Home Sweet Hades


THE EVIL (1978) DVD Starring Richard Crenna, Joanna Pettet


and Andrew Prine Directed by Gus Trikonis Written by Galen Thompson Shout! Factory


If you believe an evil spirit’s place is in the


home, look no further than Gus Trikonis’ ’70s chiller The Evil, which makes its long-awaited digital debut this month, paired with the 1988 horror comedy Twice Dead (a double feature in Shout! Factory’s Roger Corman’s Cult Classics Collection). While not quite in the same neigh- bourhood as Hell House, the House on Haunted Hill or The Shining’s Overlook Hotel, The Evil is still a serviceable little fixer-upper that just needs a little TLC from the right viewer. In the film, a psychologist (Richard Crenna)


Grindhouse: Josh Brolin as the infected Dr. Block in Planet Terror.


imagined holiday slasher Thanksgiving, as well. It’s also got Canuck Jason Eisener’s Grindhouse trailer contest-winning Hobo with a Shotgun (a feature version of it is scheduled to be released next year, starring Rutger Hauer); Rodriguez’s now-infamous ten-minute cooking school (Texas BBQ beef ribs and brisket, naturally); and comprehensive featurettes on Death Proof’s production design and killer cars, Planet Terror’s makeup effects and a New York Times panel from Comic Con 2006, featuring the directors and cast of both films. Not-so- suspiciously absent is any extra content for Ro- driguez’ Machete trailer, which still plays before Planet Terror, but whose extras are surely being held back for the new feature film version’s eventual DVD and Blu-ray release. Though Grindhouse was a box office belly flop (according to boxofficemojo.com, the bud-


geted $67 million feature only mustered roughly $25 million), the benefit of repeat viewings once it hit home video has ren- dered it a recognizably flawed but fun cult classic that wears its influences on its sleeves, pant legs and forehead. Though Blu- ray’s high-definition presenta- tion may seem at odds with Grindhouse’s


purposefully


cruddy staging, the vibrantly coloured organic ickiness of Planet Terror and exhilarating stunt and car chase camera work of the overly self-reveren- tial Death Proof are still a great throwback to a classic night at the movies. TREVOR TUMINSKI


enlists his friends to help him refurbish a run- down mansion. Stumbling upon a hidden diary, they learn the house’s previous owner prevailed in a battle with Satan (Victor Buono in a Boss Hogg suit) and locked the Prince of Darkness under the dusty basement. But when the portal is inadvertently opened during a cleaning ses- sion, a malevolent force is unleashed that ter- rorizes and executes the renovators. Despite the classic


Gothic location and su- pernatural overtones, The Evil is less a haunted house film than a dressed-up slasher exercise (albeit one that spills minimal blood). Instead of building up a suitably creepy atmosphere, the manor’s demonic force aggressively tor- ments its new inhabi- tants, invisibly raping one girl and setting a


potential escapee on fire. B-movie stalwart An- drew Prine’s character gets the worst of it, from


RM94 R E I S S U E S


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