Live Evil (2015) User Reviews

My Review Of "Live-Evil"

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 4/10 · 19 November 2015]

The story is creative, well thought out, and offers the chance at a very fun, and thrilling night of Halloween hell-raising mayhem. The cinematography gives the right atmosphere and the cast are fully committed to their characters, well most are anyway. There are a few characters that seem almost forced into the story. Anyway, I did enjoy the concept of evil unleashed on the town on Halloween night, and the fact that we only know as much about what is happening as the characters do. It kept "Live-Evil" somewhat intriguing.

The special effects are quite frustrating. The film is heavily dependent on CGI for about 95 percent of the movie. It was pretty cheap, even for a low-budget horror. The quality falls somewhere between Asylum films and Syfy Channel. The cool thing, which does seem to focus on practical effects, is the use of almost Eddie (Iron Maiden) styled zombie monsters. They are the most interesting thing happening in "Live-Evil". The film's musical score and effects are a dud and offer nothing to the film.

Overall " Live-Evil " is more disappointing than entertaining. The horror never becomes thrilling, the comedy falls flat, and the plot is way overwritten with too much of everything. I did like the art-house style starting out with a black-n-white story only splashed with surreal moments of color, then switching to a all color film for the last half. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to make anymore connection with what is happening on screen than the CGI bullets hitting the zombies. "Live-Evil" is a strange movie with a lot happening, but it doesn't seem to understand that about itself. Watch with caution and low expectations.

Just odd, really.

[parry_na · 4/10 · 24 November 2018]

One of the great things about going into horror films without knowing anything about them is the realisation, at a certain point somewhere down the line, that it's going to be 'a certain kind of film.' That point came pretty quickly with this Ari Kirschenbaum directed/written oddity. And I was still wrong. Initially, I quite liked it, but I imagine that such an abstract approach might come across as a series of set-pieces and effective imagery - because that's exactly what it is, at least in the first half. Sadly, the second half degenerates into a kind of wacky comedy.

Charlene Amoia plays Deputy Hancock who, alongside Sherrif Pete (Vladimir Kulich), come to realise that some demonic force has infiltrated their small-town jail and its inmates. Apart from the slow but often effective story-line and insistent electronic score, there is a lot of reliance on CGI. Whilst none of it breaks the spell Kirschenbaum is striving to weave, some leaves a lot to be desired, while much of it is more effective than you might expect. Events are divided into Tarantino-like chapters.

A switch to colour from the greyed-out imagery some way into the running time threatens to rob events of their sinister intimacy but actually, this is not the case. The colours used are bleached-out and sickly in hue and create their own sense of unease. And yet there is a growing through-line of sardonic humour here that suggests not everything should be taken seriously - and many of the possessed zombie-types invite hilarity rather than terror (in black and white, they look frightening - reminiscent of 'Salem's Lot (1979)' in some scenes; when in colour, they degenerate into the kind of cartoon menace you see on the cover of Iron Maiden albums). Sadly, this threatens to render everything we've seen thus far inconsequential.

So, tonally, I am not sure what this is aiming for. Again, it seems a deliberate nod to the Tarantino style of occasionally 'heightened' film-making. In this case, I am honest enough to say that whilst it must have been great fun to make, I do not know what kind of film this strives to be, and as such, the result are baffling.

If we die it won't be long.

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 20 October 2017]

A small town has issues on Halloween night with a full moon. There is a supernatural element at work as the police all see one individual as someone different. They also have in custody the FBI's #11 and #12 most wanted. There are also other things going on in this comedy-horror. There is a brown out that "isn't a brown out . It's evil." There are also the animated dead, "They're not zombies." These dead have green lights for eyes, driver's license, open carry permits, and weapons training.

