Evil Review

Evil - Το Κακό - DVD Movie Review

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Ah, the simple pleasure of watching a low-budget zombie movie. No matter how many times I see one, it never fails to fill me with excitement. And in the case of Evil, (Το Κακό in the original Greek) we have what is supposed to be a cinematic milestone. That’s right, it’s the first Greek zombie film.

The mind boggles at the implications. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get to see Zeus take on a ravenous horde of zombies. And if we’re really lucky, maybe Harry Hamlin will fly in on Pegasus and turn all the zombies to stone (while that crazy mechanical owl falls off a branch). But I digress.

The movie opens as a construction crew accidentally discovers an underground cave. I think it’s already safe to assume that these guys are toast. Sure enough, a small group goes down to explore and quickly gets infected by some sort of evil spirit.

The men go about their business, but later that evening they each fall deathly ill, turn into zombies and begin attacking anyone nearby. The infection quickly gets out of hand, and soon Athens is overrun with flesh-eating ghouls.

Just like in every zombie film ever made, we then follow the exploits of a ragtag group as they struggle to survive. In this case, our group consists of:

Jenny (Mary Tsoni) - The 14-year-old daughter of one of the outbreak’s original victims.

Marina (Pepi Moschovakou) - Jenny’s neighbor.

Argyris (Argiris Thanasoulas) - A smart-mouthed taxi driver.

Dimitra (Stavroula Thomopolou) - The bitchy girlfriend of one of the original victims.

Andreas (Andreas Kontopoulos) - A young man who seeks shelter from the carnage in Argyris’ taxi.

Meletis (Meletis Georgiadis)- A weary father who has just lost his whole family.

The Lieutenant- A young soldier who’s been driven slightly mad by the horrific events.

First off, let me say that I don’t mind it when directors borrow from other material as long as they try and make it their own. Tarantino is a good example of this. He steals stuff from all over the place, but his shot composition is uniquely his own. That’s not the case with director Yorgos Noussias.

The early scene of the workers in the cave is something straight out of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. As the unseen evil spirit speeds towards the workers, we even hear sound effects which seem to have been lifted straight from Raimi’s classic.

And it’s obvious that he’s also a big fan of the Spaghetti Western. I know this because we get to see a close-up of someone’s eyes about every six seconds. Once again, there’s nothing wrong with an occasional tribute, but it can be taken too far.

While I’m kicking the director, let me also point out that the editing and shot selection were painfully off at times. We ended up with odd angles on the characters, cuts that came too soon or not soon enough, and an overall product that screamed “first time behind the camera.”

The giant brawl in the restaurant is a perfect example of what I‘m talking about. In this scene, the survivors enjoy a peaceful meal until a crowd of zombies find them and all hell breaks loose. While it should have been a quick-moving centerpiece of the film, it instead ends up being choppy and slow-moving. Too bad that the filmmakers wasted such a choice opportunity.

But it’s not all bad. There are some interesting techniques used in the film, including one where the characters hear something, and then we cut for about a half second to whatever it was that they heard (usually a zombie). As these quick cuts alternate back and forth, the audience can’t help but be on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the zombie’s arrival.

And there’s a shot of a soldier blowing a zombie’s head apart with a machine gun that I’m still trying to figure out. It just looked so realistic and seamless. My hats off to the special effects guys for that one. For that matter, kudos to the FX guys for a movie chock full of decapitations, disembowelments, and other moments of extreme gore. If you like your zombie films bloody, you won’t be disappointed.

Too bad the soundtrack wasn‘t as strong as the effects. In fact, they were downright horrible. In Evil, I sometimes got the feeling that the soundtrack was a living being fighting for top billing in the picture. This was particularly annoying during quiet moments between the characters, when the music would just get louder and louder and nearly drown out the voices of the actors. Thank goodness for subtitles, or I might have missed half of what was being said. Yes, it’s that noticeable in spots.

The filmmakers have also chosen to put their own unique spin on the zombie legend. In this case, the mass infection is caused by some evil spirit. This is just as plausible, I suppose, as industrial-strength chemicals or a crashing space probe.

One really interesting twist is the time required for people to turn after they’ve been bitten. There’s none of that prolonged “Tell my wife and kids that I love them” nonsense. Once you’re bitten in Evil, you’ll be a zombie within 5 seconds. No time for sappy last words.

And in case you’re wondering about the speed of the zombies (a hotly contested topic among true zombie geeks), it’s somewhere between the original Dawn of the Dead and the remake. That’s to say that the zombies are quick, but it’s more like a fast shuffle or slow jog. They won’t be winning any sprints, but you can also forget about running circles around these bad boys.

The characters are fleshed out well, and you actually find yourself rooting for most of them to make it through the zombie holocaust. Of particular note is Argiris Thanasoulas as Argyris, the horndog cabbie with a foot fetish. He’s a lot of fun to watch and a real role-model for undersexed men everywhere.

While there’s no nudity in this one, there are lots of beautiful Greek women to ogle. Sorry, ladies, but the men aren’t quite as attractive (with the exception of the half-mad soldier). Not that a lot of women are going to be flocking to see a zombie movie in the first place.

Like most zombie films, Evil will probably be enjoyed by hardcore horror fans and loathed by anyone else. While the director has a long way to go, he did show occasional signs of life by utilizing unusual techniques. The special effects were top notch, the blood was plentiful, and the acting was solid enough. If you’re looking to spend the evening with a zombie flick, you could do a lot worse than Evil.

Grade: C+

If you like this film, you might also enjoy:

• Demons
• Dead and Breakfast
• The Dead Hate the Living

Other zombie movies we've reviewed include The Dead Next Door, Hood of the Living Dead, and House of 1000 Corpses.

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Evil - Το Κακό - from Director Yorgos Noussias

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