Forever Evil (1987)

2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Stabbin' Cabin

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

This is one of those movies in which the characters talk in hushed tones about the most horrifying, terrible thing that ever roamed the universe. Then when this horrible thing finally rears its head, it turns out to be a guy in a cheap, rubber Halloween mask.

Made for a tiny budget, this horror film begins as six friends prepare to spend a fun weekend in a remote cabin, but five of them are brutally and quickly butchered. Only Marc Denning (Red Mitchell) survives. Later, he meets a woman (Tracey Huffman) who has survived a similar predicament. He teams up with her and an aging, cranky cop (Charles Trotter) to battle the evil and banish it from the earth once and for all.

Writer Freeman Williams and director Roger P. Evans look like they had a great time making this film, though Williams has denounced the finished product. Certainly it goes on way too long, and suffers from its own cheapness. Likewise, Mr. Mitchell is an unappealing leading man who looks like an inflatable pool toy (he likes to wear sleeveless muscle shirts to emphasize it).

Yet Forever Evil has a kind of demented energy to it; everyone involved was there more for the fun than for the potential fame or money, and it's contagious.

DVD Details: VCI Entertainment has re-released the film on a new Special Edition DVD that comes with two complete cuts of the film, the "home video premier" version (111 minutes) and the "director's cut" (120 minutes). The director's cut appears to have all the footage from the shorter version, but arranged in a slightly different order. The short version begins with a Tarot card reading scene, and the same scene comes later in the long version. The long version also comes with a writer and director commentary track. The sound has been remasterd and is available in both 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo mixes. The disc also includes trailers and a photo gallery.