Horror is a genre that crosses all borders and boundaries. It isn’t just a genre here in the United States, even though we claim to own it. Great filmmakers like Guillermo Del Toro, Feddy Alverez, Jennifer Kent, James Wan as well and Dario Argento have pioneered this genre in various countries like Italy, Mexico, Australia, and others. The latest filmmaker from overseas who is scaring the heck out of audiences with his film When Evil Lurks is writer/director Demian Rugna.

This story takes place in a remote town in Argentina. Two men come across an old lady who lives in a shack with her sons, one older than the other. The older son has been possessed by a demon, but he is so big they can move him from the house. They enlist the help of the property owner, who helps them move the body to a remote location out of town. The problem is that evil still lurks in the town and starts to affect the other members of the men’s family.

With the help of an old, wise woman, the men do everything they can to remove this evil from their town and away from the families.The men and their families are superstitious, and they have a hard time believing what’s going on. Until they see it with their own eyes. Even children have been taken over by the evil within. Using a lot of horror tricks, the writer/ director scares the hell out of these men in the film, and it’s not a pretty site.

Blood-filled throats, puss-filled bodies, and glossed-over eyes are a few of the horror tricks the writer/ director uses to make this film so scary. It has a lot of creepy moments that are just too gross to look at. These two men have to figure out how to stop this situation from continuing or everybody they know will die. All the horrific things that happen help show them what they have to do to stay alive.

With this being a foreign film, there are subtitles, and a lot of the language isn’t always translated into a story that isn’t that accessible for American viewers. As I said, though horror crosses all boundaries and the blood and gore that is strewn throughout the movie, it is something horror fans can relate to and more often than not love. All of that keeps this story interesting. When Evil Lurks won’t be for everybody, but I found it fascinating in an odd way.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen