32 Days of Halloween VI, Movie Night No. 17: The Evil (1978)

Well, I did a lot of digging and I'm ashamed to say that with the time I had available, I couldn't find a properly WTF sort of film to follow Night #17's pick from last year, Blood Orgy of the She-Devils. But that's setting the bar pretty damn high, so I don't feel too badly. Not finding anything handy, I consulted Rox of Spazhouse, our resident expert on WTF Horror. So...prepare yourself for a different sort of horror. Pure 70s horror.

And by that, I don't mean disco zombies or The Bell Bottoms That Ate Cleveland. I'm talking about the sort of thing you'd watch on VHS from the rental store because there was nothing else available. And would be considered, in some modern circles, as a comedy. It's The Evil from 1978. She calls it "A TV version of Legend of Hell House in a way." Here we have Richard Crenna trying to convert an old mansion into a clinic, but sure enough the family dog uncovers something in the basement and all hell, literally, breaks loose. The ending is...Amazing. And I mean the entire thing, up until the closing credits. Amazing.

Of course, upon reflection we see why she really likes the film. "I love the Goudy Bold typeface for the credits," Rox says. And there you have it.

The Evil appeared as a double feature on DVD with Twice Dead as a Roger Corman's Cult Classics release...but I don't see Corman's name on the IMDB entry anywhere...weird...