Little Evil

#66

One of the fantastic aspects of Netflix is they can help finance movies that wouldn’t make it through the normal channels or help get smaller movies a lot more attention. A good example of both topics is today’s movie: Little Evil. I didn’t hear anything about it until a week ago when the trailer was released. Given the cast / crew, I can see why it didn’t have a much bigger reception … but at the same time sold me immediately. It has the same director from Tucker & Dale vs Evil (Eli Craig) alongside one of the titular characters (Tyler Labine) and other big names like Adam Scott, Clancy Brown, Evangeline Lilly, Donald Faison, and several others.

Even though the trailer came out a week ago, it nearly slipped out of my memory. I was very pleased to see it on my queue this morning. So without further ado …

I would give it 8 “burning clowns” out of 10.

FOR THE UNINITIATED

Little Evil centers around newly married Gary (Adam Scott), his wife Samantha (Evangeline Lilly), and his possibly demonic child Lucas (Owen Atlas). As the media sources though out the movie tells us, the end of the world is coming. After some small adventures with his co-worker Al (Bridget Everett), Gary discovers his step-son is the antichrist and he has to kill him.

THE BEST

The side characters and the small comedic moments stole the show. The group of step dads in the therapy group could not have been any better between the contests to see who had the worse kid, their rationalizations, and their banter near the end. As with most great movies, everything that is mentioned early on comes back in a big way to tie it all together. This is also a comedy that doesn’t go for the low hanging fruit or beat you over the head with a joke to make sure you heard it. It is very refreshing to have a comedy come out that doesn’t show everything in the trailer or have several trailers just to sell you on a movie.

THE WORST

The first third or half of the movie was there to set everything up. While I appreciate plot building as much as the next person, they could have thrown a few more jokes or references in for good measure. Everything switched once Gary comes to the realization that Lucas is the antichrist, but there is no reason to have almost nothing happen before then.

OVERALL

If you want a fantastic comedy that will likely end up on a few “underrated movies of the year” list, look no further. If you like comedies or horror movies, then this is for you. Imagine Problem Child mixed with The Omen and you should have the right idea. Catch it on Netflix as soon as you have two hours to spare and you shouldn’t regret it.

RECOMMENDATION

There are two movies that come to mind: Rapture-Palooza and Tucker & Dale vs Evil. Rapture-Palooza is a fairly straightforward comedy where the antichrist is trying to steal an average Joe’s girlfriend and he is forced to fight to win her back. It featured some up and coming names such as Craig Robinson, Anna Kendrick, and Rob Corddry. Tucker & Dale vs Evil is a much smarter comedy about two well meaning hillbillies surrounded by college kids that keep on accidently killing themselves. Both are worth checking out and you won’t regret it, I guarantee!