy. The whole thing about some resistance fighting against a nation-wide regime just never came off as being believable at any point throughout the course of the 98 minutes that the movie ran for.

The movie is listed as a horror/thriller, but it was a pretty weak one at that. Perhaps if you are a newcomer to the horror and thriller genres, then the movie might actually come off as being either of the two, if not actually both. But for a life-long horror fan, then "History of Evil" just didn't cut it.

I actually wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, aside from Thomas Francis Murphy, but they did have a good ensemble of talents put together to portray the characters and bring the story to life on the screen. The acting performances were good.

"History of Evil" was by no means a movie that captured my interest, much less provided me with much of any entertainment. And truth be told, I gave up on the ordeal 52 minutes into the movie. I just couldn't take much more of the boredom by then. This is definitely not a movie that I will return to attempt finish watching. Nor is it a movie that I would recommend for horror or thriller fans.

My rating of "History of Evil" lands on a three out of ten stars.

I have to preface this by saying I'm not the biggest horror movie fan. However, I really wanted to give this one a shot. While the atmosphere is quite intense throughout the movie and the plot moves reasonably fast, there were some big flaws with the characters.

The couple has barely any chemistry even in the beginning of the movie and the mother seems quite uninterested in her daughter. Therefore, it's really hard to be invested in their story, feel sorry for them or root for any of them.

The movie had potential, but it was executed quite poorly. Even so, it's not the worst movie out there and if you really just want to watch something I say you can give it a try.