The Evil In Us review: A slick and stylish modern take on the zombie virus, this film is destined to be an instant classic.
The Evil In Us review, Kat Hughes, Frightfest 2016.
The Evil in Us Review
A group of five best friends, plus one of group’s new girlfriend, escape to the country for a fourth of July blowout. A weekend planned to be full of booze, sex and partying turns sour after their drug stash is tampered with. Rather than transporting them all into a hedonistic trance the drugs induce mass hysteria, the group transformed into bloodthirsty cannibals.
The Evil in Us is an ingenious spin on the zombie myth. Technically the monsters aren’t zombies, rather they are simply people whizzed up into a rabid rage with a hunger for flesh. In fact, there’s an interesting blend of vampire, zombie and Jekyll and Hyde to proceedings that is intriguing to watch unfurl.
There’s also more than one plot strand. The film explores the same overall situation in three different locations across different time periods with completely new characters. It takes a little while to get used to bit, but towards the end everything starts to click Debs Howardinto place, the bigger picture revealed.
The Evil in Us Review
As the story progresses our core group are picked off one by one, but refreshingly, this isn’t your usual stalk and slash or cabin in the woods movie. The characters (well most of them) are intelligent – there’s none of the usual ‘oh no what do we do now’ moments; these characters are proactive as well as reactive. They also don’t ignore the signs that something isn’t quite right with their friend or lover, and instantly seek to steer clear. The conclusion is also a brave choice as it leaves more questions than it answers, so many possibilities left open.
The Evil in Us Review
The narrative spins an intricate web of red herring and misdirection before making its true nature known. It is a thoughtful and provocative idea that is bound to get tongues wagging.
Slick and stylish visuals are complemented by a thumping soundtrack that gets the blood pumping right from the opening credits. The credits themselves seem like an homage to the sadly now defunct television series Hannibal.
This is a film that offers one of the more realistic ways to start a a zombie apocalypse. The thought of a drug containing a disease spreading through the populace is horrifying. Yes you might be safe were you to not take drugs, but The Evil in Us addresses that by offering an alternative fate which might just be worse. Slick stylish and scary this is a movie that would make the perfect anti-drug video. It’s way more effective than any D.A.R.E lesson we attended.
With a believable young cast The Evil in Us offers a new take on the zombie virus. A drug-induced zombie nightmare crammed full of mystery and carnage. Possibly the best reinvention of the zombie genre since 28 Days Later.
The Evil in Us forms part of this year’s Frightfest programme.
