History of Evil review
Shudder brings us a haunted house movie where the ghost is “hate”. It’s an interesting take that doesn’t find enough to do with it.
New movies reviews will not contain spoilers.
History of Evil
Directed by Bo Mirhosseni
Written by Bo Mirhosseni
Starring Paul Wesley, Jackie Cruz, Zachary Branch, Ralph Rodriquez, Tordy Clark, Victoria Harris and Rhonda Johnson Dents
History of Evil Review
Let’s just address the elephant in the room. History of Evil is a lot like The Shining. Instead of a hotel…we have a safe house. The main character in this movie is (initially) a better man than Jack Torrance ever was. The rest is remarkably similar. From conversations with a ghost from the location’s past to the slow mental decline of the husband/father…it’s clear where Shudder’s most recent new release is getting its influences from.
A new element that History of Evil brings to the table is a strikingly different world. Set in the not-too-distant future…America has collapsed. Now a police state overseen by a fascist regime…resistance members live a life on the run. Ron (Paul Wesley) wants to keep his family safe. He manages to smuggle his fugitive wife and daughter through enemy lines. They take shelter in a safe house. Unfortunately, the house comes with a whole new set of problems.
There are some very effective scenes in History of Evil. Watching the family (and a friend) cross through a checkpoint is an intense early scene in the film. So is an unexpected visit from the militia searching for Ron’s wife Alegre (Jackie Cruz). Things never feel safe for Ron and his group. That’s before he starts having regular conversations with the ghost of a Klansman who used to live in the house. The movie uses KKK imagery (white hood and robe, a burning cross) as its symbols of hate. It also makes very clear that Ron is a decent man before the events that transpire at the safe house.
That’s when the story becomes a lot like The Shining. Under constant pressure…Ron begins to crack. He isn’t just being possessed by something evil…he’s being groomed by it. His ghostly friend targets Ron’s wife as an issue that needs to be dealt with. She emasculates you…he tells Ron. And your daughter is going to end up just like her. It’s clear what History of Evil has on its mind. What it chooses to represent hate and how people are lured to its side.
But it never goes far enough with it. Yes…a Klan costume represents hatred. Yes…a burning cross on a lawn is a powerful image. In those ways the choices work. But a story about hatred and evil needs to present the consequences of it…or the stakes remain low. Good people in fear of a totalitarian regime sounds like high stakes. And scenes where the group is confronted with them do carry some intense moments. Those moments are as far as the movie is willing to go until the climax of the story. It feels like it wants you to know what evil is…but is afraid to show you what evil does.
It’s a shame. The movie has so many things going for it. Paul Wesley is terrific in the lead role of a good man slowly corrupted by an evil presence. It’s also a very good-looking picture. It layers in enough marital arguments for Ron’s fall not to feel abrupt and out of nowhere. But it does so…slowly. Very slowly. Outside of some diminishingly effective horror imagery…History of Evil can’t find and sustain the intensity of its standout scenes.
Ron’s story is the only truly interesting one in the house. Other characters aren’t developed enough to form an opinion on. There is a lot of waiting for the next shoe to drop. When the militia makes its way to the safehouse…we get a few minutes of that intensity back. Then it slows back to a crawl again.
Things pick up for the climax…albeit in a messy way. There is an interesting concept explored near the end about the spirits of the house. Unfortunately, it isn’t explored enough. It hides an exciting concept and then mostly unleashes it in the background. History of Evil is worth a look for the strong performance and a few intense scenes. Wesley elevates the descent into madness. There is some effective imagery. It would have been better served, however, showing the effects of evil rather than focusing on the history of it.
Scare Value
There are a lot of positive elements in History of Evil. It’s a great looking film with a standout lead performance. The concept is an interesting one too. But it never goes far enough. A movie about hate…a story about resisting hate…and it seems afraid to show real evil. Some tense scenes here, some effective character moments there. The total package never quite adds up.
2.5/5
History of Evil Link
Streaming on Shudder
