In the near future, war and corruption have plagued America and turned it into a theocratic police state. Against the oppression, ordinary citizens have formed a group called The Resistance. One such member, Alegre Dyer, breaks out of political prison and reunites with her husband Ron and daughter Daria. On the run from the militia, the family takes shelter in a remote safe house. But their journey is far from over, as the house’s dark past begins to eat away at Ron, and his earnest desire to keep his family safe is overtaken by something much more sinister. Starring Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) and Jackie Cruz (Orange is the New Black).
History of Evil is a political horror with very defined viewpoints and not-so-subtle themes. The film opens in a dystopian future—one clearly meant to be America made great again but now a war-ravaged and corrupt police state. Alegre Dyer (Jackie Cruz), a resistance member, escapes from political prison and meets up with her spouse, Ron (Paul Wesley), and daughter, Daria (Murphee Bloom). The fugitive family seeks sanctuary in a (not so) safe home with an apparent dark past.
The film tries to throw a cloth over its head to disguise itself as a haunting of sorts, but that cloth is far too conical and white to be simply a ghost getting ready for Halloween. There is a clear-cut political agenda that permeates all aspects of the film and while my personal politics align with those of the film, I found it a little much.
I like my allegory and metaphor to sit just out of view when it comes to horror films; readable between the lines or sneaking in through the subtext. Alien (1979) and Starship Troopers (1997) are excellent examples of clear messages that still put the film experience first. Hell, even the X-Men comics were meant to be a commentary and discourse on the civil rights movement and the fear and oppression of the LGBT+ communities back in the day—but that didn’t stop the comics from being my favourite reads as a kid. The message was taught through the medium, not slathered on top of it.
History of Evil frames toxic masculinity and other conservative tendencies as either a curse or an infection. We are never really quite sure as to what exact malevolent entity haunts the house, though it most definitely shares comics on Facebook about how much it hates its wife. It also enjoyed the company of the KKK at some point. The entity calls itself Kain; the biblical reference apparent to all. Kain spends his time in the film slowly converting Ron to its way of thinking—a way of thinking that is very “man good, woman bad.”
Now, I may seem to be harping on over the film’s ratio of political messages to actual substance and plot. I am not. Comparatively, the political discourse and horror elements of the production are probably balanced about 90/10. This film is more invested in America’s culture war than in producing an entertaining horror flick, and that’s where History of Evil misses the mark. If you want to throw punches at the right-wing agenda, go the Red State (2011) route and make a film first and a political statement second.
Ignoring the plot problems, the film itself is technically sound and well-acted. Cruz, Wesley, and the rest of the supporting class all play their parts well and the location, score, cinematography, etc. are all fine. Nothing is particularly great, nor is it expressively bad. The film is instead going to suffer from the fact that it is either preaching to the choir or alienating itself from the other 50% of its American viewership. The remaining centrists are simply going to be bored with the lack of actual horror.
To wrap up, History of Evil spends too much time trying to virtue signal and too little time trying to be a horror movie. The film’s energy is wasted on elements that don’t advance the plot or the world the film is set in. Too much focus was put on issues that were trivial to the advancement of the predicament that the protagonists found themselves in and too much importance was put on the toxicity of unchecked masculinity and old, conservative dogma.
Thanks for reading and as always, stay sordid. The film releases on February 23rd on Shudder.com and I’ve popped the trailer below so that you can get a glimpse of the film yourself. Let us know in the comments if you agree with our assessment.
