- Starring
- Ezequiel Rodríguez, Luis Ziembrowski, Demián Salomón
- Writer
- Demián Rugna
- Director
- Demián Rugna
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 99 minutes
- Release Date
- October 27th, 2023 (Shudder)
Overall Score
Rating Summary
When Evil Lurks is an Argentine horror film written and directed by Demián Rugna that is now available on Shudder following a brief limited release. Taking place in a remote village, two brothers Pedro (Rodríguez) and Jimi (Salomon) find a demon-infected man just about to give birth to evil itself. They decided to get rid of the man but merely succeed in spreading the chaos and need to stop the evil from spreading in their town before it’s too late. The film holds nothing back and might just be the meanest spirited and most ruthless horror film of the year, but thankfully that works in this films flavor and doesn’t feel like the grim endurance test it could’ve been in a lesser directors’ hands.
It offers such a unique and interesting spin on the demon possession genre that frankly most audiences haven’t seen before and offers quite a bit of lore and world building that wasn’t expected but appreciated. The film will ultimately be a divisive one for its disturbing story and how far it takes some of its violence. Meanwhile, there’s very little hope or any kind of relief to be had, starting on a bleak note and not getting much better from there, only upping the ante with each passing minute. Though most mainstream horror films won’t show any kind of harm towards animals or children, this film doesn’t share that same belief and absolutely does not hold back on that front. Therefore, for those who may be squeamish towards that kind of thing, this will definitely be not for them and they would be better off saving themselves the time.
On a technical level, its practical effects are nothing short of amazing either and truly make the film a lot nastier than it would be without them or if they decided to use visual effects instead. Right from the get-go, audiences are introduced to an absolutely horrific and disgusting-looking demon which helps set the tone for all the brutality they are in for. From there, it only gets worse and certain sequences will linger well after the credits roll simply for how horrific and effective they are.
The acting is solid across the board, especially from Rodriguez as Pedro. Pedro easily gets the most development out of any of the characters and despite the lengths he goes to stop this evil from spreading, one can’t help but feel for hi, and hope he gets out of this situation alive with his brother. The character work overall is pretty solid, and it becomes easy to feel bad for these two brothers for all they have to go through, but the film really doesn’t give them any sort of relief in that sense.
In the end, this is a tough film to recommend to anyone outside of horror buffs or gore hounds due to its subject matter and graphic onscreen violence that will likely turn a lot of people off. While it never takes it too far, some will definitely feel that way so those who planning on watching it should know what they are getting themselves into. The only real negative is perhaps how it drags at times in the middle act and its ending isn’t entirely satisfying compared to what led up to it. However, those are merely small complaints in the grand scheme of things, and don’t take away from the rest of the film.
When Evil Lurks is a rock-solid demon possession film that makes for one of the more unique entries in the subgenre in quite some time. It’s well acted, intense, scary, gory, and extremely well helmed by director Demián Rugna. It won’t be for everyone but if it seems like it would up one’s alley or something they’d be able to handle, it maybe worth a watch this spooky season.
still courtesy of Shudder and IFC Films
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