When Evil Lurks is currently playing in theaters in the U.S. and U.K., and will launch on Shudder later this month.
Argentian director Demián Rugna is currently enjoying a select theatrical run in the U.S. and U.K. with his newest thriller, When Evil Lurks. The film is also coming to premium horror streamer, Shudder, which plays a role in the film’s fruition in part as producer in its first endeavor with a Spanish language film production.
They are joined by Aramos Cine and Machaco Films co-venture, La Puerta Roja, with Rugna, directing from his own script on his sixth venture with a story that ventures into a world of dark supernatural fantasy and thrills with violent results. After hearing gunshots, Pedro (Ezequiel Rodriguez) and brother Jaime (Demián Salomon) venture out to investigate, only to stumble upon a mutilated body, and reports of a “Rotten” – an unborn demon awaiting rebirth – consuming a neighboring elder’s son, Uriel.
What ensues is a frantic mission to safely dispense of Uriel in a breakneck story to outrun a spiritual evil as it begins its series of possessions, lured between fearful humans panicked and driven by human error amid murderous intent. The affliction soon finds its way to a suburban town where Pedro’s ex-wife lives with their three children and her new husband, and with the help of Jaime’s friend, Mirta, a “Cleaner” who specializes in ridding of “Rottens,” what follows is a race against time to save what remains of Pedro’s family while faced with a force of evil that has already planted its infectious roots.
This particular aspect of the story plays well into another element the film dives into within the second half pertaining to Pedro and what he’s going through as he tries to cope. His is a world where faith, from a general religious and churchgoing standpoint, is gone, a fact made prevalent by the existence of demonic spirits with the ability to possess the living and cause harm and death.
There’s no shortage of shock value in the latter with Rugna’s latest film. I don’t normally find myself taken aback by death scenes but there are moments in this film that had me pretty rattled. The film has an especially terrific handle on its use of practical effects and a few special VFX to enhance the violence and gore, with more choosy areas of cinematography to help capture some moments more dramatically.
Culminating When Evil Lurks is a nightmaring recapitulation that hits an emotional high right before the end credits. Just about everything that could go wrong does exactly so in this movie, which is how you know you’re in for some of the craziest shit you’ll ever see out of global genre film – a pulsating, atmospheric thriller that bodes as a chilling lesson in fear, coupled with fantastic performances and great pacing, and some compelling WTF moments to keep your mind boggled and busy, and maybe a little disturbed, for its runtime.
