When Evil Lurks: Movie Review

Cast: Ezequiel Rodriguez, Demian Salomon

Director: Demián Rugna

Argentinian horror When Evil Lurks is not afraid to hold back when it needs to - nor is it afraid to build a world with snippets of information rather than reams of exposition.

The story follows brothers Pedro and Jimmy, who stumble across a case of possession in their nearby woods. Upon discovering the shack is hiding a "Rotten", a possessed person harboring an unknown demon, the pair decide to move it to prevent all hell breaking loose.

However, when it goes awry, both Pedro and Jimmy face chaos as they try to escape.

When Evil Lurks is as unsettling a proposition as ever a horror film should be, filling surface-level thrills with gut-wrenching fears. 

It may channel elements of 28 Days Later and gross-out imagery here and there, but where When Evil Lurks is more successful is in deploying tension that builds on innate fears of rejection, loneliness and a god-less world.

Director Demián Rugna peppers the story with elements that help to build a world that's seen the fear of the Rotten overtake the faith of the church and how evil is triumphing over humanity. 

There may be the usual mix of children being placed in jeopardy and a few holes over some of the clarity of some of the rules of the world, but what gradually emerges over the course of this unsettling movie is something that inveigles its way under your skin and disturbs greatly thanks to the restraint deployed and the rejection of the desire to turn the movie into a gore-fest.

It may get a little-muddled as its lore is brought to the fore, but When Evil Lurks is a potent chiller that shows a genre that's often overplayed and overused still has some life left in it.

When Evil Lurks is playing the Terror-Fi Fest and can also be streamed now on Shudder.