Fear No Evil

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Horror
Review: A true unsung gothic horror classic. A highschool girl must battle the forces of darkness under the tutorage of the Archangel Gabriel. One of my favorites!

Rating:
Summary: Fear this Movie~ It Really S_cks !!!! :(
Review: Frank Laloggia Directed this dreadful piece of Garbage w/ out much imagination or Talent !!! I think Mr. Laloggia should stick to being a Garbage man or Peepshow usher...What a Bozo !!!

Rating:
Summary: I saw Satan's dingle...
Review: Have you ever sat through a film, and then after it was over, wondered at all the things you could have better spent time you just used watching said film? That happened to me tonight after watching Fear No Evil (1981)...the back of the DVD case states `Fear No Evil marked the extraordinary debut of 26-year-old writer/director/co-producer/composer Frank LaLoggia and remains one of the most startling horror films of the 80's'...I'd probably take exception with the usage of the terms `extraordinary' and `startling', as they seem to apply to another film...as I already mentioned, the film was written and directed by Frank LaLoggia, and stars Stefan Arngrim (Class of 1984). Also appearing in the film is Kathleen Rowe McAllen (As the World Turns, All My Children), Elizabeth Hoffman (Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!) and a bunch of people I couldn't recognize, probably because their collective credits indicate they're all pretty much bit actors, and had decent screen time here only because they were willing to work cheaply.

The film starts off pretty well, as we witness a battle between what is supposed to be the devil incarnate and a priest, and the holy roller wins out...but don't count old Scratch out yet, as he makes a comeback in the form of a baby named Andrew. After one of the more exciting (and bloody) christenings I've seen, we fast-forward about 17 years to see a grown Andrew, played by Arngrim, a gangly, straight A student and senior in high school...oh yeah, and he's also the devil incarnate (I wonder where that fits in on his transcripts). Anyway, Andrew begins realizing his potential, making plans to actualize his dominion over the Earth, but not if three archangels, in human form (well, two in human form, a young girl and an old woman, the third being the now deceased priest), have anything to say about it...

As I said, the film started off strong, but soon petered out (after about ten minutes)...the next hour is, well, boring...seriously, not much happens. There were one or two bright spots, but the story drags...and drags....and drags...until the last 15 minutes or so when things pick up again. I actually had to stop the movie like three times and go do something else, as I found myself becoming annoyed with the fact so very little was happening. There were a few decent elements in the film...the cinematography, the music, the locations used, but what really derailed the movie was the lack of direction in the story. There were a couple of different stories going on at once, the angels in human form coming together, and Andrew coming into his own, but these elements were drawn out to the point where they killed the pacing completely. There were some points of interest during Andrew's development, in particular the dodgeball incident...and that's something else...did anyone ever play dodgeball in high school gym class? I recall playing this in grade school, but then once I passed into later grades, this activity was replaced by others like rope climbing and square dancing. Another thing...if you're looking for some nudity, there's like one or two female chest shots, very brief, countered by a long scene in the boy's shower room...maybe it just seemed long to me, as sausage fests really aren't my thing. Seriously, if you like male bum cakes and male dingles, you're in for a treat here. The scene included a male bully taunting Andrew, making references to his sexuality in that the bully jokingly pressed Andrew for a date. The bully then followed this up by forcibly...kissing Andrew on the mouth! Um, okay...I'll stick to snapping someone's behind with a wet towel, but to each his own. Eventually things pick up again, as the local church is performing the Passion play, and Andrew, not to be outdone, revives the dead, and causes spontaneous bleeding among parishioners. The walking dead did look kinda cool, but their role in the story was slight and their time on screen minimal. I'm unsure what his purpose was in raising the dead, other than to show us he could. The acting actually wasn't that bad, and the script decent. I could be critical of the special effects, but given the limited budget of the film, that really wouldn't be fair, and besides, I've seen much worse in more expensive films, and I felt there was an attempt here to make the most of what they had. I've always found that if the story is strong and the acting passable, certain things can be overlooked, such as meager effects. Look at the film The Day After Tomorrow...they had some really amazing effects, but they tried to use them to cover up the lousy story, and it didn't work...a polished turd is still a turd...I will say LaLoggia does have talents, and during brief parts of the film I almost felt like I was watching a John Carpenter movie, but he needs to familiarize himself with the idea of a cohesive plot and moving things along at a well-regulated pace. Horror fans may find bits and pieces (pun intended) of the film to their liking, but the patience required to get to those scenes is too much. There are some decent tunes used sparingly in the film by such artists as The Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, and The Ramones, and I also found the original music to be suitable and even inspired.

The wide screen (1:85.1) picture, enhanced for 16X9 TVs looks really good, even though the actual film seems a bit fuzzy and murky at times. There's a whole slew of extras including a commentary track by the writer/director and the photographer, behind the scenes footage, a theatrical trailer, like 9 or 10 TV spots, a poster and still gallery, the original screenplay on DVD-ROM, and a six page booklet insert with production notes.

