Little Evil (2017)

July 22, 2018

Directed by: Eli Craig

Written by: Eli Craig

Starring: Evangeline Lilly, Owen Atlas, Adam Scott

Budget: $7,500,000

Quote: That's true, kids are dicks, man. But this is a different level. He's like top of the dick chain.

Trivia: When Al mentions that his stepson always wants to watch the Pitch Perfect movies, everyone reacts negatively. That includes Larry, who's played by Donald Faison, who appeared in Pitch Perfect (2012).




I wasn't sure what to expect from this horror comedy and with full disclosure, it was much more of a comedy than a horror comedy film. It does deal with Satanism and the occult, there are also a couple gory scenes, but it falls much more on the comedy side. That being said, it was a pretty funny movie that does partially spoof the "creepy kid" genre films, particularly The Omen. The film makes numerous references to The Omen while maintaining a light comedic feel to it. This is achieved largely with the help of the main character, Gary's (Adam Scott), friends: Al (Bridget Everett), Wayne (Chris D'Elia), Larry (Donald Faison), and Victor (Kyle Bornheimer).

The movie is about a man named Gary who has just married a woman named Samantha (Evangeline Lilly) who has a son named Lucas (Owen Atlas). Very quickly into the marriage Gary notices that something is not quite right with Lucas. As he attempts to bond with the child he discovers that Lucas is probably the spawn of Satan conceived during a cult ritual. Unable to get his wife to see any fault in her child, Gary must make a decision between leaving, killing the child, or sticking it out. Unable to leave the love of his life he enlists the help of a demon hunter who quickly dies during a suspicious driving accident. Gary, with the help of his friend Al, must stop Lucas from destroying the world on June 6th at 6:00pm before Lucas destroys him.

I liked the creepy kid scenes! There were a lot of moments where I looked at my wife and just said "nope." I would've bailed at the first sign of this kid's creepiness. There are a lot of swinging alone on a swim which wouldn't be much in any other context but in the movie they are very disturbing (remember Damien on the swing in The Omen remake?). There is another scene that pays homage to Poltergeist and The Shining with Gary coming into Lucas' room and finding him with one hand on the tv which is only showing static and the other hand having a goat puppet he uses to communicate. Finally there are just some creepy scenes where he is only looking at the camera with that death stare. Very creepy kid!

Lucas is also responsible, at least partially, for several deaths in the film. At school he gets in trouble for telling a teacher to go hell after which he throws lye in her own face and jumps out the window impaling herself. In another scene Lucas gives Gary a look before staring at a juggling clown who drops the flaming objects he is juggling causing himself to become engulfed in fire. While adding some horror elements into the film, it also ramps up the danger of the child.

What really is most memorable about the film is not the horror parts, but the buddy comedy between Gary and his group of friends he met in group counseling. They spend much of the movie complaining about being step fathers and sharing stories of the horrible things their step children have done to them. There is a hilarious exchange they have about how one of them makes him watch Pitch Perfect and another joke about how Gary set the bar too high and now every kid is going to want a flaming clown. Bridget Everett, who I was introduced to as Maria Bamford's best friend Dagmar on Lady Dynamite, really steals the movie. Her one liners and bizarre dialogue really help to lighten the movie and she is really funny in this. I hope this movie exposes her to more acting opportunities. Also, we get good cameos from Tyler Labine (hd played Dale in Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil) who plays a film obsessed wannabe auteur, Sally Field (I wondered how they could afford Sally Field and it turns out her son is the director) as a crazy cultist/CPS worker, and Clancy Brown (the main guard from Shawshank Redemption).

Without trying to spoil the ending of the movie, there are some somewhat touching moments. Gary and Lucas finally bond at a waterpark and there is a great "fun at the park" montage. This leads Gary to save Lucas after almost killing him and deciding to be a father to him claiming that it doesn't matter who your father is, you have free will even if your father is Satan himself. I wonder if a lot of love, patience, and parenting could have done anything for Damien? What about Romemary's baby? Could Romemary's teenager ever be reached? Are the children of Satan unreachable? Probably not but it was an interesting idea.