The Evil Within Review

Creepy movies usually have stellar openings, and some of my favorites come to mind when it comes to that notion. “The Evil Within” goes for the gusto right away, with a full blown creep factor of nightmares. In fact, you aren’t going to expect it, as the movie pulls no punches in positioning our  main character in the nightmare that is unbalancing his core. Is he dreaming? What is real? In first person narration you hear the story start to unfold and it’s one that features an unnerving juxtaposition of dream and reality, with set pieces that are truly macabre.

There’s a real creative push in this one, and while the plot slowly develops, it does so with good imagination. By the time you’re introduced to a more horrific creature, you’re ready for it, and you feel for the main character, especially with his mental disability. You cheer for him, even though the nightmares and the mirror become the central pivot of the scary moments. The scares are done well, and there’s a bit of gore overall.

The effects are good, there’s a good practical nature to some of them, and there’s CG involved too. However, it looks good throughout, and the story unfolds with great focus on the growing nightmares that our main character has, even if the pacing stalls at some points. Despite the hiccups, the threat of the nightmares grows and we get a centralized horror figure that wants everyone dead, and our hero conflicted, and being pushed into things further and further through the mirror that is setup.

The identity crisis in movies is not my favorite, I’ve written about that beforehand. I don’t appreciate the lazy element of it, but in this movie it works. It works in a lot of movies, I admit, but I used to hate it more. This one plays on that and really pushes your buttons, making it a crazy movie at times.

“The Evil Within” is a good psychological horror picture. It slowly tightens your senses, and squeezes your synapses, making you empathize at times, and then realize you’re hero is not really a hero at all. It has heart, it has fear, it’s a good character study, and I recommend it for sure.

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