Little Evil
Directed by Eli Craig (2017)
Produced by Jason Michael Berman & Scott Stuber
Written by Eli Craig
Starring Evangeline Lilly, Adam Scott, Bridget Everett, Owen Atlas, Kyle Bornheimer, Chris D’Elia, Donald Faison, Carla Gallo, Tyler Labine, Brad Williams, Clancy Brown, Sally Field
Horror comedies have been around since An American Werewolf in London, and they tend to range from brilliant to abysmally bad. Little Evil finishes in the top third of that particular galaxy—nothing amazing, but a good way to blow an hour and a half on a cloudy day.
Little Evil gets most of its humor from the deadpan and utterly banal conversations that revolve around extraordinary events. When Gary (Adam Scott) divulges a gnawing fear that his five-year-old stepson, played by Owen Atlas, may be killing people to his support group of step-fathers who have inherited horrible offspring, another member cheerfully advises him that that’s nothing: HIS little demon likes to climb up and shit in his sock drawer. The comedy is a bit like that found in Norsemen. If word came that one of the main characters was swallowed by a whale, a cast member might wonder what sort of bait he was using.
It’s a ‘demon child about to become the antichrist” story, complete with said child, bewildered parents, a dark cult, and a cast of quite odd supporting characters, some of whom aren’t as supporting as one might think at first.
Sally Field, playing a Child Protective Services social worker, and Brad Williams, playing the insane demon-hunter Gozamel, turn in outstanding performances. Yes, Sally Field. Gidget Goes To Hell.
Now on Netflix.