2024-01-31 13:50:37
With horror movies it happens like with spicy food in restaurants. To satisfy the palate of the majority, the intensity is lowered to an acceptable level for less experienced diners. The problem is that, for those who like it spicy, the result is unsatisfactory or they are not able to perceive the flavor at all. With mainstream cinema there is a fear of overcoming that range of acceptance of what can be shown, how and with what intensity.
It is for this reason (among other reasons) that horror lovers tend to gravitate more towards independent productions, less globalized cinematographies or restricted to very specialized circuits, such as festivals. Fortunately, some of these proposals, thanks to the impact they cause in their specific circles, manage to jump into the commercial context and even transgress the limits of acceptance of their non-target audience. ‘When evil lurks’, by Demián Rugna. Selectavision
FROM TERROR TO EVIL
Demián Rugnaan Argentine director with a growing career, became known internationally with his third solo feature film, Terrified, which, with few resources and a small budget, managed to live up to its title and surprise seasoned viewers with some scenes of great depth when it came to seasoning the terror. His next feature film has been six years in the making. In the middle he participated with one of the segments of Satanic Hispanics (film that, like Terrifiedwe were able to see in Tenerife thanks to the Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival City of La Laguna Calavera Island).
When Evil Stalks It can boast of being a pure horror film, although it also accepts thriller or even western readings. Roar It delves into the terrain of deception within a small rural area in Buenos Aires; although not collecting any existing tradition, but rather generating its own mythology, halfway between demonic possession and zombification.
WITHOUT COMPASSION
Another element that is usually softened in horror films are the potential victims of the supernatural, especially when it comes to child characters. In Terrified, Roar He had already made it clear that he was not averse to staging violence or recreating children’s corpses; in fact, precisely because of this taboo, it resulted in a more shocking and direct terror towards the viewer. In When Evil Stalks, there are several moments of great impact in this regard. There the filmmaker is implacable, dry and forceful. Even recreating the viewer’s expectations about whether he will be able to undertake what the narrative seems to anticipate.
OF MORE LESS
Although the plot is simple, Roar He manages to chain sequence after sequence of great intensity. Here we must celebrate the unbreakable rhythm of the first half hour of the film, where the viewer is shaken from one sequence to another, without the ability to catch his breath and with inexorable forcefulness. This, which is the most positive thing about the film, also becomes its Achilles heel. Although the rest of the film maintains its director’s parameters and makes no concessions when it comes to terror, it does break with the initial rhythm and the intensity of the narrative is attenuated.
THE PUNGENCE OF TERROR
Despite this, those last two thirds of the film continue to be of high caliber, joyful and shocking, allowing the film to be crowned as that terrifying feast that it promised and always maintaining a high rating on the Scoville scale of terror. With When Evil Stalks, Demián Rugna certifies the promises as the new master of terror that advanced Terrified and gives us a ribbon with cult ingredients. Poster for ‘When Evil Stalks’, by Demián Rugna.
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