By RACHEL MEGHAN
Starring Grace Maddux, Stuart Maxheimer and Greg Brandenburg
Written and directed by Brenden Rudnicki
DBS Films Orlando
If there’s anything you can learn from a horror movie, it’s that if you happen to find a creepy, blood-splattered box sealed shut with candle wax buried in the backyard of your new home, you maybe shouldn’t open it. That likely is a dybbuk box, home to only the most powerful of demons. Unfortunately, the leads in Brenden Rudnicki’s EVIL FOLLOWS don’t know that rule and are in for quite a scare.
EVIL FOLLOWS stars Grace Maddux and Stuart Maxheimer as Liz and Ethan, a young couple who have recently purchased their forever home after dealing with the loss of Liz’s mom. After Ethan finds a dybbuk box in the backyard, he opens it (because that’s what curious husbands do), unleashing a powerful demon that instantly latches onto Liz. They quickly decide that it’s an excellent day for an exorcism and enlist the help of an expert, played by Greg Brandenburg. Will evil prevail? Or will Liz make it out with her soul intact?
EVIL FOLLOWS is a solid demon-possession-meets- haunted-house flick that has all of the expected tropes. It’s simple yet very effective, with genuinely frightening jump scares and good old-fashioned demon horror straight out of mainstays like The Evil Dead. The central couple is genuine and grounded, people you really root for as they navigate grief and the headaches of owning a possessed house. It’s all scares with very little exposition – no chaser, purely relentless.
Take special notice of Grace Maddux. Transforming from a relatively normal, sweet character to a full-blown demon is a tough acting challenge, and she handles it with finesse. All of the demon acting in the film is horrifying and well-executed. The demons are aggressive, preying on the vulnerable, latching onto grief and making this a very grounded story, despite the supernatural elements. One thing’s for sure: It will have you turning to your partner and asking, “Would you still love me if I were possessed by the Devil?”
EVIL FOLLOWS debuts on Bloodstream and other streaming platforms on August 4.
