The following is a short review of Netflix’s Little Evil – Directed by Eli Craig.
In Eli Craig’s Little Evil, Gary (played by Adam Scott) has just married the love of his life, Samantha (played by Evangeline Lilly), but he has a tough time getting along with her five-year old son, Lucas (played by Owen Atlas), who mostly speaks through a goat hand puppet and sticks to himself. It must really suck to be a stepfather to a kid who doesn’t like you — especially when that kid is the antichrist.
I don’t know if it’s just because I’m sick and I desperately needed something to put a smile on my face, but I had a lot of fun with this. It is basically a mixture of Richard Donner’s The Omen and Sean Anders’ Daddy’s Home with just a pinch of Akiva Schaffer’s The Watch with quick cuts that made it look like the filmmakers are huge fans of Edgar Wright (aren’t we all?).
“I don’t care who your real dad is, or if you were spawned from a cult ritual. You are you.” – Gary (Adam Scott)
On top of that it has a bunch of references to other horror films. As such, it is a textbook horror-comedy. But there really isn’t much that makes it special, other than the fact that it kept me chuckling throughout its runtime. The film has a surprisingly strong cast, and even some of the lesser side-characters are strong comedy actors that definitely deserve bigger roles.
“You need to use your tripod!” – Gary (Adam Scott)
“It’s fucking cinéma vérité, man!” – Wedding Videographer (Tyler Labine)
While Adam Scott and Evangeline Lilly were both solid and Tyler Labine’s cameo as the wedding videographer was hilarious, it was Bridget Everett, especially, and the rest of the stepfather therapy group that stole the show for me. Everett’s Al is the standout character, but Donald Faison, Kyle Bornheimer, and Chris D’Elia also got more than a few chuckles out of me.
“Hey, Gar. Great party. Thanks for raising the bar. Now all the kids are gonna want a burning clown for their birthday.” – Al (Bridget Everett)
Again, it isn’t anything special. Maybe I’m being way too nice, and maybe I’m giving it way too much credit, but I just thought it was a lot of fun. I’d even go as far as saying it, in a sense, is the perfect Netflix Original Film. It has a great cast, a fun premise, and I could see a bunch of people having fun with it if they’ve got nothing else to do on a Saturday night. Little Evil is nothing special, it isn’t original or memorable, but it is a lot of fun.
7 out of 10
– Jeffrey Rex
I'm Jeffrey Rex 