Forever Evil

After his friends are massacred by an evil being that is attempting to bring about the return of 'Old God' Yog-Kothag, Marc (Red Mitchell) joins forces with fellow survivor Reggie (Tracey Huffman) to try and prevent the end of the world as we know it.

The Evil Dead gets mentioned a lot in the same breath as Forever Evil and it's easy to see why: not only do both films have the word 'Evil' in their titles, but both feature a group of friends gathering at a remote cabin for the weekend where they are killed by an ancient demonic force. One of the girls even gets attacked by a tree! Other similarities include ancient Sumerians, a sacrificial dagger and the Necronomicon, while the hero keeps a sentimental reminder of his dead girlfriend that comes in handy when faced with dark powers (Ash uses Linda's necklace and Mark keeps a Zippo lighter, a gift from girlfriend Holly).

Sam Raimi's '82 cult classic succeeded by keeping the plot simple, the gore excessive and the action pacy; Forever Evil's director, Roger Evans, also gives splatter fans some enjoyable gore but tries to make his story more expansive; in doing so his film becomes far too bloated, suffering from irrelevant subplots and a little too much exposition (Mark's in-depth demonstration of his emergency grappling hook and all that stuff about pulsating quasars). The final film clocks in at a whopping 107 minutes, which is at least thirty minutes past acceptable for this kind of thing.

Still, fans of H.P.Lovecraft should enjoy all of the stuff about the Old Ones and Yog-Kothag, while fans of low-budget '80s horror will get a kick out of the practical effects: the discovery of a mutilated woman in the shower (the earlier shower scene providing viewers with some T&A), a dream sequence that sees the ghost of the shower victim ripping a demonic baby from her womb, and a manky zombie that just won't die, even after being doused in gasoline and set on fire.

5.5/10, generously rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

My review was written in December 1987 after watching the show on United video cassette.

Originally titled "Nemesis", "Forever Evil" holds the dubious distinction of being perhaps the longest made-for-video horror effort to date. Bloated running time features a few good ideas and acceptable gore effects, but definitely would have been cut if theatrical release were envisioned.

Story is derived from the popular mythos of H. P. Lovecraft (not credited, with no screenplay credit displayed), as various survivors of encounters with a Grim Reaper-styled caped monster team up to find and fight some supernatural entity. Referring to mythical books such as Lovecraft's invention, "The Necronomicon", they deduce that the ancient god Yog Kothag, exiled to a distant star system, is being brought back by cultists to take over the Earth.

Pattern of murders on the map (pic was shot in Houston and Cold Springs, Texas) forms a pentagram, leading our heroes to descend upon Nash Realty for a bloody climax. It turns out evil realtor Nash (Howard Jacobsen) is over 100 years old, using as his zombie assistant a guy he killed over 60 years ago. Hero Marc (Red Mitchell) is turned into a zombie at film's end but stabs Nash to put a halt to Yog's Earth takeover bid.

Best thing here is an intriguing puppet designed by Luis Ibarra representing a monster baby, which recalls the fine Rick Baker creations for "It's Alive".

Grand cheese fest from the late 1980s, FOREVER EVIL draws on Lovecraft and EVIL DEAD to tell the story of two survivors of separate mass killings who go on a hunt for the demonic killer. Shot in Texas with a community theater-type cast, it is perfect for late night TV viewing. The special effects are sparse, and the villain (although ultimately just a henchman and not the master killer) is a rotting zombie right out of Return of the Living Dead. Clumsily executed, badly written and atrociously acted, it may not be up there with such grand 80s fare as Night of the Demons, but it should appeal to cheese lovers and insomniacs everywhere. A huge stretch of the film goes by with little or nothing happening, so beware. And where there might have been a decent bedroom scene near the finish is sadly cut short.

Three couples head to a cabin for the weekend to bid the place farewell before Marc (Red Mitchell) sells it. What they don't know is that a pulsing stellar Quasar is happening when they get there and it unleashes some monsters that kill everyone except Marc. Still with me? Marc then teams up with Reggie (Tracey Huffman), a female survivor of a similar incident, and Leo (Charles Trotter), a cop who has seen this before, to figure out what is going on. Together, the trio finds out that an immortal being on Earth has been planning these attacks for over a century in an effort to bring back evil god Yog Kothag (someone has been reading Lovecraft) to end humanity as we know it. This Texas-produced flick falls into the same category for me as late 80s flicks like THE VIDEO DEAD, DEMON WIND, THE DEAD PIT and DEMONWARP. It might be a bit budget starved, but you can appreciate the amount of effort and imagination that went into making it. The first time I saw this back in 1990 or so, I was surprised how they pulled a PSYCHO on me and offed everyone about 20 minutes in and took it from there. Mitchell, looking like a cross between Jack Black and Jason Alexander, is an interesting choice for a lead and he is alright I guess. If you are looking for a few laughs, see the scene where Reggie declares her love to him. While the flick is overlong at 107 minutes, it has enough weirdness (demon babies, random zombies, a cute looking demon dog) for me to recommend seeing it at least once.

My dear Aunt Lucille, may she rest in peace, always told me that if I don't have something nice to say, then I'd best say nothing at all. With those wise words in mind, I will retain a humble silence while you enter your neighborhood movie rental store and approach the counter with this pissant excuse for a supernatural horror film.

That's right. I'm not going to say a single word while you shake your head in disbelief as a girl gets dragged into the night by A SINGLE FLIMSY STICK. Nope. I'll hold my tongue throughout the scenes of a rubber-mask-zombie wreaking very minor havoc upon characters you wish would die in pain and fear.

I'll politely refrain from commenting on how the folks who made this seem to have read someplace that THE EVIL DEAD was a virtual no-budget project, and, being aware of the considerable buzz which that film generated, decided to utilize a 3-day weekend to concoct this pallid "homage". And when the "surprise ending" comes around, don't expect my opinion to be forthcoming...I'll just sit quietly and listen as you hurl expletives at the video box.

2.5/10. But I'm not saying a damn thing.