The Horror Show
The Evil Within
by Andrew Getty
A horror movie 15 years in the making, The Evil Within is strong proof of a unique artistic commitment and a true testament to its creator’s genius ambition. Writer and director Andrew Getty invested his own money in the movie, taking him over a decade to perfect and see his endeavor through. Tragically enough, Getty suddenly passed away during the final stages of production, and even though he didn’t live to see the completion of his single horror work, The Evil Within represents an unmatched devotion to a cause, despite its glaring flaws.
The story follows Dennis (Frederick Koehler), a mentally handicapped young man suffering from severe nightmares. His brother John (Sean Patrick Flanery) takes care of him, but finds himself going through some troubles with his girlfriend Lydia (known to the horror genre as Dina Meyer), who insists of committing Dennis so that they can make a fresh start together.
Things take a grim turn when John brings home an antique - and as it turns out, also haunted - mirror.
The malicious entity that resides inside the mirror begins to approach Dennis and as the two of them start to communicate more frequently, Dennis’ sinister instincts come to surface and he slowly twists into a grisly murderer.
Getty’s focus was very much laid on haunting nightmares, demonic figures, and eerie fiction; elements that hint at his own inner demons. On a technical level, The Evil Within is flawed from start to finish. The narrative feels completely unstructured, characters appear and disappear without any explanation or context, exhaustive surrealist scenes have no purpose and the plot holes often feel rather unsettling.
Koehler’s performance - apart from Getty’s powerful vision and 15 years’ worth of effort - is the movie’s biggest asset, but unfortunately the rest of the cast doesn’t live up to the same standards. Weak characters blended into a mish-mash of scenes that have very little to do with one another all lead to a seemingly reckless outcome.
At the risk of overthinking the narrative, it is difficult to pinpoint whether The Evil Within is paranormal horror, or a slasher story, or a possession flick, or all the above. But, just beneath the surface, despite its flaws and serious plot holes, Getty’s horror opus depicts a longing project stemming from the intricate mind of a dark artist.
Maria Kriva, HMS
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