So-so B horror fare stars Richard Crenna as C.J. Arnold. C.J.'s a psychiatrist looking to open a drug rehabilitation clinic, and because this is a horror film, he selects a run down historical mansion with an ugly past - because the price was right. As he, his wife Caroline (Joanna Pettet), his associates, students, and patients work to get the place in order, they begin to be violently attacked by the demonic forces residing within the mansion.
"The Evil" does take its horror seriously, so it gets points for that. It gets down to business in record time, and delivers a lot of supernatural shocks during its brief, 89 minute run time. While watching it, however, one can hardly fail to notice that it's pretty thin on story, and we know next to nothing about these characters, so it's kind of hard to care too much about what happens to them. The movie has adequate, if not inspired, direction by exploitation veteran Gus Trikonis ("Nashville Girl"), and generally decent special effects. One main problem is that it all feels very familiar for anybody who's watched their fair share of haunted house cinema. Some viewers may be interested to note that the exploitation element comes into play in a particular sequence where the unfortunate Felicia (Lynne Moody) gets her clothes torn off by an unseen entity. There is a little bit of gore to enjoy, especially when cocky professor Raymond Guy (Andrew Prine) is "motivated" to take a saw to his own hand.
Some of the cast deliver sincere performances. Crenna looks throughout as if all he has on his mind is cashing his paycheck, but Pettet is good as the wife who's all too convinced that strange things are afoot in the mansion. Cassie Yates, George O'Hanlon Jr., Mary Louise Weller, Robert Viharo, Milton Selzer, and Ed Bakey co-star. Guest star Victor Buono is amusingly cast as the Devil Himself; scary he's not, but he is fun to watch.
Hurt by an underwhelming ending, but entertaining enough to watch for about an hour and a half.
Six out of 10.
"The Evil" does take its horror seriously, so it gets points for that. It gets down to business in record time, and delivers a lot of supernatural shocks during its brief, 89 minute run time. While watching it, however, one can hardly fail to notice that it's pretty thin on story, and we know next to nothing about these characters, so it's kind of hard to care too much about what happens to them. The movie has adequate, if not inspired, direction by exploitation veteran Gus Trikonis ("Nashville Girl"), and generally decent special effects. One main problem is that it all feels very familiar for anybody who's watched their fair share of haunted house cinema. Some viewers may be interested to note that the exploitation element comes into play in a particular sequence where the unfortunate Felicia (Lynne Moody) gets her clothes torn off by an unseen entity. There is a little bit of gore to enjoy, especially when cocky professor Raymond Guy (Andrew Prine) is "motivated" to take a saw to his own hand.
Some of the cast deliver sincere performances. Crenna looks throughout as if all he has on his mind is cashing his paycheck, but Pettet is good as the wife who's all too convinced that strange things are afoot in the mansion. Cassie Yates, George O'Hanlon Jr., Mary Louise Weller, Robert Viharo, Milton Selzer, and Ed Bakey co-star. Guest star Victor Buono is amusingly cast as the Devil Himself; scary he's not, but he is fun to watch.
Hurt by an underwhelming ending, but entertaining enough to watch for about an hour and a half.
Six out of 10.