While this is not going to make any "Best of 2017" lists, its deserves to be seen. The horror spoof genre has been a bit overdone in the past with movies like Scary Movie and all the Friedberg/Seltzer mixed bag of spoofs. However, director Eli Craig knows his way around an homage flick (see Tucker and Dale vs Evil) so I'm not surprised he turned out an entertaining movie again. While DaTvsE was on point almost the entire time, Little Evil meanders a bit and misses out on some great chances to send up the genre. Where the Scary Movie ilk beat you over the head with the spoofs, Little Evil is a bit more suttle, being more homage than spoof. Case in point, the little boy is sitting in front of a TV with white static on it. Its an obvious reference to Poltergeist, but the little boy does not utter the words "they're here" like all of us have done at one time or another. The mere visual was enough.
Adam Scott plays Gary, who has just married the perfect girl, Samantha (Evangeline Lily). Samantha has a withdrawn son named Lucas, who might or might not be the anti-Christ. The laughter comes from Gary trying to connect with the kid like any stepfather would, except the kid might be Satan. Along the way Gary is joined by members of a stepfather support group who all pretty one dimensional aside from a lesbian "stepdad" named Al. The other members of the group are recognizable comedians if you follow comedy.
The plot doesn't try to be creative, but it flows along nicely and there are plenty of laughs along with some genuine moments of honesty and sincerity. Adam Scott is good at playing the normal guy with a weird streak. Evangeline Lily does the sexy girl-next-door female to perfection and she is good here, too.
With a crisp running time of 94 minutes it doesn't feel padded in any way. My only criticism is I think there was some gold that didn't get mined in an attempt to go for the laughs. I think they could have make this a darker comedy about being a stepdad to the anti-christ and it would have been funny AND scary while respecting the source material AND being original in the same manner as Tucker and Dale..
Adam Scott plays Gary, who has just married the perfect girl, Samantha (Evangeline Lily). Samantha has a withdrawn son named Lucas, who might or might not be the anti-Christ. The laughter comes from Gary trying to connect with the kid like any stepfather would, except the kid might be Satan. Along the way Gary is joined by members of a stepfather support group who all pretty one dimensional aside from a lesbian "stepdad" named Al. The other members of the group are recognizable comedians if you follow comedy.
The plot doesn't try to be creative, but it flows along nicely and there are plenty of laughs along with some genuine moments of honesty and sincerity. Adam Scott is good at playing the normal guy with a weird streak. Evangeline Lily does the sexy girl-next-door female to perfection and she is good here, too.
With a crisp running time of 94 minutes it doesn't feel padded in any way. My only criticism is I think there was some gold that didn't get mined in an attempt to go for the laughs. I think they could have make this a darker comedy about being a stepdad to the anti-christ and it would have been funny AND scary while respecting the source material AND being original in the same manner as Tucker and Dale..