Eternal Evil

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04/17/2016 To me, Karen Black is one of the saving graces of B-movie cinema. Gorgeous yet cross-eyed, and gifted with an extremely complex personality, she can single-handedly make a film both enjoyable and endlessly watchable (for example, compare the lifeless 'Torn Curtain', with Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, with 'Family Plot', which starred Black with Bruce Dern--on paper, TC should have been much better than FP, but it simply isn't). Before watching this low-budget, Canadian-made suspenseful thriller on the horrific possibilities of astral projection, I loved watching her in films as diverse as 'Easy Rider', 'Five Easy Pieces', 'Nashville', 'Airport 1975', 'The Pyx' and 'Invaders from Mars', and here, she's the only name actor (other than wonderful cameos by the likes of Lois Maxwell, who starred as Miss Moneypenny in the Bond films). Because it's so low-budget, it has to work on atmosphere. I wish Black had more screen-time--her co-star is a bizarre cross between Dudley Moore and Willem Dafoe, without much character or charisma, though he tries his best. The soundtrack is spotty--some of it really works well, in its delineation of various cultures, especially. Some of its themes seemed to be heavily influenced by Tangerine Dream's 'Le Parc' album, from that period. If you have patience with the flow, it's a particularly rewarding endeavor. The big reveal at the end is well-done, though it would have made more sense had the postcard been mailed. It just being left on the restaurant table, from who knows what location in the world, is most probably meaningless. See more 04/17/2016 To me, Karen Black is one of the saving graces of B-movie cinema. Gorgeous yet cross-eyed, and gifted with an extremely complex personality, she can single-handedly make a film both enjoyable and endlessly watchable (for example, compare the lifeless 'Torn Curtain', with Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, with 'Family Plot', which starred Black with Bruce Dern--on paper, TC should have been much better than FP, but it simply isn't). Before watching this low-budget, Canadian-made suspenseful thriller on the horrific possibilities of astral projection, I loved watching her in films as diverse as 'Easy Rider', 'Five Easy Pieces', 'Nashville', 'Airport 1975', 'The Pyx' and 'Invaders from Mars', and here, she's the only name actor (other than wonderful cameos by the likes of Lois Maxwell, who starred as Miss Moneypenny in the Bond films). Because it's so low-budget, it has to work on atmosphere. I wish Black had more screen-time--her co-star is a bizarre cross between Dudley Moore and Willem Dafoe, without much character or charisma, though he tries his best. The soundtrack is spotty--some of it really works well, in its delineation of various cultures, especially. Some of its themes seemed to be heavily influenced by Tangerine Dream's 'Le Parc' album, from that period. If you have patience with the flow, it's a particularly rewarding endeavor. The big reveal at the end is well-done, though it would have made more sense had the postcard been mailed. It just being left on the restaurant table, from who knows what location in the world, is most probably meaningless. See more 05/18/2013 Slow paced film with a good premise that isn't executed well enough. The characters are alright, but they're not good enough to really care much about. There are some creepy moments, but the rest of the film can be boring and stale. The ending is satisfactory, but otherwise, the film is a miss. See more 07/29/2012 Cheezy, so-bad-it's-good fluff starring Karen Black in her prime. Even though it was released in the mid-80s, it's got a distinctly late 70s feel to it. There are plot holes big enough to drive an astrally-projected truck through (hey, why'd the dog attack him, anyhow?), hilariously silly POV shots, and very little by way of internal consistency. One to watch with some wisecracking friends and a few beers. And when the wiggity-wiggity-wiggity background music starts, prepare yourself for... well... wiggity-wiggity-wiggity noises and maybe somebody having a heart attack. Or something. Actually, there's a pretty good idea for a horror film buried somewhere deep in all this schlock. Enjoy the schlock. See more 01/01/2010 Eternal Evil has some GREAT ideas! Astral projection is a terrific concept for a horror film and every now and then, Eternal Evil shows some promise and then just resides itself to being another mundane made for TV-esque snoozefest. Visually, there are many nice flourishes and images here, but there's about 30 minutes of the film worth saving and the other hour or so needs to be scrapped. Honestly, this would have faired much better as an episode of Tales From The Darkside or Tales From The Crypt, hell, even The Twilight Zone. It's got a great concept, a few great moments, spooky atmosphere, and a great ending, but nothing much in between. Eternal Evil is only for those with a really high tolerance for filler. See more 05/29/2009 i enjoy karen black in horror movies, but this one just was not interesting in any way. everyone seemed completely uninspired and boring in every part of the movie. this is not a good movie and doesn't have any redeeming values to me. See more Read all reviews

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