Malevolence
is a horror picture that is, all at once, dumb and compulsively watchable. Not
unlike an episode of Dawson’s Creek. You’re probably asking yourself
– “Malevolence! What the hell is that - are they putting straight-to-video
flicks on the front page?” That’s certainly what I was thinking when
I noticed the title while checking out my local showtimes. I decided to IMDB it
because I was curious, and because I have a strong affection for the slasher genre.
Not one to read reviews before I see a picture, I went against my better judgement
and read one posted by someone who had seen the movie. This particular viewer
suggested that Malevolence was the scariest flick he had seen since the original
Halloween. I didn’t believe it for a second, but at this point I was bound
and determined to find out what would cause someone to make such a daft declaration.
Having seen it, I can tell you it isn’t scary in the slightest, but still
it’s so derivitive, so amateur, and so ridiculously silly, that I had a good
time watching it.
Taking
obvious cues from the slasher films of the late 70's and early 80's, Malevolence
pays homage to legendary entries in the genre (i.e. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
Halloween, the entire Friday the 13th series) to lesser known fare (Prom Night,
Motel Hell). The movie features a band of criminals who, following a botched robbery
attempt, retreat to a remote home in the woods only to find themselves preyed
upon by a serial killer.
What
can I say? Malevolence is a riot. The majority of the acting is B-movie caliber,
and writer/director Stevan Mena, can’t muster up a single scare, because
if you’ve seen any of the pictures he’s borrowing from, you know exactly
what’s going to happen. The plot structure and onslaught of images on display
here, make it evident that this guy is a huge fan of the genre. The killer wears
a pillow case over his head (Vorhees) and hangs out in a slaughter house (Leatherface),
and spends most of the picture lurking in the shadows (Myers). Mena uses abrupt
music cues to heighten tension, a device made famous by John Carpenter in the
original Halloween. Mena even composed the uproariously bad score himself and
uses it to full effect.
Try
as he might, Mena is unable to generate any real suspense, mostly due to the fact
that the movie is so cheesy that it’s impossible to take seriously. Despite
a fairly horrific opening scene (one that reminded me of similar such carnage
on display in the soon to be released horror films Wolf Creek and High Tension),
Malevolence quickly settles into the world of “been there, done that.”
At
this point, you’re probably wondering how I could possibly like this movie.
Firstly, I enjoyed myself because of my unabashed love for the genre. Every device
Mena uses, instantly reminded me of it’s original source. Secondly, it’s
clear that most of the crew involved in the making of Malevolence took everything
completely serious and this makes the movie all the more entertaining. This isn’t
like Scream, in which the film makers are clearly making intentional referrences
toward other films and playfully winking at the audience. By the same token, this
isn’t parody like the Scary Movie series or the underrated raunch-fest Student
Bodies. Malevolence manages to entertain because it takes itself deadly serious
and as a result is dead funny.
I’m
not going to lie. Malevolence is a dumb movie. For a horror film, it isn’t
particularly scary. In fact, the first forty minutes of the movie revolves around
the previously discussed robbery. And, like the best of the Friday the 13th films,
there isn’t anyone in Malevolence worth giving a damn about, even though
Mena makes an effort at giving a couple of his ridiculously stock characters a
little sympathy. In the end, this low budget slasher flick is just an excuse for
Mena to re-film what he’s seen in countless other movies. It’s one thing
to be inspired, but another to blatantly lift scenes outright. Still, as lame
as much of the experience was, I enjoyed it more then recent duds like White Noise
and Boogeyman. As I watched it, I was sort of reminded of 2003's Wrong Turn. There’s
something to be said for films that are so silly, that they’re actually somewhat
appealing. This is definitely one of those. I laughed my ass off nearly the whole
way through.
On
a side note, Malevolence was released by Anchor Bay (a studio that specializes
in cult horror like Evil Dead 2). It’s being offered up in odd, smaller markets,
so if you’re curious about it, you’ll have to keep your eyes and ears
open. Otherwise, it will probably hit DVD sometime in the next month or so.
