HISTORY of Evil, now streaming on Shudder, is a dystopian thriller set in the not too distant future where a fascist, God-fearing government has taken over the United States.
The debut feature from Bo Mirhosseni mixes genres to give us a haunted house horror with a dark vision of the world that we could soon find ourselves living in — sooner rather than later, if we remain on our current trajectory!
And while it all sounds lively enough on paper, it is for the most part dull and meandering.
For a film that comes off like a mixed assortment of The Hunger Games crossed with The Shining and The Amityville Horror, it is sadly one big infuriating muddle.
With the US plagued with war and corruption, turning it into a theocratic police state, ordinary citizens have hit back against the oppression and formed a group very originally called The Resistance.
Alegre Dyer (Jackie Cruz), History of Evil’s answer to Katniss Everdeen, is one such member who breaks out of political prison and reunites with her husband Ron (Paul Wesley) and daughter Daria (Murphee Bloom).
On the run from the militia, the family takes shelter in a remote safe house, which they are told most people are too frightened to come near. But their journey is far from over, as the house’s dark past begins to eat away at Ron, and his earnest desire to keep his family safe is overtaken by something much more sinister.
The house, as it happens, is haunted by a white racist – a real good old boy who, in life, was a member of the KKK. He comes off like the country cousin of LIoyd, the bartender from The Shining, who manages to get under Ron’s skin and makes him believe that his family needs ‘correcting’.
Unfortunately, the best ideas here are borrowed from much stronger material, and what we are ultimately left with is a poorly executed shambles.
(1/5)
