Julie, who died of a PCP overdose as a teen in the early '70s, searches from beyond the ethers for her little brother, Bob, an obese watch-seller, who is dying of sucrose intolerance, in the... Read allJulie, who died of a PCP overdose as a teen in the early '70s, searches from beyond the ethers for her little brother, Bob, an obese watch-seller, who is dying of sucrose intolerance, in the early '90s.Julie, who died of a PCP overdose as a teen in the early '70s, searches from beyond the ethers for her little brother, Bob, an obese watch-seller, who is dying of sucrose intolerance, in the early '90s.
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Lana Turner
- Tracy Carlyle Hastings
- (archive footage)
Eliot Joseph Brakeman
- Young Bobby
- (as Elliott Joseph Brakeman)
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Featured reviews
If you've ever asked the question, "What the hell did I just watch?!", prepare to ask it again. REFLECTIONS OF EVIL is definitely NOT for everyone. Some, might even say that it's not for anyone!
An absurdist nightmare caught on film, the casual, raised-on-Hollywood viewer will rip their eyeballs out over this one!
Writer / Director / Actor, Damon Packard plays the immense asthmatic named Bob, who resembles a cross between an overstuffed laundry bag and a shabbily-dressed Christmas tree.
We follow Bob on his various urban adventures, as he encounters a vast array of interesting, sometimes violent characters. All, while the ghostly Julie (Nicole Vanderhoff) attempts to break through to his plane of existence.
Or, something like that.
The disjointed, disorienting dialogue is, well, disquieting. It, along with the beyond-bonkers imagery, exists in some alternate, schizophrenic universe. Bob's life and mission are fittingly incomprehensible.
EXHIBIT A: The tour of the set of THE OMEGA MAN. This is sheer, crackpot brilliance!
EXHIBIT B: The tie-in with Steven Spielberg's filming of SOMETHING EVIL is genuinely bizarre, and ultimately hilarious!
EXHIBIT C: The Golden Guru segment is a gem! Hippies have never shone so bright!
Packard takes horror in an entirely new direction that's both inspired and insane. Watch Skid Row come alive! Suburban, pet dogs attack! Helicopters everywhere!
Through it all, Bob marches on.
Nothing can possibly prepare you for the utterly berserk, Universal Studios finale! It's alarming, disturbing, and VERY funny!
Imagine taking handfuls of mind altering substances while traveling through time and other dimensions. Here's your chance! Don't blow it!...
An absurdist nightmare caught on film, the casual, raised-on-Hollywood viewer will rip their eyeballs out over this one!
Writer / Director / Actor, Damon Packard plays the immense asthmatic named Bob, who resembles a cross between an overstuffed laundry bag and a shabbily-dressed Christmas tree.
We follow Bob on his various urban adventures, as he encounters a vast array of interesting, sometimes violent characters. All, while the ghostly Julie (Nicole Vanderhoff) attempts to break through to his plane of existence.
Or, something like that.
The disjointed, disorienting dialogue is, well, disquieting. It, along with the beyond-bonkers imagery, exists in some alternate, schizophrenic universe. Bob's life and mission are fittingly incomprehensible.
EXHIBIT A: The tour of the set of THE OMEGA MAN. This is sheer, crackpot brilliance!
EXHIBIT B: The tie-in with Steven Spielberg's filming of SOMETHING EVIL is genuinely bizarre, and ultimately hilarious!
EXHIBIT C: The Golden Guru segment is a gem! Hippies have never shone so bright!
Packard takes horror in an entirely new direction that's both inspired and insane. Watch Skid Row come alive! Suburban, pet dogs attack! Helicopters everywhere!
Through it all, Bob marches on.
Nothing can possibly prepare you for the utterly berserk, Universal Studios finale! It's alarming, disturbing, and VERY funny!
Imagine taking handfuls of mind altering substances while traveling through time and other dimensions. Here's your chance! Don't blow it!...
I watched the whole movie. Not a lot of people can say that. This has to be the most obscure, most inscrutable, and downright strangest movie I have ever seen. The DVD also comes with Packard's previous work, but for God's sake don't look at that!!!
Go to any big city and you'll encounter scores of wacked-out individuals wandering around, conversing angrily with no one in particular, watch this film and you may get some inkling of just what the hell is going on in these poor soul's minds. Reflections of Evil is essentially a "day in the life" of one such man as he navigates the gauntlet of his private hell. The manner in which director, producer and main character: Damon Packard achieves this can be best described as "experimental" you have never seen anything quite like this. There is no sense in even attempting to catalogue the many unconventional devices used, satirizing Universal Studios with the depiction of a "Shindler's List ride" is hysterical, and they just go on and on. Reflections of Evil will be hard to swallow for many, but if you appreciate, daring or even reckless film-making that goes where mainstream film doesn't dare and makes no apologies, this film will not disappoint
This movie should be watched!!!! I think that Damon Packard could be called a genius. There is no other film like this one. His camera angles and editing techniques are phenomenal! I really dug the 70's parts. I really can't explain what I think of the Film. I really think someone needs to give Damon Packard 4 million bucks to make an even greater film. MAD PROPS Damon!!!
