Little Evil

A horror comedy film about a real estate agent whose stepson is literally the Antichrist.

Plot Summary

Gary Bloom (Adam Scott) has difficulty connecting and communicating with his new stepson, Lucas. Mostly stemming from similar issues with his father, but mainly because Lucas is literally the Antichrist.

Lucas has strange habits, giving people handfuls of worms, commanding his teacher to kill herself, writing ERUTPAR (“RAPTURE” backwards) on the ceiling, and talking through a creepy hand puppet.

Being buried in the backyard is the last straw, and Gary finally decides to kill Lucas at a water park. But after spending the afternoon bonding together, Gary decides not to go through with it.

Change of Heart

Suddenly, Sally Field (a cultist) snatches up Lucas and takes him to a church where Reverend Gospel (another cultist) plans to kill him. For you see, Lucas isn’t technically the Antichrist, he’s the Antichrist’s portal. If he dies, Satan will be able to unleash Hell on Earth.

Gary gets his buddies together to rescue the boy and save the world from the cultists. Gospel falls into a pit straight to Hell.

Thoughts

This film is a love letter to horror films, especially The Omen (obviously); kudos to the casting director for finding a boy that looks almost exactly like Damien. Other horror classics get little nods here and there, like Poltergeist and Rosemary’s Baby. But some references are a lot more overt and unnecessary. Films like Field of Dreams, Ghostbusters – even The Omen itself – were namedropped almost for the sake of being namedropped with no jokes attached. What is this, Family Guy? Big Bang Theory?

As a comedy, the first 2/3 of the film was pretty dire. The most unfunny, irritating character is the sidekick-best friend character, Al. I appreciate her zest for life, but she was way too overbearing. She’s the kind of person who sits next to you at a sporting event and keeps screaming in your face trying to get you to scream with her, when all you want to do is quietly sit and eat your hot dog.

The Final Third

The film really improves at the end when it starts moving away from being a parody of The Omen and becomes its own thing. The twist at the end where the reverend turned out to be the real evil was well done. As were all the heartwarming moments, such as when Gary and Lucas agree to put aside their differences after the water park scene.

Take it or leave it.