If the possession experiences in the “Exorcist” films aren’t gross enough for you, along comes the Spanish-language Argentine production “When Evil Lurks” (Shudder). The relatives of a possessed man – called a “Rotten” – in the opening sequence call upon an expert to kill him, and the guy is so bloated and leaking so many various fluids it actually seems like the logical approach.
You don’t see that every day
Writer-director Demian Rugna – who also drew attention with 2017’s “Terrified” – crafts a tonally uneven (but in an interesting way) riff on possession. It’s broadly similar to all those religious horror films, plus “It Follows,” in the sense that you can’t shake this body-hopping demon. But Rugna gives it an end-of-the-Earth sense of unease, with touches of verisimilitude like all four of a man’s dogs running away when a Rotten is in the area.
On one hand, the lives of farmer brothers Pedro (Ezequiel Rodríguez) and Jaime (Demián Salomon) are so much about the earthy daily grind that the appearance of a Rotten is a matter-of-fact problem. This is a shocking juxtaposition for the audience, for whom a body ripped in half is not such an everyday discovery.
“When Evil Lurks” (2023)
Director: Demián Rugna
Writer: Demián Rugna
Stars: Ezequiel Rodríguez, Luis Ziembrowski, Demián Salomón
But at other times – like when trying to convince his ex-wife in the city – Pedro is the possession-movie audience surrogate who yells and screams but can’t convince anyone until it’s too late. Rather than a glaring inconsistency, this difference is effectively jarring, illustrating country-versus-city, past-versus-present, and natural-versus-supernatural.
“When Evil Lurks” has grounded characters, and the low-key droning score by Pablo Fuu always reminds us this is a horror film. But it also boasts moments that resist tropes and cliches. Sometimes it’s a shocking moment of action – a dog suddenly acting out of character and attacking a child. Sometimes it’s a creepy image – kids sitting quietly in a teacher-less classroom in the dim light in the middle of the night.
More uneasy than scary
I found “When Evil Lurks” more of an uneasy experience than a terrifying one. A lot of the shocking moments are so extreme or gross that they actually had me smiling (maybe as a defense mechanism).
Although it lines up with how a demon infestation might play out, “When Evil Lurks” is slightly too narratively chaotic for my taste. It taps into interesting ideas more so than lingering on them. For example, when the demon tries to possess Pedro’s autistic son, it gets trapped for a moment – and the boy’s hands curl up in creepy fashion – as it needs time to figure out the autistic brain. That’s a pretty cool idea.
The mythology behind The Rotten is rather complex. Pedro’s mother outlines Seven Rules of dealing with possessed beings as the family flees the region, foolishly thinking they can outdistance the supernatural. But I can’t remember any of the rules other than that electric light gives a Rotten power because of its shadow. Or something.
“Scream’s” Randy would have a tough time outlining the “rules” of this movie; they may line up perfectly on close examination, or they might be a mess. It seems like a Rotten can simultaneously possess multiple people, while also rebirthing itself into an ideal body.
Because Pedro’s confusion or understanding always matches ours, a viewer does feel a certain kinship. But the film also keeps its distance, being set at what one character calls “the end of the world.” “When Evil Lurks” makes a chilling case that the end of the human race will be gross, weird, inexplicable … and unnoticed, except by poor schmoes like Pedro.