Le couloir de la mort

The special effects in this film are extremely effective and quite good for the time. In fact, the Ghost effects in particular are even good by today's standards. The later scenes of the Emilio Vargas Ghost are especially impressive and very effective. This movie goes to show that newer SFX techniques are not always better. One can only wish Hollywood would begin doing away with CG and embrace these masterful analog SFX methods.

The story is unique for a Haunted House film and the movie takes things to "The root of all evil" which is often overlooked in these movies.

The movie features the always entertaining Richard Crenna as Dr. C.J. Arnold, a likable shrink and professor, who seeks help from his many former students and patients to help him clean-up an old Victorian Mansion he purchases. From here on-out things get weird, unexplained, and downright sinister.

Lots of disproportionate reactions (typical campy under reactions to what would normally scare the hell out of anyone) to the paranormal events unfolding around the actors. While most of the acting is classic camp (overacting/underacting), Crenna manages to entertain and deliver a solid performance as is typical for him.

There are some genuinely scary moments in the film and also some funny ones.

Victor Buono turns in a devilish performance and is perfectly cast.

This movie is really quite good even amongst its peers and will entertain.

A very good horror-movie about some demons who have their home in an old mansion. The action starts when the new owners tries to move in. -------- This is a real horror-movie of the very rare kind. You seldom find many of this type. And it's scary as hell. The atmosphere manages to thrill over and over and the whole film moves towards a climax that I barely find in horror-films today. Highly recommended (((((9 out of 10))))

The familiarity of the premise (yet another haunted house, ominous sounds, good-vs-evil battles, etc) places a burden on this movie right from the start, a burden that the competent direction and the above-average acting cannot quite shake off. Ultimately, "The Evil" is just as undistinguished as its title, but it remains a respectable, sometimes even imaginative (the "quicksand" scene) time-spender. (**1/2)

"The Evil" is a fun 70's horror movie. Low budget, cool location, some attractive and familiar cast members, the comforting presence of Richard Crenna, a fabulous troll-like Buono cameo...all add up to a demonic good time if you're in the mood for it. And check out those slacks on Andrew Prine--are those Angel's Flight pants you're wearing?? (Anybody remember those disco-era items?)

I've been watching horror movies for 40 years or more but The Evil has somehow passed me by. That was until now, just watched it on an old VHS tape (this somehow found itself on the British Video Nasties list under Section 3, goodness knows why!). A bunch of people start renovating a large house with a creepy past. One of them, played by the very attractive Joanna Petter, starts to see ghostly apparitions, a warning about an evil force that lurks in the house. They carry on with their work regardless but spooky things start to happen, people start dying (some of these deaths are pretty inventive) and they find themselves trapped inside by an invisible force. All the while a storm rages outside. As haunted house movies go this was pretty good, it held my attention all the way through. The special effects are good and the film does maintain a level of fear. I did feel that the finale was a little weird, but having Victor Buono play the Devil does at least serve as something of a curiosity. One character turns out to be a practical joker, much to his victims' annoyance. We got to see many more of these, turning up in slasher films of the 1980s. Naturally it does look dated - the fashions, the hair, the cars, even the slapping of a woman's face to calm her down. But I enjoyed it and would certainly recommend it as a supernatural horror movie.