The Evil in Us (2016)

The Evil in Us: Directed by Jason William Lee. With Debs Howard, Danny Zaporozan, Behtash Fazlali, Ian Collins. While on a fourth of July holiday, six best friends fall victim to the insidious plan of a mysterious organization when they are unknowingly transformed into bloodthirsty cannibals.

“This film had so much going for it… and, sorry to say, so much going against it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHere is your basic cabin in the wood on a lake horror yarn. A group of twenty-something friends decided to spend Independence Day together at a cabin one of their fathers has just bought. Unfortunately, something is wrong with the coke theyu0026#39;ve brought along and soon the madness begins.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo what has the film got going for it… The Director, Jason William Lee, has a decent eye for composition and some of the camera shots are really nice and interesting. The opening credits are the Horror genreu0026#39;s version of a Bond movie opening sequence; this is both beautiful and disturbing – I loved it and it really piqued my curiosity for the rest of the film. I also really loved the lake section, filled with lens flare, haze, and colour defusing. Also, the simple distortions, which represented the druggies vision, worked well.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Story… Lee has come up with a secret organisation who are carrying out experiments on people theyu0026#39;ve kidnapped. This reminded me of Stephen Kingu0026#39;s clandestine u0026quot;The Companyu0026quot; out of Firestarter. I do like a good conspiracy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Characters… Though most are your stereotypical cast it was the end sequence that really sent a cold shiver down my spine. The Husband and Wife looking over their guineapigs – this scene is still in my mind; nice work Mr Lee.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Special Effects… Most are basic, and nothing new to write about, however, the girl on the bed is awesome. Just look at that chewed through left ankle… itu0026#39;s hanging on by a thread of flesh. Ouch!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut then there are the faults… Though I liked most of Leeu0026#39;s shooting, the one thing which really did diminish the film for me, especially because it had been so good up to this point, the hunger-raving cannibals. It would have been nice to keep the ingenuity coming instead of just going for the mindless running about, growling, and biting. How much scarier would they be if they still had a rational mind? They could have become cunning instead of just single-mindedly fulfilling their baser urges. Also, the attacks and kills could have been choreographed better. Lee does a good job at structuring his shots, but here it just gets messy. A major let down.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Story u0026amp; The Characters… in a lot of ways reminded me of Cabin Fever, it would have been good to create a couple of original characters instead of relying on the tried and tested. Though these are twenty-somethings, you could easily interchange them with any of the innumerable teens that usually end up in these situations. But hey, this is a horror film, so this is expected… to a degree… but it does wear thin. Also, did it have to take part in a secluded cabin on a hard to get to island… which, surprise surprise, has no cell reception… go figure!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, the good does outweigh the bad, though this could have been a horror movie to talk about. At least itu0026#39;s worth a watch, if only once. So Iu0026#39;d recommend this to fans of the mad professor and cannibals.”