I stuck this film out to the end & it really never paid off. I wanted to like The Evil One because the actors were so clearly trying to do a good job & took their roles seriously. But in the long run it comes off as third-rate blacksploitation rather than a black independent horror film with a smidgen of merit in the context of the horror genre.
The ghost of Chicago's Victorian serial killer, the historical Herman Webster Mudget (1861-1898), is terrorizing the 'hood. A tediously plot meanders around this central idea, & every potentially strong point is presented tepidly so that even the killings are dull.
The director/writer frankly doesn't have a feeling for horror, neither moody nor grotesque; his characters belong in a tacky soap opera or a light family sitcom.
The one "good" element is the way he makes black folks worried about the vicious crimes of white folks; enough stereotyping of African americans continues in the cinema today that it is sort of fun to see those attitudes contradicted. But it wasn't enough to add suspense or energy to this dog.
copyright © by Paghat the Ratgirl
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