The possession story is alive and well in horror (we’re getting another Exorcist movie, after all!), and if its trailer is any indication, When Evil Lurks looks like a brutal and grotesque addition to the subgenre.
It must be hard to murder yourself by axing yourself in the head, but the trailer suggests that it’s possible if you happen to be possessed by an unhinged evil. That image is just one of the horrifying ones we see in this clip, which is no surprise given When Evil Lurks comes from Argentinian writer-director Demián Rugna, who is also the creative force behind the delightfully disgusting 2017 film, Terrified.
Here’s the synopsis for When Evil Lurks:
When brothers Pedro (Ezequiel Rodríguez) and Jimmy (Demián Salomón) discover that a demonic infection has been festering in a nearby farmhouse—its very proximity poisoning the local livestock—they attempt to evict the victim from their land. Failing to adhere to the proper rites of exorcism, their reckless actions inadvertently trigger an epidemic of possessions across their rural community. Now they must outrun an encroaching evil as it corrupts and mutilates everyone it is exposed to, and enlist the aid of a wizened “cleaner,” who holds the only tools that can stop this supernatural plague.
When Evil Lurks stars Ezequiel Rodríguez, Demián Salomón, Silvina Sabater, Virginia Garofalo, Paula Rubinsztein, and Luis Dziembrowski. It was first screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and is also set to be screened at Los Angeles’ Beyond Fest and Austin’s Fantastic Fest. For those of us not going to a film festival anytime soon, however, don’t fret: the movie will premiere in theaters on October 6, 2023, and will stream on Shudder starting October 27, 2023.
Here’s a spooky poster to keep disturbed in the meantime:
