Three years ago, I wrote a review for Demián Rugna’s Terrified (Aterrados), a nerve-racking Argentine film about a violent haunting in Buenos Aires. It showed an instinctual knack for atmospheric tension and hair-raising violence, which did a lot to mitigate some uneven pacing and shallow characterization. Despite some flaws, it was one of the scariest films of the year and it left me hungry for more.
Rugna’s newest film moves out of the city and into the Argentine countryside, where two brothers discover a mutilated corpse in the woods before realizing that it is connected to a nearby “rotten”—a person whose body has been taken over by an unborn demon, threatening to be birthed upon the region like a supernatural plague.
In a subgenre haunted by low budget knockoffs and inelegant religious propaganda, When Evil Lurks (Cuando Acecha la Maldad) provides a fresh take on the possession film by rewriting the rules and building a mood wholly awash in corporeal and metaphysical dread. For lack of a better description, this film simply feels evil. Credit to the production design, score, and special effects for conjuring an atmosphere of inescapable malignance, the type of which we have felt before in films like The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, and Hereditary. These are lofty comparisons, but it is only because Rugna’s films so far show a similar knack for mise en scène that feels both disturbingly tactile and spiritually poisonous. For insatiable fans of this particular slice of nastiness, this is as high a compliment as can be given.
The already perilous task of exorcising a demon is further complicated here by the unique rules of this rural haunting, and the viral (contagious) dimension of the possession presents a new set of ethical dilemmas. In a world where a coronavirus pandemic hasn’t ended so much as it has settled into a seemingly perpetual “new normal” (which continues to disproportionately harm the most vulnerable), the idea of a contagious evil hits unsettlingly close to home.
Much of the harm incurred in the film stems, directly or indirectly, from the actions of the protagonist (Ezequiel Rodríguez), in his human urge to protect those closest to him. The most horrifying scene in the film (a jaw-dropping sequence of affective horror) comes out of a well-meaning but ill-advised attempt to do just this. The film as a whole could be taken as a disturbing statement on the ramifications of human connection, and our inability to insulate ourselves or each other from unspeakable tragedy.
I’m not necessarily here to crown an outright classic of horror storytelling. The characters in both Terrified and When Evil Lurks tend to find themselves trapped in odious circumstances beyond their control, kept so busy by the plot and pacing that we see only a portrait of their character before they are annihilated—possibly undermining the emotional impact of their destruction. The internal logic of this metaphysical plague, as intriguing as it is, never feels fully consistent, and the second half of the film struggles to keep apace with its powerful opening act. There are places, emotionally and geographically, that I wanted the film to take us that never materialized—and I am left with a vague and lingering sense of dissatisfaction with the grisly outcome.
I must acknowledge that this frustrating sense of messy circumstance, human failing, and missed opportunities is indeed part of the point. The weakness inherent in our human character and social structures is a crucial part of the text that does work, and I have to give credit to Rugna’s (imperfect) script for utilizing the possession subgenre in a way that feels disturbingly relevant in a time of complex globalized interconnection and never-ending pandemic. We are, still, subject to powerful superstitions and selfish impulses, and in the real world these human flaws are exploited and weaponized by broad socio-political systems that care more about their own continuance than they do the people they are supposed to protect.
I am still working through my feelings for this script and its bleak conclusions (and may adjust my criticisms with time), but this much is undeniable: When Evil Lurks unfolds with a ferocious immediacy that is lacking in many other supernatural dramas, and conjures a sense of profound and inevitable doom that endures beyond the end credits. It is enjoying only a brief and limited theatrical run, but it is well worth the price of admission. If there is any justice in the industry, Rugna will be traumatizing us for years to come.
When Evil Lurks will be streaming on Shudder as of October 27. Trigger warnings for animal harm and violence involving children.