★★½ Watched 04 Aug 2019
Some might say the 70’s were bad for horror films, while others will disagree. I fall in the earlier category as there are not many 70’s horror films that I like or even find good. This a probably because of the special effects and technology that was limited then.
The Evil made its debut in early spring of 1978 directed by Gus Trikonis, who before this had a few exploitation films under his belt. This supernatural haunted house story is a genre I prefer over blood, guts, and gore though this film did have some of that. Psychiatrist C.J. Arnold purchases an abandoned mansion once owned by a civil war general. C.J.’s plan is to renovate the mansion and turn it into a drug rehab hospital with the help of his friends and volunteers. Once everyone was inside, that is when things went crazy and the house began killing off each and every one of them.
Anytime you can get a house or a spirit to kill, that makes things a little more creepy than just some killer on the loose. Maybe the killer should have been better because I found myself a little lost over the who, what, where, whens and whys on this house. Maybe I was confused, but I didn’t feel there was much explanation for what was happening. Because of this, I found myself bored most of the time.
