Good Against Evil

Good Against Evil is a 70's American made-for-TV film, more specifically it was a pilot to a series that never was. This factor explains its strange open-ending which leaves one crucial plot-strand completely unresolved. It owes a pretty obvious debt to The Exorcist (1973) and to the 70's thirst for occult horror in general. It tells the story of a satanic group who brutally manage the birth of a little girl in the 50's. 22 years later she starts stepping out with a journalist completely unaware of her evil guardians. These occultists once again step out from the shadows to put a stop to this liaison, having already pencilled the girl in as the bride of their evil demon Astaroth.

This is obviously a bit of an anomaly in the sense of it being a pilot with no real resolution. I found this initially quite baffling but to be honest it didn't really bother me too much. In fact, the oddness of the finale makes for quite a distinctive and unusual ending. The content on the lead up was fairly run-of-the-mill occult horror stuff, with several scenes that take ideas from other movies from the time. But I felt it sort of worked quite well on the whole and thought the opening segment set in the 50's was especially well done, particularly in how they played upon how sinister the nun's with the big hats can appear. Admittedly, the film sort of loses momentum once it switches to the story of the little possessed girl in a segment that owes a huge amount to The Exorcist. But up to that point I honestly felt pretty involved in this one. On a side note, it is worth pointing out that the current poster image used for it here on IMDb is hilariously misleading; it makes it look like it must be a sexploitation flick. I can only imagine the disappointment that many people had if they bought this film on the basis of this cover.

This was meant as a pilot film, being an initial sequence for a projected television series that did not come about, and it is quite clear why it was not found to be acceptable, since it is immensely uninventive, with both its format and attitudes plainly copied from William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST, released but a few years prior, and the 1968 ROSEMARY'S BABY, directed by Roman Polanski. Two primary threads are woven into the narrative, the first relating the efforts of one Mister Rimmin (Richard Lynch), who is in fact Astaroth a Grand Duke of Hell, to breed with a young woman, Jessica (Elyssa Davalos), who has been reared and protected by a coterie of Satanists from infancy through her 22nd year (the present), with an objective to produce a child that will rule the world in favour of The Forces Of Evil. Since Satan and his court, whose acolytes are legion, may readily mate with any number of women at any time that they choose, there seems to be little point in Rimmin tarrying for Jessica. However, such flaws in logic are matched with those of risible continuity issues. The second principal theme in the plot is of the soap opera variety, a blithely groundless love affair between Jessica and a young man, Andy (Dack Rambo) whose romantic role in Jessica's life upsets the Duke of Darkness no end. His attempts to interfere with the budding relationship of the young lovers is empty of those cunning components that are requisite for films of the "Thriller" genre. The original television airing was for only 72 minutes, and the reason is revealed by an ongoing spate of orchestral crescendi along with fades indicating arrival of commercial interruptions. The release in the DVD format adds about 25 minutes, with little overall improvement, because of uninspired parallel editing that fails to engage a viewer with either of the contrasting story lines. There is even an exorcism here, in spite of its having little significant connection to the narrative but rather a bit more with the Friedkin film that it partially apes. Direction seems to be unfocused, and few able acting turns are to be found; nonetheless Richard Lynch, playing Astaroth as earthling, is impressive as ever. The film ends abruptly, with some lead-in dialogue to subsequent chapters that did not occur, an unsatisfactory finish to a work that is rapidly paced, easy to watch, and easy to forget. There are a good many such minor productions being reissued with fresh packaging to cash in on the burgeoning popularity of DVDs. This one should probably have remained wherever it was mouldering.

I saw this on TV back in 1977 when I was in high school. The next day me and all the other kids in school were ripping it apart. It's a predictable yawner about a kid being the Devil's child...or something like that. The exorcism at the end has certainly got to be one of the most BORING ones ever filmed! And, since it was a TV movie, no violence, no blood, no skin...no NOTHING! This even has a silly ending to pave the way for a TV series (which, thankfully, never came about). It might be enjoyable to watch with a roomful of friends to tear apart...but it just might put everybody to sleep. Add to this some truly terrible acting and you've got a worthless movie. Avoid.

This was clearly a pilot for a proposed TV series, but it seems all three American TV networks passed on making it a series. Watching it, it's pretty easy to see why there were no takers. The producers probably thought they were on a hot trend, since the movie takes elements from the recent and popular movies "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist". But this execution is sorely lacking in thrills and coherence. After an okay five minute opening taking place in the past, the movie proceeds to focus the next forty or so minutes on a romance between Elyssa Davalos and Dack Rambo, which is utterly boring when the two actors are not acting extremely obnoxious. Then the movie abruptly changes track, so much so that I was often bewildered - it seems that A LOT of key scenes of explanation are missing in the movie's second half! B movie fans will probably be disappointed that Richard Lynch is given almost nothing to do in the entire running time. It's no surprise that the movie is apparently in the public domain, since I can't see any strong fan base for this movie that would keep it in the conscious of the copyright holders.

This is actually a really good TV horror movie. I viewed it in a cheap DVD horror set i found recently. It could be compared to the Exorcist with Linda Blair in some respects, but the plot is quite unique and interesting. It gets much better in the second half of the film and makes you wonder what's coming next in the story line. I hated when the movie ended since it left the doors wide open for a TV series. It could very well have been a great supernatural based TV drama series and it's a shame that it obviously never came to fruition.