Evil Come Evil Go

Evil Come Evil Go (1972)

* (out of 4)

Insane sexploitation film has a God-loving woman calling herself Sister Sarah Jane (Cleo O'Hara) and she goes across the country teaching people that sex is evil. This Sister thinks the best way to teach people this lesson is by picking men up in bars, taking them to a motel and then cutting them up. Whenever you dive into the world of DVDs released by Something Weird you know you're going to get something weird and that's the case here. This is an extremely strange little film that features a lot of sex and nudity but very little plot. The idea of a religious nut going around killing people who have sex is something funny but not for a feature film. The plot here is enough for a short film but this here runs 72-minutes, which is just way too long as the film grows old very quickly. As is to be expected, the performances are all rather bad and the direction is even worse. The low-budget nature of the film doesn't leave for many pretty technical things but then again if you're watching something from Something Weird then you know this already. Another problem I had is that the lead actresses just aren't cute enough to carry this type of sexploitation film. If you're a fan of weird films then this here is certainly a must see but keep the remote handy.

This film, a weird cross-breed of horror and soft-core porn, is one of the more original low budget flicks from the 70s. Apparently intended for the grindhouse crowd(and coming near the end of that era), this movie mixes sex with religious fanaticism and gore. Sister Sarah Jane drifts cross-country, preaching against the evils of pleasurable sex and men. And how does this fine lady do the Lord's work? By hooking up with men, having sex with them, then stabbing them to death! Sister Sarah takes her message to the streets of downtown Hollywood, where she finds a disciple in naive Penny, a wealthy lesbian who swears to renounce her tendencies and follow Sarah. Together, they conspire to enact Sarah's master plan: Penny lures the men to her house and has sex with them and Sarah kills them. As sick as it sounds, it works. Actress Cleo O'Hara handles her role as Sarah Jane skillfully, going from bible-thumping harpie to slutty pyscho believably. If you're looking for a sick time, check this one out.

That's funny. I was just thinking the other day that there aren't nearly enough gory Sexplotation, Christian-feminist flicks. And come to think of it, there most certainly are. This one being about as entertaining as it needs to be. Evil Come Evil go; the story of the extremely southern-sounding, traveling preacher-killer. The Foul-mouthed Sister Sarah Jane. I don't mean she kills preachers. I mean this chick is a preacher, or she at least thinks she's one. Plus she lures unsuspecting men with the high hopes of sex, and all they ever get is gory death. Sister Sarah really, really hates men. When Sister Sarah hooks up with Penny the naive lesbian, promising her salvation, or something similar.Tthey quickly become partners-in-crime. Not a lot of story to tell. More "love scenes" than anything. Just the sleazy 70's in all its glory. Looking for a good double feature? Try pairing this one up with John Waters' Desperate Living. And if You're a chick who happens to despise men, all the better. Actually, come to think of it, Evil Come Evil Go can be found on a Triple-feature DVD, from Something Weird Video, which is awesome, but something so entertaining definitely deserves a stand-alone release. Honestly, I would recommend quite a few other trash epics before this one. However, Evil Come Evil Go tops a whole lot of others I've seen. In other words, nothing groundbreaking, but it ain't boring by any means. So, if humorous, vintage Sexploitation gore, with plenty of rewatch value is what you're looking for, well, then I guess there's nothing more to say. 7/10

Evil Come, Evil Go has the strongest opening 20 minutes of an exploitation film I've seen for quite some time, with the main character singing a hymn on the way to pick up her first lucky/unlucky victim. When they're laying in bed together the rotten sleazebag berates her for continuing to sing hymns whilst he's "tryin' to give head" to her. Amusingly this ultra prude allows him to go all the way before sticking a knife in his back, ending his reign of wanton lust.

Unfortunately the pace does eventually let up, the numerous fateful sex scenes becoming increasingly dull. Sarah Jane's meeting with a lesbian named Penny does liven things up somewhat, she meekly agrees to assist her puritan rampage which yields several rather tasty murder scenes. The ending is a bit of a let down, but overall I had a fun time with this one and if the premise appeals to you then I imagine you will too. The running time is appropriate given the lack of variety within and prevents things from getting too stagnant. 2 years earlier Walt Davis directed the utterly perverted Sex Psycho, which is a real treat for lovers of cinematic depravity and must have surely been one of the most outrageous films to ever grace a grindhouse at the time.

Sister Sarah is a Bible-thumping evangelist nutcase who dresses like Baby Jane Hudson.

She travels from one rural American ragdump to the next, vociferating the evils of recreational sex. Between her holy-rolling streetcorner castigations, she pacifies crowds with her mellifluous hymns(not only is she the Lord's golden-throated songbird, she also plays the accordion). By night, Sarah frequents bars, intent on luring "sinful" men to their bloody deaths. By-and-by, she takes on a wealthy, brick-ugly lesbian minion...together, these goose-stepping Christian crusaders become a holy force to be reckoned with.

Craggy little exploitation cowplop is too over-the-top to possibly be sincere...I suspect it has tongue lodged firmly in cheek when it's not lodged firmly elsewhere. EVIL COME EVIL GO is neither fish nor fowl...while nothing about it is exactly praiseworthy, it's generally more rounded than the centroid of its kindred contemporaries. And while the film's underpinnings may be of an erotic nature, it certainly won't serve to enhance xerotripsis for most fellows.

4/10