Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

ShangLuda Admirable film.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Mr_Ectoplasma "Fear No Evil" focuses on teenaged Andrew, who is awkward, withdrawn, and the reincarnation of Lucifer. To make matters worse, he is tormented by his peers, primarily a homosexually-repressed bully. Meanwhile, an elderly local woman, and one of Andrew's female classmates, assume the roles of Biblical archangels, and band together to defeat Andrew.This was Robert LaLoggia's first feature (he would later become known for his autumnal oddity "The Lady in White" in 1988), and rookie mistakes abound here, mainly in terms of script cohesion. The film is a disaster of styles and plot lines that don't entirely run through, and a great deal of the film feels undercooked. There are elements of teen revenge thrillers such as "Carrie" here as well as Gothic horror films, but LaLoggia's script is overtly Catholic and revels in its biblical underpinnings. This is where the film is somewhat interesting, especially as it seems LaLoggia uses the Lucifer plot line as a metaphor for being an outcast teen; the entire film is essentially the biblical coming of the antichrist set in a 1980 high school. While certainly not innovative, it is clever.Many have noted that the film is rife with homoerotic undertones that are never quite elucidated but they are impossible to ignore. For example, Andrew's main tormentor, Tony, engages in a passionate kiss with him as a form of "bullying" in the communal locker room showers as their classmates look on; and later during the finale, Andrew appears in an almost Rocky Horror-esque getup as he summons the undead. These elements are another example of the film's wild inconsistencies and frank weirdness, but overall I found the hodgepodge nature of the film somewhat endearing. The finale set at the castle ruins is reminiscent of the greatest of the Hammer horror films—it's supremely Gothic, even amidst the firework special effects which are very dated by today's standards.In the end, I have mixed feelings toward "Fear No Evil." It's a film that feels like a first-time effort in many ways, and in others, not so much. It is richly atmospheric, relatively well-shot, and has shades of your typical teen horror flick combined with the most sophisticated Gothic, all strung together on a (flimsy) neo-biblical narrative. It's a mess, but it has heart. My biggest gripe would probably be the underdevelopment of the characters, whose union feels arbitrary and vaguely- drawn. Aside from that, I did find the film enjoyable with all of its quirks. Bonus points for the soundtrack, which boasts the likes of the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, and Talking Heads. 6/10.

JasonsLists I don't understand why this has such a low rating. If it's a matter of just not liking the film because you don't think it's scary or a good story then that simply is just a matter of opinion. Technically the film is very well made, in my opinion. The lighting stands out almost more than the soundtrack which is awesome. The director was just 24 years old when he made this, the simple special effects (those with shadows, camera tricks, strings, etc..) make you question how they actually pulled the trick off while other effects were rotoscoped. You know when artists trace over a live action scene frame by frame, cool stuff! Joel Coen was the assistant editor, scenes were shot on location at incredible settings. There are a lot of interesting facts about this movie. The film fits right in with other early 80's horror classics and any fan of the genre should not miss this one.

dbdumonteil It was obviously made to capitalize on the success of "the omen" : the "hero",a two-bit Damien, epitomizes wooden acting.When he tries to be scary,it's worse.Apart from "the omen" ,the movie borrows from other horror movies ,including "the night of the living dead" and" Rosemary's baby" (the scene where the girl sees her scratched back in the mirror)."Fear no evil" is preachier than any other "religious" horror movie.The unbearable Margaret keeps on quoting the bible all the time.Besides ,they play a mystery on the beach as they did in the cathedrals in the Middle-Ages.The last third has little connection with what happened in high school .Take "the omen" (1976) instead.

MetalGeek I recently picked up FEAR NO EVIL out of a bargain bin of cheap DVDs because the cover art looked vaguely familiar, but I could not recall if I'd ever actually seen the movie. After sitting thru FEAR NO EVIL last night I came to the conclusion that I must have missed it back in its heyday, because I definitely would've remembered seeing a movie this BAD!! FEAR NO EVIL is a story about Andrew, a young high school genius who also happens to be the reincarnation of the Antichrist. You'd think that having supernatural powers would make high school easier on a kid (You're getting picked on by other kids in the locker room? Make their heads explode! Why doesn't THAT ever happen in a teenage-Satan movie?), but Andrew is a rather wimpy, effeminate looking Satan-in-waiting, surrounded by the usual stock characters that populate nearly every early 80s high school horror film (the tough Vinnie Barbarino clone, the greaser girls who smoke dope, swear and meet guys in the school boiler room for "quick and dirty sex," etc.), all of whom make Andrew's daily life a living Hell (sorry, I had to say it). After a lot of seemingly unconnected scenes that show these characters going around in circles without doing much, Andrew eventually kills a dog, drinks its blood, and goes out to the creepy old castle outside of town (where his predecessor was killed by Priests back in the olden days) to accept his Satanic birthright, while two Archangels (in the form of a crazy old lady and one of Andrew's high school classmates, whom he has a crush on) prepare to destroy him; all the while, there's a local Church production of the Passion Play happening in the background. (??) If this sounds like a mess, it is. Due to absolutely wooden acting by all involved, poor editing, and shoddy script writing (to say nothing of the Atari 2600 style "Laser" special effects), we never get to know enough about ANY of these characters to really care much about what happens to them, and the few disturbing gore sequences that DO work feel like they were tacked on at the last minute to briefly wake the audience up before everything slips back into talky, pretentious oblivion. The last 20 minutes are somewhat interesting, when Andrew unleashes his army of the Undead on his high school tormentors, the guy playing Jesus in the church Passion play suddenly starts bleeding REAL blood all over the first ten rows and general chaos ensues, but even those disturbing images aren't enough to save this movie after sitting through the absolutely craptacular first hour. Especially hysterical is when the Archangels finally encounter Andrew in his full Satanic regalia, which appears to be a black evening gown and dark lipstick. He looks more like a Goth club kid than the Lord of All Evil. Trust me, the effect is more likely to invoke laughter than horror. I turned to my wife and said "That's the gayest Antichrist I've ever seen." Even Dr. Frank-N-Furter from "Rocky Horror" is more macho looking than this guy!! I could go on about the unusual amount of male nudity in FEAR NO EVIL (some of it frontal), the male-on-male kissing scenes (One of which causes a guy to grow breasts!!) or the hilariously wide-eyed, vacant performance of the girl Andrew has a crush on (seriously, was she on Valium during filming?)but I think I've wasted enough time describing this mish mash to you. Suffice it to say that the highlight of this movie for me (aside from the end credits) was when Andrew's father ordered my favorite beer (Genny Cream Ale) in a bar. Apparently FEAR NO EVIL has become a cult film over the years, but I'll be damned (sorry, I did it again) if I can see why. Avoid, avoid, avoid!!!