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When Evil Lurks is the latest film from Argentinian filmmaker Demián Rugna, who made a big splash for genre fans with his 2017 horror film Terrified. This new film of his comes to us after the disappointing critical and financial response to The Exorcist: Believer, which many have felt – myself included – that it doesn’t bring much new to the subgenre of possession horror. If that is something you are looking for, Rugna has you covered because When Evil Lurks takes a fairly fresh and unique approach to the formula that never loses its edge nor its impact, and it is something horror fans should definitely seek out.
Taking place in a remote village, we follow two brothers – Pedro (Ezequiel Rodríguez) and Jimmi (Demián Salomón), who hear gunshots in the night, but wait until morning to investigate. They discover human remains, which turns out to be a “cleaner,” the equivalent of something like an exorcist. They realize that their neighbor is possessed, and his mother was hoping that the cleaner could take care of the situation. The man is stuck in his home like the Gluttony character from Se7en, rotting away and covered in puss and boils, begging to be killed. But things aren’t going to be as easy as it seems, especially as the evil begins to spread.
Rugna brings his own spin on the way possession works within the world he has setup here, leaning more on the metaphorical than the practical. I’m sure there is more deeper cultural context in the way the film touches upon uncaring authority, isolation, and the breakdown of community, but I just happen to not be aware of it. Yet, the film remains compelling to anyone without familiarly of the specificities of life in modern, rural Argentina. The way the evil spreads is relentless, and not immediately obvious, adding a layer of unease as to whether anyone can be trusted by our leads.
But once the evil makes itself known, the results are brutal and unflinching. The violence in the film is striking and bloody, but not gleefully so. It very much leaves a haunting impression, creating a big impact when people are killed in very quick yet gruesome ways. It doesn’t hold back, that’s for sure. Even characters you would expect to be safe from some of the brutality in movies like this do not end up in a particularly good place by the time a scene is over. Even the most hardened horror fan might be taken aback by the mean spiritedness of it.
Pedro acts as our central character, and Ezequiel Rodríguez does a terrific job portraying him. It’s a character that is deeply flawed, and in most other movies, would likely serve as some sort of antagonistic force as opposed to the lead. As we learn as the film goes on, he has made some terrible decisions in his life, stuff that he doesn’t seem all too worked up about having done, at least, until his choices come back to bite him when life and death becomes a threat to his loved ones. It’s a fascinating choice by Rugna, and Rodríguez is more than up for the challenge of a character like this, and it works so well with the themes of the film.
When Evil Lurks is definitely a film horror fans should check out if they’re looking for something particularly viscous to watch during spooky season. It’s a bleak, breathless, and brutal film that is sure to make one hell of an impression, especially if you’re looking for a possession movie that goes into its own different direction. While it may sound like an endurance test, it isn’t quite like something in the vein of The Sadness, it is very much its own thing, something more distinct, more precise, and more specific in the way it approaches its story. It’s the kind of film where you feel the sense of doom and gloom from frame one, and it only escalates from there, and it does not let up until the credits finally roll. It’s a rough journey to take for sure, but one that I found quite engaging and really thought provoking.
When Evil Lurks is currently playing in select theaters, and will begin streaming on Shudder starting October 27th.