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Released by: Troma Entertainment
Released on: 9/11/2012
Directors: Richard Fox. Stephen Maier, and Kevin G. Nunan
Cast: Claude Akins and a cast of only appearances
Year: 1991
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The Movie:
Where evil lives should be obvious…in Florida. And this horror anthology in the grand tradition of early 90s direct-to-video stink-fests shows the exact location of where evil lives…in a large mansion-sized house in Florida. A house that is once again on the market and a prospective buyer is surveying the grounds. He runs into the caretaker, Jack Devlin (Claude Akins) at work digging a ditch in the back yard. Jack's been the caretaker for a long time and has all kinds of tales of horror that took place in the very house he watches over. He blesses us with three of them.
“Hubert's Homecoming†is the story of a bullied-man that committed mass murder in the building when it was a college dormitory. Decades later he is released from prison and returns the closed down dorm to relive his evil deeds. But alas, his victims are zombie-ghost-things and they want revenge. Hubert in the present is bald and old bastard-looking. Hubert in the past wears a shitty wig and is old bastard-looking. That's probably the highlight of this turd.
“Midnight Date†is a vampire tale, taking place in the building back when it was still run down and deserted (where the fuck was the caretaker?). A young girl with psychic abilities hunts down a den of vampires with the help of one of her brothers. Unfortunately, one of the vampires they need to deal with is their older brother. A tragic incident in the house is vindicated years later when the psychic girl becomes a psychic woman in her acid-washed mom pants and goes to finish the unfinished.
The last tale, “Saved By the Spellâ€, the best of the three (and that's not saying a whole lot) tells of a woman who works with the police catching murderers. She not only catches them, but they end up dead when she's on the job. Oh and she's a witch who practices in a see-through top. The thing about this one though is it ends on an upbeat of sorts, and doesn't seem to fit in as well to the whole “evil lives here†theme. And afterward, the wrap up of the thread that ties them all together goes exactly where it's expected to go. If you haven't figured out what Jack Devlin is doing at this point in the movie, then there's little hope for you. And if Jack Devlin's name doesn't raise a red flag- a giant, Satanic red flag- you really should stick to the romantic comedies.
In all honesty it's not very good, but its fun all the same. For the most part the moviemakers seem to be trying to make something out of it, and they do a decent job creating some atmosphere. But at its core, it's no-budget schlock that should entertain, but most probably be forgotten about by morning.
Video/Audio/Extras:
It's uncertain just what exactly “digitally remastered†means to Troma, but it certainly doesn't look like much was done to it (which is understandable). It looks like a tape copied to a DVD on a machine easily available from an electronics store. But that helps preserve the wonderful way it must have looked when grabbed from the shelf by some 14 year-old kid looking for a glimpse of nudity with which to bust a nut by. The sound is on the same level. The audio-visual is more than serviceable, just nothing fancy.
For extras, the disc starts with an intro by Lloyd Kaufman that can't be skipped, a slide show that's pretty worthless (1 min, 15 sec), and some typical Troma stuff found on other DVDs.
The Final Word:
Despite the packaging claims, Where Evil Lives is not one of the greatest horror films of the 80s and this is not Claude Akins' greatest role. But it's good solid “bad movie†fun that's worth watching at least once.
