HumanMillipede

This is a film that has been sadly neglected over time. I'm still unsure why it hasn't received a DVD or Blu-Ray release. As a cinematic portrayal of severe and isolating depression it has few peers. It compares favourably with the likes of Taxi Driver as a thorough and focused examination of an articulate yet highly damaged mind.

Hal Holbrook is superb in this film, exemplifying his talent. His character of Paul Steward is by turns sympathetic, disturbing, cruel and intelligent. Only a few years after her role as the monstrous Nurse Ratched, Louise Fletcher puts in a very strong role as Paul's wife, who is loving but woefully poor at communication until it is too late.

Every scene in the film focuses on Paul as he tries to express his rage, frustration and despair to anyone who will listen. His pleas are met with scepticism and well meaning but ultimately useless advice. He seemingly has it all, a family and a high flying job but something about his whole existence and outlook is broken beyond repair. His misguided and half hearted attempts to fix things prove ineffective. The simple and unflashy direction is completely appropriate to the situation at hand.

There's no easy solutions offered by this film which really helps the viewer see Paul's hopeless and detached perspective. The ending is somewhat predictable but in a way is made more powerful because of that, it feels true to the situation depicted. Definitely not a film to warm the heart but as a mature and captivating insight into the horrendously bleak mindsets people can fall into it is entirely worth seeing.

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.