The Evil

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gus Trikonis directs. Mario DiLeo behind the camera. Johnny Harris scores. Jack Kirschner cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 348 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 4Directed by Gus Trikonis, shot by Mario DiLeo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Johnny Harris. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Jack Kirschner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Richard Crenna and Joanna Pettet and Andrew Prine carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Escape is just a nerve-shredding scream for salvation!".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0077524 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Only 70 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Mario DiLeo

Original score

Johnny Harris

Editing

Jack Kirschner

Makeup / hair

Jack H. Young

Runtime

89 min · 1h 29m

Status

Released

Budget

$700,000

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

The Evil (1978) ↗

IMDB rating

5.6/10 · 3,273 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Gus Trikonis

• 
  Flamingo Road

  1980 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Unsub

  1989 · ★ 8.3
• 
  Midas Valley

  1985 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Quantum Leap

  1989 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Last Convertible

  1979 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Twilight Zone

  1985 · ★ 7.7

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  THE EVIL 1978 1080P

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  The Evil (1978) trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2022-04-18
  ★ 5/10

  Richard Crenna has no sympathy for the devil A formidable psychologist (Richard Crenna) purchases a veritable castle in the mountains of the Southwest and plans to refurbish it into a drug rehab. After hiring several students & colleagues, the team sets about their challenging task when paranormal things start happening and people begin dying in shocking ways. "The Evil" (1978) is haunted house horror in the mold of "The Legend of Hell House" (1973), "The Devil's Nightmare" (1971) and the soon-to-come "The Amityville Horror" (1979). While it’s not great like “Devil’s Nightmare” or as good as “Amityville Horror,” it’s pretty much on par with “Legend of Hell House” and would influence future ghostly flicks, like “Ghost” (1990). Crenna is perhaps best known as Col. Trautman from the Rambo series and does a fine job as the main protagonist. Meanwhile Victor Buono shows up for an interesting role (you might remember him as King Tut on the campy Batman TV series). On the feminine front you have Joanna Pettet, Mary Louise Weller, Cassie Yates and Lynne Moody. Pettet and Weller are stunning, but not very voluptuous. It’s interesting to see the styles from the mid-70s wherein women wore pants so tight they revealed every crevice. Let’s just say they’re not very flattering. People complain about the ending, yet at least the flick doesn't cop out but rather plainly reveals the source of "the evil." C.J. Arnold (Crenna) is a respected and successful psychologist who admits he made jokes about the concept of God and the devil at cocktail parties. The climax conveys the awful truth. Of course they could've depicted things in a more conventional manner, but they evidently didn't have the budget to pull it off (think 1985’s “Legend”). So they went with something alternative. At the end of the day, this is a decent but underwhelming haunted house flick. The shocks are overdone to the point of amusement and it needed more human interest. The best thing about it is the castle-like mansion, which reminded me of my visit to Mansfield Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, the prison used for “The Shawshank Redemption.” The film runs 1 hour, 29 minutes and was shot at Montezuma Castle in northern New Mexico, and nearby Las Vegas (which is different from the more famous city in Nevada, 500 miles further west). GRADE: C+

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• RA

  Rangoon Productions

• 

  New World Pictures

  US

• HO

  Hollywood West Entertainment

Key crew

• Co-ProducerDavid Sheldon
• Sound Effects EditorGordon Davidson
• Sound Effects EditorRobert R. Rutledge
• Boom OperatorEarl Sampson
• Music EditorJerry Cohen
• Music SupervisorJohn Fresco
• Prosthetic Makeup ArtistJack H. Young
• Property MasterMichael Bennett
• Wardrobe AssistantJames Alvarez
• StuntsBuddy Joe Hooker
• Script SupervisorElizabeth Gallagher
• Production ManagerHarry Caplan
• ScreenstoryDavid Sheldon
• Wardrobe CoordinatorBarbara Andrews
• First Assistant DirectorScott U. Adam
• Second Assistant DirectorDan Steinbrocker
• Sound MixerWilliam B. Kaplan
• ProducerEd Carlin
• Makeup ArtistLynne Brooks
• Executive ProducerMalcolm Levinthal
• EditorJack Kirschner
• Set DecorationRobert W. Sheets
• Executive ProducerPaul Joseph
• Executive ProducerRoger Corman

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• haunted house
• macabre

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1978-05-05R

Also known as

International titles

• Le Couloir de la mortFR
• The Evil BelowGB
• House of EvilUS
• Profecía diabólicaES