No matter how awful a film may be there will always be fans extolling its virtues on IMDb. In fact, to read reviews on IMDb is fascinating because almost every one has some viewer claiming it's either the greatest work of art they've ever witnessed, or the most useless dreck they've ever sat through, and oftentimes it's the same film being reviewed! Case in point, "Reflections of Evil." This grotesque home movie actually has champions, believe it or not. It seems that even a movie that is supremely tedious, wretchedly-filmed, non-acted, gross, badly written and directed, can still find a fan base as long as it's weird. It's the Andy Warhol-effect. He once made a film 24 hours long, hours of which entailed a camera trained on a man while he slept. Weird idea, therefore I'm sure even it would find supporters in this forum.
But really, c'mon: "Evil" is Reflections of Garbage. It's a dumpster of old footage and cheap film stock, used to present a story about a shambling, elephantine wacko who spends most of his time on camera wandering and eating... and wandering... and eating. Interspersed with this is some friend of the director being filmed prancing around various L.A. locations in a nightgown with a shell-shocked look on her face. The filmmaker, presumably gaining financing through a trust fund, relative's will, or some other sudden source, appears to have no idea what to do with the opportunity, therefore the "film" he makes go everywhere and nowhere. It's a made-up muddle.
But, I will say a few things in its favor, even though it's on a historical basis rather than the quality of the film. It does use extensive street locations in Los Angeles. When this stuff is seen twenty-or-so years from now it will be interesting, nostalgia-wise. As is, in reverse, the cobbled footage from ABC television that features promos from the summer of 1969. Then there is the dead-on 1971 flashback at Universal Studios with a good Spielberg impersonator and a correct time reference (He WAS making 'Something Evil' at the time, as shown). And the promo steal of Tony Curtis talking about Charles Bronson but being dubbed to say "Packard" is straight -out pirate film-making. But to relay this collage content is to hint that there is something worthwhile in this mishmash. There isn't.
But really, c'mon: "Evil" is Reflections of Garbage. It's a dumpster of old footage and cheap film stock, used to present a story about a shambling, elephantine wacko who spends most of his time on camera wandering and eating... and wandering... and eating. Interspersed with this is some friend of the director being filmed prancing around various L.A. locations in a nightgown with a shell-shocked look on her face. The filmmaker, presumably gaining financing through a trust fund, relative's will, or some other sudden source, appears to have no idea what to do with the opportunity, therefore the "film" he makes go everywhere and nowhere. It's a made-up muddle.
But, I will say a few things in its favor, even though it's on a historical basis rather than the quality of the film. It does use extensive street locations in Los Angeles. When this stuff is seen twenty-or-so years from now it will be interesting, nostalgia-wise. As is, in reverse, the cobbled footage from ABC television that features promos from the summer of 1969. Then there is the dead-on 1971 flashback at Universal Studios with a good Spielberg impersonator and a correct time reference (He WAS making 'Something Evil' at the time, as shown). And the promo steal of Tony Curtis talking about Charles Bronson but being dubbed to say "Packard" is straight -out pirate film-making. But to relay this collage content is to hint that there is something worthwhile in this mishmash. There isn't.
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to the director, Damon Packard himself, the extended vomit scene found early on in the film wasn't his idea, and put in against his wishes. The quote found on YouTube says: "studio made me shoot that, they felt a mega-vomit sequence would make it more marketable, especially for the vomit crowd. I didn't want that in and did it under protest."
- Alternate versionsAt least four versions of Reflections of Evil are known to exist as of November 2021:
- The original 2002 version, self-released on DVD, runs 138 minutes. (It currently available for streaming on Tubi free; a DVD-R is available from Cave Evil/Pit of Infinite Shadow, as well as in a "5th Anniversary Edition" from DVDRPARTY.)
- An "alternate 2004 screening cut" (as described on Packard's YouTube channel) runs 116 minutes, and features most of the overall content and structure of the 138 minute version, but with many scenes cut shorter or differently edited. (It is currently available for streaming from Fandor channel via Amazon Prime, and can also be purchased for streaming or download at packardfilm.vhx.tv.)
- The Screamtime Films DVD released in 2016 runs 128 minutes, and is currently unavailable.
- The DVD released by Go Kart/Vital Fluid in 2005 runs 90 minutes, and has many substantial cuts relative to other versions. It is currently unavailable.
- ConnectionsFeatured in American Asshole (2005)
- How long is Reflections of Evil?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime
- 2h 18m(138 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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