Movies
[SXSW Review] ‘Another Evil’ Is a Tonal Mess With Strong Lead Performances
Horror comedies have proven to be one of the most difficult sub-genres to pull off. If you’re able to secure the right balance of comedy and horror then you’ve got the makings of a fantastic film (The Cabin in the Woods, Slither, Evil Dead 2). If you don’t balance the horror and the comedy in just the right way, then you’ll be left with a tonal mismash of a film that doesn’t work as well as it should (Club Dread, Cursed, Leprechaun in the Hood). Another Evil unfortunately falls into that latter category, providing a great comedy, but a not-so-great horror movie.
After encountering a ghost in their vacation home, Dan (Steve Zissis, HBO’s Togetherness) and his wife Mary (Jennifer Irwin, ABC’s The Goldbergs) consult an exorcist (Dan Bakkedahl, HBO’s Veep). Unsatisfied with the verdict, Dan goes behind his wife’s back to seek a second opinion, and secretly hires Os (Mark Proksch, NBC’s The Office) who promises to get rid of the beings. Os and Dan spend a week together in the vacation home exorcising the “EFD” (Evil Fully Determined) beings, but Dan soon realizes that the ghosts may not be the only evil presence in his home.
Zissis was the breakout star on HBO’s phenomenal series Togetherness last year, and he is equally great here. He’s got a knack for awkward comedy and plays the everyman to perfection. Matching Zissis’ normality with his eccentricity is Proksch, who really steals the show. His line deliveries are spot on, and the more and more ridiculous his monologues get the better the movie is. I dare you not to keep a straight face when Os tells Dan the story of how he had sex with Satan. The two actors have a fantastic chemistry together that help the slower moments of the film to be more bearable. The bulk of Another Evil is primarily just Dan and Os hanging out, with the occasional house cleansing exorcism thrown in for good measure. This is definitely a film where the supernatural takes a backseat to the natural, and that works in the film’s favor for the most part. Zissis and Proksch play off of each other wonderfully and the film is all the better for it.
The problem with Another Evil is with its narrative and the combination of tones in the film. For a good 50 minutes, Another Evil is the quirky mumblecore horror comedy that you want it to be. Around that 50-minute mark, however, the film starts to drag as the horror elements come more into play. Rather than blend the two genres together, the film chooses an oil and water narrative to make its first half a comedy before abruptly shifting into horror during its second half. The dichotomy just doesn’t work and it nearly ruins the film.
The ghosts themselves are sufficiently disturbing. One is a woman who we never really get a good look at (her appearances consist of her walking behind walls or around corners), but the mystery surrounding her image provides a decent amount of suspense. The other ghost is a truly haunting figure: a jawless man (the basis for the film’s poster) who likes to suddenly run at the camera. There is no backstory surrounding the apparitions and they don’t feature too prominently in the film. That makes their appearances all the more frightening as they provide the film’s sole moments of actual horror.
Another Evil is essentially two movies and only one of those movies is good. It’s too bad that the film falls apart in its second half, because it really could have been something great had it been executed with just a little more care. Overall it’s worth a watch, but maybe turn it off once the movie reaches its midway point.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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