Cookieman108


Rating:
Summary: Cool Movie..............
Review: I do not understand all the bad reviews on this movie. First of all I Think The main actor was good who plays the son of satan. And yes some of the effects were chessy but what do you expect from an 80's b movie flick.I also found many scenes to be very disturbing especially the part when he drinks the blood from the dog that scene to me looked realistic.Aside from the chessy effects This movie is classic and deserves to be in anyone dvd selection who appreciates artistic chessy b movies. I Highly Recommend it. Also the Soundtrack Rocks............ The Ramones Rule!

Rating:
Summary: The litmus test for bad movies.
Review: I know some people like myself who have a particular movie they use as a litmus test when considering purchasing a video review handbook. 'Fear No Evil' is my litmus test. If the reviewer gives it anything other than a turkey (or whatever they use as a lowest score) then they are obviously not very good. Only one has failed my test. I saw this when it was released in 1980. Amazing when you go to the drive-in what you will sit through. 'Fear No Evil' is some how inspired by 'The Omen' and any similarity ends there. Stefan Arngrim ('Land of the Giants' TV series) is a shy and reclusive high schooler who is supposed to be the anti-christ (although when it comes to walking around naked and kissing boys in the shower, he is not so shy). His fellow high schooler Kathleen Rowe McAllen ('As The World Turns' TV Soap Opera) is supposed to be an archangel with the destiny of destroying the anti-christ. McAllen's character is not aware of her destiny other than having strange dreams. I do not recall at what point Arngrim's character was aware of his destiny. Apparently his parents were aware as they have lapsed into depression and alcohlism as their son's odd behavior deepens (yes, somehow it is the mother who is at fault; gee, that's original, blame it on the woman). This movie is a confused and dull mixture of 'The Omen', 'Carrie', 'The Exorcist', and 'Rosemary's Baby'. There are some okay performances (I wanted to say good performances; but even a good performance is brought down by a movie this bad), and there are several bad performances. The special effects (other than the openimg possession scene) are a truly horrendous throwback to the early days of cinema (one scene where an actor playing Jesus in an outdoor play has his palms begin to bleed; this is done in a sequential frame sequence similar to how the werewolf transformation scenes were done in the 1930's). This movie does at least impart several helpful lessons: dodgeballs can be hazardous to your health; waking up with a naked guy on top of you can't be good; gunshots to the head have a delayed effect on the recipient; it is not a good idea to dress up as Jesus and allow people to tie you to a cross especially during a thunderstorm; guys kissing in a boys shower room is not necessarily considered odd behavior even if one of them was unwilling; church clergy always dress in full robes and carry sticks; and possessed people like to hang upside down. In summary, this is a confused, poorly scripted, poorly directed movie showcasing bad acting and bad special effects for a dull 90 minutes.-Bob

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Horror
Review: I love this movie! A true vintage, gothic horror movie! A highschool girl battles the forces of darkness under the tutorage of the archangel Gabriel. A cult classic!

Rating:
Summary: SO BAD I HAD TO FINISH IT
Review: If somebody gave me a small budget to make a movie and I gathered all my friends to act in it and help me write it, I think this is the movie that we would have made. There is some of the worst acting I've seen in my life in this, but at the same time it was so bad it was rather entertaining, overacting equals humur, at least here it does. Special effects were pretty cheesy and didn't really add anything much. Overall advoid this film unless you have a soft spot for poo.

Rating:
Summary: SO BAD I HAD TO FINISH IT
Review: If somebody gave me a small budget to make a movie and I gathered all my friends to act in it and help me write it, I think this is the movie that we would have made. There is some of the worst acting I've seen in my life in this, but at the same time it was so bad it was rather entertaining, overacting equals humur, at least here it does. Special effects were pretty cheesy and didn't really add anything much. Overall advoid this film unless you have a soft spot for poo.

Rating:
Summary: Fear this Movie~ It Really S_cks !!!! :(
Review: This is pure 80's cheese. I love 80's movies but I can't recommend this one. It's about a kid in highschool who is the anti-Christ and the arc-angels who try to stop him from coming to power. The acting is good and bad with some good special effects for its time. It takes almost 75 minutes to get to the payoff which is too long for a horror film. The dead rising from the graves was cool but not enough to save this film. If you enjoyed movies like Prince of Darkness, The Prophecy, The Omen and Exorcist then you may be disappointed with this one. Rent before you buy.

Rating:
Summary: Say Cheese!
Review: This is pure 80's cheese. I love 80's movies but I can't recommend this one. It's about a kid in highschool who is the anti-Christ and the arc-angels who try to stop him from coming to power. The acting is good and bad with some good special effects for its time. It takes almost 75 minutes to get to the payoff which is too long for a horror film. The dead rising from the graves was cool but not enough to save this film. If you enjoyed movies like Prince of Darkness, The Prophecy, The Omen and Exorcist then you may be disappointed with this one. Rent before you buy.