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.

Street preacher Sara Jane (Cleo O'Hara) believes God has put her on this Earth to rid the world of pleasurable sex. She receives shelter from Penny (Sandra Henderson), a lesbian who Sara Jane promises to turn to God. How does she do this? By having Penny help her in killing anything that humps. This is certainly one of the more bizarre horror morality tales out there. Clocking it at a lean 73-minutes, I would say 60% of that time is spent with the camera lens ogling nude bodies. Not that I mind, but it does tend to get a bit monotonous. Things liven up whenever O'Hara is around though. Dolled up like Baby Jane and sporting a southern accent the would fit in perfect in COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER (the first half, that is), she is a hoot as she sings Bible hymns while killing (and dreaming of having her own evangelical show). There are quite a few stabbing deaths in here with some H.G. Lewis blood on display. I have no idea who the target audience for this was - T&A fans? Horror fans? Religious freaks? All of the above?

Obviously one of those sleazy films of the 1970's that always read better in a synopsis better than they play out in front of the eyes, "Evil Come, Evil Go" however does stay in the mind for a while after viewing. It's sure not the uninteresting sex scenes full of pasty, unshaven, unattractive people doing their best to try and act out something passionate that does it, or the lackluster "Hold the cue card closer, I can't read my lines off of it!" acting style. The film comes across as more of a pseudo-documentary, simply following the Preacherwoman through her motions as she acts the hypocrite, snorting fire and brimstone on those stupid young lovers, then picking up guys in bars and butchering them in a hotel room. Badly shot, badly acted, but yet plays out in a way that keeps one's attention. Go figure that one, huh?

Unusual, sex/slasher/comedy, with evangelical theme. In truth the sex is fairly well done, let down only by the low lighting (and frequency), the bloody scenes are also not bad and it really is amusing now and again. Sister Sara is a self styled 'anti- pleasurable sex' evangelist who enlists another to help lure men and then do them in, because they are so evil. This is all made watchable though by decent use of original music and hymn singing(!) sometimes accompanied by tambourine thumping. It is particularly impressive at the start and we see the girls on the street but it looses it's way a little two thirds in when we reckon it's all over but it then steps up a gear and finishes with a flourish. If you think this review is a bit muddled, you should see the film. Fun to be had nonetheless.

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