History of Evil

It was not your usual horror with predictable story lines where there is an entity and you have to figure out how to kill it, contact some priest or spirit person. A lot is left for you to understand on your own without cliche dialogues. There's an interesting additional story to the horror which shows that the country is taken over by Christian fanatics and everyone else is being captured or killed it seems. Check points and escape. I think more could have been added to this movie with this additional story line. It makes me want to know more. It was good! Ignore the negative reviews, everyone has different taste.

It's 2045 America under a fascist Christian government called The North American Federation. Ron Dyer (Paul Wesley) and Trudy (Rhonda Johnson Dents) rescue his revolutionary leader wife Alegre Dyer (Jackie Cruz) and their daughter Daria from prison. They find refuge in an old house as they wait for evacuation. Civil War got into the recent popular zeitgeist. This Shudder horror lives in the same neighborhood, but is playing a different tune. It is going for the ghost in an old haunted house movie. I would place the story ten years into the future rather than twenty. I expect the tech to have advanced a lot more in twenty years and ten years would de-emphasize the futurism aspect of the movie. In the end, they put the story in an old house to give it the spooky element. I really like the concept that the story is going for. The battle in the last act does need some more tension. It's a mistake to pit the bad guys against each other.

The film starts as a knock-off of "Civil War." The year is 2045. America is a fascist nation and has taken over Mexico but not Canada. They form the North American Federation. States form militias to hunt down people of the resistance who have not bowed down to what appears to be White Christian Nationalism. People swear oaths on Bible apps. Resistance leader Allegra Diah Rodriguez has escaped the Louisiana prison and is on the run with her family and Trudy (Rhonda Johnson Dents) of the resistance. They hide out at an old abandoned home the locals claim is bad and stay away. We quickly discover the house is haunted by the former residence. Cain (Thomas Francis Murphy) was a Klansman who killed his wife and child because they didn't like his politics. Cain gets inside the head of husband Ron (Paul Wesley) to "take back your power." Their daughter also sees ghosts of the dead family, but it doesn't play any real part in the plot. The mashing of genres didn't work well. There were things we missed, like what did the cellar look like. The plot went nowhere. Characters are not well developed. Dialogue was poor. Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

"History of Evil" boasts significant potential, drawing inspiration from Stephen King's "The Shining." The film excels in creating an eerie atmosphere with commendable cinematography and sound design. The actors deliver strong performances, enhancing the suspenseful narrative. However, the movie falters in its conclusion. The ending feels rushed and leaves many questions unanswered, undermining the buildup. Despite its promising start, the film's inability to deliver a satisfying resolution diminishes its overall impact. "History of Evil" offers a thrilling journey but ultimately fails to provide a fulfilling destination. Overall History of Evil literally has the same idea as one of my ongoing horror films. This is because of its small nature, cannot use the idea properly. The dystopic idea is quite intriguing, but past struggles, which is the main subject, cannot be exercised well enough. The kills were offscreen which reminds me of 80's slashers.