The Evil

Way before I rented this, I kept hearing about the horrendous climax with Victor Buono as the devil. I figured I could just look past it and enjoy the rest of the movie, and though the scenes are amazingly cheesy, they don't *kill* the movie. If anything, it's a unique idea.

Richard Crenna and Joanna Pettet star as CJ and Caroline Arnold, a couple that has just bought the old Vargas Mansion, and have invited some friends and former patients from CJ's psychiatric group (? I know, I thought it was sort of odd) to help clean the place up. Caroline begins to notice creepy things about the house, including a transparent apparition that disappears when she takes a second look. She even finds an old diary of Emilio Vargas, the deceased owner of the house, and eventually, she gets the feeling they are all being warned to leave the house. While looking for Mary's (Cassie Yates) dog, who has run off and gotten itself frightened by something, CJ finds a cross in the basement, over a latched passageway in the floor. As he pries open the doors, they begin to lift and open themselves, and all hell breaks loose. (Literally.) The house shakes violently, one stock character being electrocuted along the way. Then all the windows seal and the doors all are jammed shut. After realizing they are trapped, the survivors struggle to find an explanation to what's going on, and in their pursuit to survive the night, the evil begins claiming their lives one by one....

All slightly typical fare, with some inspiration by "The Haunting," no doubt. The characters are all likable, though, and the movie can be entertaining at times. Yet ridiculuous explanations to legitimize what's happening, some loose ends, and a predictable play-out all make the movie below-average. Like, what ever happened to Laurie (Marie Louise Weller), and why did A) Ray (Andrew Pine) give up so easily on helping her, and B) why didn't he tell Felicia (Lynne Moody) in the next scene? That was my biggest problem with the movie, along with the scene where Caroline finds CJ, Laurie, and Ray possessed. She (supposedly) drove the evil out of them, but I was just sort of left unsatisfied by the fact that the scene didn't seem to matter by the next scene. The rest I can deal with. As for the climax....Well, it was an okay idea. ("The Beyond" had the same idea, of the hotel being over one of the seven gates of Hell.) But unlike "The Beyond" this movie executed that idea in a pretty weak manner. The Devil just didn't seem to threatening to me. Seemed a bit more like a child molester than the epitome of all evil.

Alright, you could do worse. And I could have done far worse when I rented this. I suppose if you can get past the plot holes, the terribly cheesy music (especially that way-too-happy music in the ultra-cheesy ending!), the excessive deaths-by-execution, and the somewhat weak climax, you may enjoy this.

"The Evil" is a fun 70's horror movie. Low budget, cool location, some attractive and familiar cast members, the comforting presence of Richard Crenna, a fabulous troll-like Buono cameo...all add up to a demonic good time if you're in the mood for it. And check out those slacks on Andrew Prine--are those Angel's Flight pants you're wearing?? (Anybody remember those disco-era items?)

The special effects in this film are extremely effective and quite good for the time. In fact, the Ghost effects in particular are even good by today's standards. The later scenes of the Emilio Vargas Ghost are especially impressive and very effective. This movie goes to show that newer SFX techniques are not always better. One can only wish Hollywood would begin doing away with CG and embrace these masterful analog SFX methods.

The story is unique for a Haunted House film and the movie takes things to "The root of all evil" which is often overlooked in these movies.

The movie features the always entertaining Richard Crenna as Dr. C.J. Arnold, a likable shrink and professor, who seeks help from his many former students and patients to help him clean-up an old Victorian Mansion he purchases. From here on-out things get weird, unexplained, and downright sinister.

Lots of disproportionate reactions (typical campy under reactions to what would normally scare the hell out of anyone) to the paranormal events unfolding around the actors. While most of the acting is classic camp (overacting/underacting), Crenna manages to entertain and deliver a solid performance as is typical for him.

There are some genuinely scary moments in the film and also some funny ones.

Victor Buono turns in a devilish performance and is perfectly cast.

This movie is really quite good even amongst its peers and will entertain.

The familiarity of the premise (yet another haunted house, ominous sounds, good-vs-evil battles, etc) places a burden on this movie right from the start, a burden that the competent direction and the above-average acting cannot quite shake off. Ultimately, "The Evil" is just as undistinguished as its title, but it remains a respectable, sometimes even imaginative (the "quicksand" scene) time-spender. (**1/2)

A very good horror-movie about some demons who have their home in an old mansion. The action starts when the new owners tries to move in. -------- This is a real horror-movie of the very rare kind. You seldom find many of this type. And it's scary as hell. The atmosphere manages to thrill over and over and the whole film moves towards a climax that I barely find in horror-films today. Highly recommended (((((9 out of 10))))