The Evil Within (2017) Review

The Evil Within (2017) Review

Frederick Koehler stars as Dennis, a mentally challenged teenager experiencing troubling nightmares that involve The Hills Have Eyes’ Michael Berryman as a demonic entity. If that wasn’t unsettling enough for the young lad, his older brother John (Sean Patrick Flanery) has insisted on leaving a large antique mirror in Frederick’s room, much to the teenager’s distress. However Frederick then befriends his own reflection – itself a manifestation of Berryman’s demon – and follows its instructions to commit murder.

The Evil Within is a film that was in the making for fifteen years! Yes you read that right! Fifteen years! Written and directed by the late Andrew Getty, the billionaire heir to the Getty family fortune, The Evil Within, originally entitled The Storyteller, was to be his first and final feature film. Its release comes two years after his tragic death, the result of a hemorrhaging ulcer in turn caused by his ongoing methamphetamine addiction.

Getty largely self-financed The Evil Within sinking between $5-6million of his own money into the venture. Inspired by Getty’s childhood nightmares the project started filming in 2002 and was filmed mainly in his own mansion. Unfortunately the project was beset by numerous issues, funding would dry up and numerous disputes with cast and crew members led to a number of changes in both. At the time of Getty’s death, in 2015, the film’s colouration and editing had yet to be completed.

Considering the issues behind-the-scenes The Evil Within plays better than one would expect. Getty handles the nightmarish aspects well, such as the surreal opening segment at a nightmarish fairground, but elsewhere The Evil Within plays like a conventional shocker from the Nineties. What raises the film above the bar is an extraordinary performance from Frederick Koehler as the troubled Dennis. It’s a deeply flawed and inconsistent flick but worth dipping into for the nightmarish visuals and the lead performance.