Fear No Evil

Fear No Evil is a hard movie to review, because there are 3 completely different movies fighting for the spotlight for a little over 90 minutes. Some aspects of each work by themselves, but they never come together in any cohesive way. We have your typical Omen-esque/ "Oh, no! My son is the devil!" movie mixed with a talky, exposition-heavy subplot about the archangel Michael who has been reincarnated in the body of an old woman, and it's all topped off with some early 80's high school hijinx.

The movie might be confused, the pacing might be almost non-existent at times and feel like you're channel surfing through three different movies, but there are some images here that, once seen, you'll never forget. There's the bizarre, homoerotic gym shower scene, a deadly game of dodgeball, a christening that turns into a blood bath, a woman-hating school bully growing breasts, zombies emerging from the grave and terrorizing attendees of a passion play, and a reenactment of Jesus' crucifixion that turns a little too realistic. There's so much to love and remember about this movie that it keeps it from being a total waste of time.

With a few more drafts of the script, perhaps Fear No Evil could have really been one of the better Omen/Carrie rip offs. The writer/director went on to do the wonderful, thoughtful Lady in White, so I think it was a case of typical first film issues.

Teenager is the son of Satan and he's plotting a demonic uprising, while a teen girl and a local old woman are actually angels sent to stop him.

Fear No Evil is an interesting oddity among the numerous teen horror flicks of the early 80's. For one, it's not a slasher movie. Fear No Evil is a low-budget, but well done throw back to the Gothic horror films of Hammer given a touch of the modern. The storyline is compelling, with some touches of nicely artistic direction from first time director Frank LaLoggia. Still, it's flawed by some awkward moments of silliness (death-by-dodge ball, shower make out) and some supporting performances that aren't as good as those of the leads.

The best of the cast are Stefan Arngrim as our devilish villain and Elizabeth Hoffman as the elder angel desperate to stop him. Daniel Eden is also memorable as the school bully who gets a most crazy demise.

Fear No Evil is a unique entry in the teen horror genre. Though it's not flawless, thanks to its low budget, it still has enough imagination to be a entertaining and memorable late night movie.

** 1/2 out of ****

Angels Mikhail, Gabrielle and Rafael form a holy trinity living on Earth to defeat Satan, which they do as the film begins. Of course, he is born again in the 60s and, by the time 1981 rolls around, the Antichrist is a powerful handsome devil. Nah, just kidding. He is an Ian Curtis look-a-like high school geek named Andrew (Stefan Arngrim) who is looking to resurrect his army of the dead in order to rule the world or something. Of course, the reincarnated Angels are here to stop him with their glowing beams of light.

I'm not really sure where I fall on FEAR NO EVIL. It is definitely ambitious for a low budget feature and falls into the M.S.U. (Makin' Stuff Up) genre perfectly. It is almost like director Frank LaLoggia had two half finished scripts and threw them together. I would recommend it just for the dodge-ball bit (watch the hyped up coach) and the bizarre scene at the end where the film's big bully gets his comeuppance by growing boobs. WTF??? The high school scenes are really funny, like LaLoggia had no sense at all how people behaved in school. One surprising thing is the soundtrack which features The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Boomtown Rats and Talking Heads. I guess back then music rights weren't outrageous like they are today.

Young high school misfit discovers he is the antichrist and gets revenge on his cruel classmates while fighting off two arch angels in human form. Good premise is well plotted, but some over the top acting, laughable special effects, and a disappointing finale ruin it. Good soundtrack though. Rated R; Graphic Nudity, Adult Themes, Violence, and Profanity.

I remember a friend taping this for from a TV movie channel back when I was too young to watch these type of flicks (must have been at age 11). Anybody else of you who first saw it at that age, must know "Fear No Evil" tends to stick in your memory. In 2007 I managed to pick up the US Anchor Bay DVD edition and re-watch it. It will always remain very much a flawed affair all the same, but it's a guaranteed fun watch. You'll just have to be able to handle 80's horror cheese. A whole lot of it. "Fear No Evil" is a pretty ambitious movie (and the same goes for the story and the orchestrated score). Some tension, sometimes frightening, sometimes shocking but safe to say that most of the time it doesn't make a lick bit of sense. Unbelievable how many songs by 80's bands they managed to put on the soundtrack (great stuff like The Ramones, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols,...). So what do we have here? We've got the Devil incarnated, naked breasts (obviously), angels and demons at play, zombies, some weed-smoking, basket balls that crush & kill, (and for the ladies) we got an all-boys showering scene with all the dudes generously flapping around their ding-dongs (and some male/male kissing with almost deadly consequences). Not nuts enough yet? We also got a solid on-screen hint at female masturbation with a gun. More? How about immensely enjoyable make-up effects & some highly psychedelic, colorful animated effects... 80's Horror rocked, simple as that.