While some of the zombie effects left something to be desired, the sound track was original and it was clear they paid attention to the background music. It was excellent (except for that Italian style music in the police corridor scene) approaching "Return of the Living Dead" credentials. Part of the film is in black and white. I liked it initially for effect, but they used it too long. The film is divided into titled chapters, giving it a Tarantino grindhouse effect. I just loved Charlene Amoia as Deputy Hancock and Karen Wheeling Reynolds as Sharon. The coolness of #11 and #12 was also effective. Try not to follow the plot too much.

Guide: F-word. No sex. Nudity (Raven Whisnant + 3 other animated dead chicks)

It's Evil. Probably Evil.

[LovecraftLass · 6/10 · 6 February 2018]

I honestly didn't know what to expect from Live Evil. Because it was listed as a horror/comedy I went in thinking it was going to be something along the lines of Scary Movie or Deathgasm. It's not. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to really call it a comedy. There were some funny moments, well, a lot of funny moments, but horror has always been a genre that can fuse horror and comedy but still be a straight-up horror movie. I think that's more where Live Evil falls.

The cast was great together. I particularly loved Hancock (Charlene Amoia) and Sheriff Pete (Vladimir Kulich). They were awesome together and had a wonderful chemistry. Not a romantic chemistry but more like very good friends/mentor relationship. In fact, I was very pleased at the lack of romance between them. It was very refreshing. Most Wanted #11 and Most Wanted #12 were great as well. I honestly don't remember if the movie says they were brothers or not but for some reason that's the impression that I got. Either way, it worked well.

Live Evil is split into chapters, which I'll admit threw me at first. But it's clear from the start that it sets out to have its own, unique style. I particularly liked the black and white aesthetic with the splashes of red. For those who aren't keen on back and white the movie does go to full color later in the movie. The effects work well for the most part. I loved the look of the Not-Zombies (I still have to wonder if they weren't inspired by Iron Maiden's 'Eddie' just a smidgen). I would love to say more about their eyes but since it ties into the plot I'll let you see for yourselves.The only effects that seemed a bit off to me were the gunfire. It looked kind of weird.

I would have loved to give it a five but there were some things I was a little less than enthused about. The plot was a little looser in spots than it should have been. While some of the unexplained things fit in with the mystery of it, others could have/should have been more explained. One of the bigger disappointments was the end. It seemed very abrupt and I'm not really a fan of movies (or books, or video games) that just end. To me it seems to be a cop-out to where they don't have to think of an ending. It doesn't have to be a big ball of Happy Ever After but I want some kind of resolution. Unfortunately I can't go into many of the others as they are mostly plot related. The one thing I can wonder about is the bell. It seems important but I'm not sure why or what it does or what it did. There was a semi-twist to it that I thought was set up well. There are hints to it (I started wondering mid-way through) but it's not so telegraphed that it's disappointing.

All in all while I wasn't "I have got to get this!" I was not disappointed, either. And I can't stress enough how much of a role the cast played in that. The actors give their characters their all and it shows. With a weaker cast and less chemistry between Hancock and Sheriff Pete it could have easily flopped. If you go in expecting slapstick you will most likely be disappointed. If, however, you appreciate a more quiet humour then you'll be pleased with Live Evil. Probably Evil.

Push through to the end...

[kaliewalker-64865 · 10/10 · 30 August 2022]

I almost didn't finish watching this movie. If I wasn't such a big fan of Vladimir Kulich & Tony Todd, I don't think I could have. Once you get past the black and white part of the movie, it gets better. The story line reminds me of something I would have read by Stephen King. Tony Todd was great, as always. What annoyed me was the "background" music was in the forground and I had a hard time hearing what the actors were saying. The artsy fartsy inserts did nothing for the movie and could have been left out without changing the story at all. Seeing Vladimir licking his desk was a trip.... but I really wish he would have used his every day voice instead of trying to do a country boy accent. It did not work. Once you get back to the color part of the movie, you get a few funny one linners and kinda get an idea of what is going on and why. It's never truly explained in the movie. I'd watch it again, but I love B movies.