Origin of Evil is certainly a clever movie. I'm half-convinced that in the case of generically circumscribed horror films, that's all one can hope for. Let's review what this film gets right. First, it upsets the entire look of the horror film. The lighting throughout this movie is tremendous. And significant because it builds tension and delivers scares, even in daylight! The masterful casting of shadows and the not-quite-right yellow shade of the light within the confines of the house blew me away. Furthermore, it delivers scares in at least one unconventional way. The young daughter's monologue about strangulation is a sight to behold. Her delivery is ferocious and the sensation in the viewer is utter terror. There's no unsettling imagery or ambient sound that accompanies this hybrid scare and tension builder. The plot does unfold far too quickly leading into and through the climax. And the film gives up a couple great ending scenes in exchange for one last cheap scare. But, ultimately, this is a thoroughly enjoyable film. It might even be deserving of more analysis! After all, the repetition of the disappearing and sewn-shut mouth as an image and plot point is a fascinating one. This film gets a solid recommendation from me.
Review by ShubesBlockedParent2024-03-11T23:20:47Z
Decent movie, full of jump scares (many of them you can see coming a mile away) but still good enough to pass the time. I found this one a bit better - "creepier", I suppose - than the original (which I didn't have as much of a problem with as a lot of others did, apparently.) It's still your typical supernatural 'possession'-type movie but I give props to Lulu Wilson in her role as "Doris": she was just flat-out creepy here. Pretty much everyone else was an "also-ran" and it was difficult to really buy into any of the characters.All that aside, it was still worth the short hour-and-a-half runtime although there were times that it got kind of plodding. In short, the best part of this film was it being set back in the 1960's and I loved the period pieces, wardrobes, furnishing, cars, etc that were used in the movie. I watched it once but probably wouldn't watch it again; it's just another possession-type film and there's not a lot of originality to it. The infamous Ouija board itself played a more central role in the original movie than here but this film was a little spookier. Not bad, but certainly nothing to rave about.