You’d expect being the son of Lucifer in high school would be a pretty cool thing. You’d have a legion of toadies and devil dogs ready to do you wicked bidding. Teenage girls would be drooling for a chance to hook up with the ultimate bad boy. And you ought to be able to sell a lot of fundraising chocolate bars when you bend the will of people with cash. But assumptions can be deceiving as deceiving as lucifer. In Fear No Evil, we get the true story of what happens when the ultimate in evil has to obey the homeroom bell.
A Roman Catholic priest thinks he’s tracked down and killed Lucifer at a castle in upstate New York using a special cross. Has he really got rid of evil in the world? Nature abhors a vacuum and so does demonic evil. Years later the Williams family finally has a baby boy. But the parents aren’t so sure about Andrew Williams. There’s something a bit off about the baby. And this off-ness continues into high school when he develops into an awkward teenager (Class of ’84‘s Stefan Arngrim). He’s bullied by the cool boys and teased by the girls. None of them have a clue about what’s about to happen. Most of the time Andrew finds himself lurking around the castle where the priest killed Lucifer. The property is slated to be knocked over for a golf course. After his lonely birthday party, things start changing for Andrew. After PE, he’s once more tormented by the boys in the gym shower. Except this time, one of the popular boys ends up kissing him. This starts making him someone to fear at the end of his senior year. All this cumulates in a school dance at the castle that is transformed by Andrew and his demonic powers. Can anyone from his school stop him from destroying the world?
Fear No Evil is an entertaining antichrist flick. The low budget effort amps up the gritty nature of the high school and the characters. This isn’t an ABC After School Special from the late ’70s. You have a reason to cheer Andrew getting his proper revenge on his bullies, until you realize he also wants to destroy the world. Then you have to hope someone nice at the school can put an end to his rise to power. Stefan Arngrim does a fine job playing the most powerful school outcast in cinema history. This was writer-director Frank LaLoggia’s first film. His second film Lady in White was (also released by Scream Factory) is also a bit supernatural although not as destructive. Fear No Evil gives you a lot to fear in high school.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the uncomfortable locations. The effects hold up with the resolution upgrade. The audio is DTS-HD MA Mono. Arngrim during the commentary track explains that the whole film was ADR in post production because the sound guy was too coked up to hit the button on many of the days. It sounds fine. The movie subtitled.
Audio Commentary with Stefan Arngrim is interesting since he hadn’t seen the film since the ’80s. He gives plenty of the details about the actors and locations. He’s excited to revisit the film and point out things he got to contribute beyond his role.
Interview with Stefan Arngrim (37:12) has him talk about growing up in a theatrical family. When he was born, his father was on Broadway in Luther and his mother was doing radio for the CBC. She eventually was part of Gumby, Casper and Underdog. He grew up and started in soap operas. He learned how to feed other actors their lines during this time. He talks about working on Gunsmoke on an episode where a rumor came out that the show was being canceled. MeTV viewers will know him from Irwin Allen’s Land of the Giants. He talks about his music career. He also co-wrote songs with Warren Zevon. He does get around to how he ended up in Fear No Evil and how they called him on laundry day to audition.
Interview with John Eggett (28:23) opens with him talking about growing up a military brat and an Air Force sonic boom. He talks of being a kid into rockets and loud booms got him into being into special effects and special photographic effects. He got into the movie business while he was long distance trucking of vegetables from the field to a warehouse. His movie first gig involved blowing up a crashed helicopter on a field he was supposed to load up from.
Theatrical Trailer (0:39) promises that all the students in the yearbook are going to Hell because one student sent them there.
TV Spots (3:25) scares us with violent dodgeball, an evil nerd and the Devil.
Image Gallery (3:37) includes the press photos from AVCO, posters, lobby cards, publicity booklets with the newspaper ads and how to promote the film to viewers.
Scream Factory presents Fear No Evil. Directed by Frank LaLoggia. Screenplay by: Frank LaLoggia. Starring: Stefan Arngrim, Elizabeth Hoffman, Kathleen Rowe McAllen, Frank Birney, Daniel Eden, John Holland, Barry Cooper & Alice Sachs. Rated: R. Running Time: 99 minutes. Released: September 24, 2019.
