Evilenko

Macolm Mcdowell did a great job in this movie as Andrej Romanovic Evilenko. His one of the best actors, but he played only in a few very good movies. In this and in A Clockwork Orange, but that was ages ago. Also Marton Csokas played very good as the police officer. Do not think this movie wasn't good, due to the bad reviews. Watch this movie yourself and you'll see it's very good. There are now like 160 votes on this movie because nobody knows it. IT IS as good as citizen X, Very different story, and a much better plot. The director, David Grieco, did a great job in working out the characters. You know more about the killer and about the police men, then in citizen X. Go to see this movie and you really enjoy it. 8/10

Evilenko is another film based on the character of Chikatilo. Along with the story the main theme is the role of the Soviet system and communist propaganda for the emergence and invulnerability of this mass murderer. Unfortunately, Evilenko fails to create a realistic picture of the criminal who took dozens of lives, nor to convey the spirit and meaning of the communist society that created him. The ugly Soviet reality in the film is exaggerated - neither the people were so fanatical, nor the government so omnipotent. If the goal is to create an absurd reality, like 1984 and Brazil - here it is unnecessary, the purpose of the film in my opinion is different. Police station and interrogations in an abandoned tunnel? Come on, don't take us for idiots. The killer, an analogue of Chikatilo in the film, also seems too unreal. Malcolm McDowell is a great actor, but unfortunately he also contributed to the image of Evilenko as a caricature of a villain. A criminal who hypnotizes his victims and makes witnesses forget him is a typical character in cheap novels, not suitable here. As a result, the film is perceived as a fairy tale and fails to create an image of reality. Everything that this film can't do, fortunately, has been achieved by another one - Citizen X - a great picture of the epoch and the deadliest murderer in history.

Well let's face it. This is in fact a great film. Malcolm Mcdowell is truly amazing. It is a sad film and not the slasher flick that I was expecting. MM is a fantastic actor. Every moment you see him in this film is quality stuff.

The story is quite unsettling and that might be a good thing? Many movies these days have nothing special about them at all! This film has some great acting, great cinematography and many uneasy moments. Not too bad at all.

Watch it - it's not a waste of time. Some movies are. I am looking forward to searching out other MM films (yes I know he did Clockwork Orange). Keep up the good work Malcolm.

In 1984, in Kiev, the communist teacher Andrej Romanovic Evilenko (Malcolm McDowell) is dismissed from his position after a pedophilic act against a student. On 15 May 1984, the pedophile Evilenko begins to rape children, and then slashing the victims in pieces and eating them. The magistrate family man Vadim Timurouvic Lesiev (Marton Csokas) is assigned to catch the serial killer and almost eight years later he finally captures the monster that killed fifty-five persons, most of them children and young women. On 22 May 1992, Evilenko goes to the court and on 14 February 1994 he is finally executed. "Evilenko" is a very impressive movie, based on the true story of a serial-killer from Soviet Union that recalls a darker and scarier Dr. Hannibal Lecter of "The Silence of the Lambs". The first point to highlight in this practically unknown gem is the stunning performance of Malcolm McDowell, who seems to be tailored for evil characters and is amazing in the role of a pedophile cannibal. Marton Csokas is also excellent, performing a persistent and firm investigator involved with the sick deaths and frustrated for not finding the monster. The direction of the promising David Grieco is also magnificent, keeping adequate pace and exposition of the scenes. The music score of the composer Angelo Badalamenti is outstanding as usual. In the end, "Evilenko" is a highly recommended movie that deserves to be discovered by the viewers. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "Evilenko"

In 1995, HBO produced a film called Citizen X which detailed the murder rampage of Andrei Chikatilo, who killed over 50 women and children.

Evilenko is a fictional representation of this serial murder spree which occurred in the Soviet Union during the fall of same in the late 1980's.

In every way, this version is weaker than Citizen X. The acting is inferior. Donald Sutherland, Max Von Sydow and Stephen Rea are exceptional whereas Malcolm McDowell is his usual overacting self and is not credible as the murderer.

The greatest weakness is an almost laughable explanation of how Evilenko seduced his victims. David Grieco, the writer and director, wants us to believe that Evilenko hypnotized his victims by staring at them.

Don't rent this. Instead, see Citizen X; a vastly superior movie in which the killer, using the actual name of the killer, Chikatilo, is played by the fabulous Jeffrey DeMunn with spine chilling conviction.