‘When Evil Lurks’ (2023) Review: The Failures of Extreme Horror Elements
A rotten body infected with disease, exorcisms, demonic children and a deadly dog are some horror elements in Demian Rugna’s When Evil Lurks. For horror enthusiasts, it’s a mashup of every element. From the moment the movie opens with the infected body, it only worsens. No one is safe, and not two brothers attempting to escape the supernatural entities before they fall victim to it. Every stake is raised. Survival is the only thing on their minds, and they will do whatever it takes to keep their family safe.
The film is set in a quiet Argentinian village. One morning, Pedro (Ezequiel Rodríguez) and Jaime (Demián Salomon) visit a remote farmland headed by an elderly woman. Her oldest son, Uriel, has been infected. His body is decomposed as ooze spills out of his mouth, and they realise that the man is a possessed creature who needs to be driven out of the town before disastrous consequences occur.
However, the authorities refuse to help Pedro and Jaime because procedures need to be completed before health officials move the body from the farm. So, when the police deny to help them, the brothers take matters into their own hands. They enlist the help of another neighbour, who also wants to get rid of Uriel. They drive thousands of miles away only to find that Uriel jumped out of the back of the truck. Pedro, Jaime and their companion return to the village, but as soon as they arrive, strange occurrences cause panic and mayhem. Uriel’s demonic presence fills Pedro and Jaimes’s lives. Everyone they touch is doomed forever.
When Evil Lurks doesn’t have any rules and begins with a dismembered corpse and continues with the rotten decomposing body of Uriel. The characters and the environment establish the events with tense dialogues and a fast-paced narrative. The characters around Uriel want to relocate him somewhere else or kill him, but none of these plot points are explained, which leaves the audience guessing: What would happen next? No one wants to touch him because he is cursed, and it is much later in the movie that Rugna explores the why aspect of it. It builds dreadful anticipation for the audience to sit back and watch the horrors unfold.
While the first half of the movie begins with suspense and horrifying visual imagery, one problem that the second half has is too much exposition. Rugna wants to make a profound statement in the movie by defying the rules of the horror genre. Exorcisms, children being possessed by a demonic presence and body horror are some of the elements that result in a shock factor. But the second half consists of exposition about the events and the character’s actions.
When Evil Lurks presents violent, sleazy horror with terrifying practical effects that will bring discomfort to the viewer. Rugna wants to show the cruelty of this demonic possession, but it becomes extreme and unnecessary. It’s his version of the horror genre. It is not a reinvention due to his graphic imagery and unsatisfactory shock factor that feels undercooked towards the end.
Strike Funds: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1weorhmG1H7cszY3rGHCpNYsgleegkuOSH7rD47JzSAQ/edit
Solidarity with striking film and television workers: https://freelancesolidarity.org/wga-sag-strike-solidarity/
Here are some reading materials to learn about the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine:
Decolonise Palestine: https://decolonizepalestine.com/
Verso Books: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/news/solidarity-with-palestine-free-resources-and-further-reading
Haymarket Books: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/subjects/33-palestine
The Free Palestine Library: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FZudPOQZAnYH1iQXNBkqF57GR0lcQMro
More Palestine reading materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14Ln_qYhc7sIs9Ukz5usqAELuKOQ6yUe9
