Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

When Evil Lurks Blu-ray Movie Review

How about "Why?"

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 2, 2024

A much-hyped import that sadly doesn't live up to expectations, writer/director Demián Rugna's When Evil Lurks features an interesting premise, impressive practical effects... and that's about it. Almost everything else about this slow-burn story doesn't hold up to scrutiny and barely even approaches the already low bar for "demon possession" horror, let alone exceeds it. Some may end up enjoying it for reasons that totally escaped me... but in my opinion, most of When Evil Lurks' fundamental flaws are simply too glaring to outweigh the sporadic highlights.

When Evil Lurks stars off well enough, with a mostly dialogue-free opening that sets an admittedly suspenseful tone as brothers Pedro and Jaime Yazurlo (Ezequiel Rodríguez and Demián Salomon) investigate a neighbor's land the morning after hearing a series of gunshots. The search leads them to the bottom half of a corpse and no clues as to where the other parts went. Their questions are partially answered by María Gómez (Isabel Quinteros), a poor old woman living nearby: the dead man was a "cleaner" she called to dispose of her demon-possessed (and horrifically disfigured) adult son Uriel, who has been bedridden for a year since Maria first called the uninterested local authorities.

When Pedro and Jaime's follow-up visit to the police is again ignored, they look to original neighbor Armando Ruiz (Luis Ziembrowski) for help. Furious that such a monstrosity continues to poison his land, he considers shooting Uriel on site but instead is talked into loading him onto a pickup truck to leave for dead at least a hundred kilometers away. During the long drive, the three men are shocked to discover that Uriel escaped along the way and is now presumably at large, potentially infecting others. Each man either puts it out of their mind or soon suffers from paranoia which leads to visits with nearby relatives, some estranged, to warn of the danger. All bring disastrous results due to their carelessness in handling the body, which may or many not have infected them during the failed disposal attempt.

It sounds like a decently solid setup for supernatural horror and intrigue, but unfortunately When Evil Lurks doesn't capitalize on any of its opening strengths (aside from the previously mentioned practical effects, which really are quite impressive). It follows unexplained rules when it feels like it, never bothering to keep viewers in the loop with anything but sloppy exposition. Simply put, the demonic possession is extremely vague and undefined, killing its victims of all ages in gruesome (and sometimes unintentionally hilarious) fashion while often resurrecting them almost immediately. Background characters are virtually non-existent, meaning that this potentially cataclysmic event affects less than two dozen people. "Experts" are present to lay out specific rules for threat-handling, but these characters are frustratingly inactive or outright ignored by Pedro, Jaime, and others, which means When Evil Lurks' story is often needlessly drawn out by stupid decisions (which, if I'm being honest, begin long before the botched disposal). The lead and supporting performances are almost universally average at best and several are even borderline awful... which is certainly saying something, since a language barrier (in this case, Spanish) can often mask such shortcomings.

The end result is, then, one of the more frustrating viewing experiences in recent memory: When Evil Lurks doesn't belong on any list of the worst horror films this decade, but definitely doesn't deserve anywhere near the amount of praise it's getting in critics' circles. There's enough wrong here on just a basic fundamental level that you don't even need to pick apart some of the plot holes and other speed bumps to consider it a fairly obvious waste of potential. I dare say it might even benefit from a remake (English-language or otherwise), because When Evil Lurks actually has some of the pieces required to make the kind of film it so desperately wants to be. Nonetheless, RLJ Entertainment brings this import to unsuspecting buyers with a Blu-ray that has solid A/V merits but almost nothing else.

When Evil Lurks Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The wide majority of When Evil Lurks looks solid on Blu-ray from RLJ Entertainment, easily squeezing its 100 minutes of total content onto a single-layered (25GB) disc while dodging egregious compression-related issues such as banding and macro-blocking, although trace levels could be spotted on a few locations. Fine detail is quite good under the right conditions with wrinkles, fur, and other textures easily picked out against some of the film's sun-baked rural exteriors and mostly well-lit indoor locations. Even its darkest moments hold up surprisingly well, with carefully controlled black levels that showcase respectable shadow detail while not succumbing to black crush. Although a handful of moments appear a bit dodgy (mostly related to the film's very sparse uses of CGI), almost everything else looks as good or better than expected, from tight close-ups to ultra-wide aerial shots of frequently desolate landscapes.

One small item of note: during my initial viewing, I couldn't help but notice a few brief instances of variable frame rates, some as low as half-speed, which I (perhaps incorrectly) assumed to be stylistic choices. At least one reader in our forums mentioned the same detail, but it's currently unknown if this was in fact an intentional decision or even a widespread issue. If further investigation yields any reportable answers, I'll gladly provide an update here.

When Evil Lurks Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, presented in the original Spanish with optional English subtitles, is pretty standard-issue stuff for this genre with well-placed dialogue, frequent use of discrete channels, sporadic but noticeable LFE, and plenty of ominously creepy sonic flourishes when danger is imminent. Volume levels are well-balanced, meaning that you won't have to regularly reach for the remote. Overall it's just a good, solid mix that gets the job done.

When Evil Lurks Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with red-dominant cover art depicting one of the film's most gruesome deaths; a matching slipcover and promotional insert are also included. Sadly, the extras are almost nil.

• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery (63 stills) - Yep, a few dozen pictures. That's it.

When Evil Lurks Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Writer/director Demián Rugna's When Evil Lurks starts off decently strong but soon spirals into mediocrity or worse, much of it either the fault of a lackluster script or performances so mediocre that they transcend the language barrier. The practical effects and premise are very good to great, sure, but this is one of those movies whose initially absorbing ideas prove to be half-baked and almost all of the gore is "for gore's sake". The end result leaves a sour aftertaste but can't be considered a total disaster... so while I certainly wouldn't blame any horror fan for giving this one a shot, you might want to lower your expectations considerably before going in. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray offers supportive A/V merits but no real extras, which is disappointing; a director's audio commentary or even a few interviews might have cleared up several nagging questions. Obviously, no urgent recommendation is in order here.