The Evictors (1979)

People are voting emotionally.

An absolute waste of money

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Charles B. Pierce directed several films in the 1970s, two of which were potent mixtures of crime and horror. The first was the overly-clinical, coldly effective "The Town that Dreaded Sundown," based on a string of real-life murders in mid-century Texas; the second was "The Evictors," which follows a young couple in 1942 Louisiana who move into a rustic farmhouse in the woods. Little do they know, the house has a dark past as the site of numerous unsolved murders. Before long, the wife finds herself being continually stalked by a man prowling on the property and threatening her life.As a thriller, "The Evictors" works quite well—it has intrigue, mystery, and a truly effective twist-ending. What shocked me in watching it however was how much it functions as a horror film, in some ways even more so than Pierce's "The Town that Dreaded Sundown." The film is anchored at the rustic farmhouse, which leaves poor Jessica Harper at her own wits, a candlestick telephone her only lifeline. Since the bulk of the film is centered around her and the time she spends alone at the house, there is considerable opportunity for thrills and suspense that Pierce cashes in on. There are some phenomenal sequences in which she is confronted by the ominous stranger (played by Vic Morrow). One encounter occurs late at night in a window, and is possibly one of the most effective "jump" scares I've seen. A second masterful scene has her looking up while using the phone in the foyer; the camera shifts to her point of view, and the audience watches as the edge of the villain's hat creeps around he corner at the top of the dimly-lit staircase. It's these simple domestic terrors that have been the fodder of numerous horror films well into the twenty-first century—one needs to look no further than "The Strangers," "High Tension," or even "The Purge" to see that these scenarios still scare us. Home invasions are perhaps some of the scariest kinds of encounters with evil because they occur in our own sacred space, outside the realm of public life; we expect to be safe there, and the illusion of four walls can trick us into forgetting that this isn't necessarily the case. Pierce realizes this, and presses all the keys in placing his thrills. There are a handful of sepia-toned flashback sequences detailing past murders in the home that are likewise effective and predate Fulci's "The Beyond."Atmospherically, the film is sublimely Southern Gothic, very colorful, and the period setting is nicely done. The B-movie budgetary limitations do show a bit, but they weirdly melt into the tapestry of the era. A hazy and at times piercing score punctuates the film's more intense moments. One pitfall is that there is some rather choppy editing throughout, which does distract at times. Harper is very likable in her role despite some instances of hammy acting, and Vic Morrow turns in an unexpectedly chilling performance. The final reveal is less obvious than it should be, and the penultimate scene riffs on a moment reminiscent of "Psycho."In the end, I was colored surprised by how much I enjoyed "The Evictors." As a low-budget thriller, it is nicely photographed and offers some finely-tuned moments of legitimate horror that is unexpected and familiar. Ultimately, it is a B-movie, and thus has some of the limitations that come along with that—but then again, the material itself doesn't necessitate much of a budget anyway. I was no less taken aback by how astutely Pierce is able to play on universal fears; there are moments in this film that are still chilling over forty years later. 8/10.

Ben Watkins (a solid and likable performance by Michael Parks) and his wife Ruth (winningly played by the lovely Jessica Harper) move into a creepy old house in a small Louisiana town. They find out that said abode has a violent history attached to it. Director Charles B. Pierce, who also co-wrote the engrossing script with Garry Rusoff and Paul Fisk, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, presents a flavorsome evocation of the 1940's period setting, offers a strong feeling of the rural region and its people, builds a good deal of tension, stages the shock set pieces with aplomb, grounds the plot in a believably sleepy everyday rustic milieu, and delivers a couple of neat surprise twists at the end. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this picture humming: Parks and Harper make for appealing leads, with fine support from Vic Morrow as friendly, yet shifty real estate agent Jake Rudd and Sue Ane Langdon as pleasant and chipper crippled neighbor Olie Gibson. Familiar character actors Bill Thurman, Dennis Fimple, and Jimmy Clem pop up in cool minor roles. Chuck Bryant's handsome widescreen cinematography boasts lots of gorgeous sepia-tinged black and white for the flashback scenes. Jamie Mendoza-Nava's spirited shivery score hits the stirring shuddery spot. Worthwhile fright fare.

Keep your expectations low and you might have some fun with this movie from director Charles B. Pierce, which, like his earlier "The Town That Dreaded Sundown", is a period thriller based on a true story. It doesn't add up to much when it's all over, but it's well made and has some good moments. It's really the cast that helps to maintain viewer interest as it plays out with a rather deliberate pace.Michael Parks and the lovely Jessica Harper play Ben and Ruth Watkins, a couple who move into a house in a small Louisiana town in 1942. It seems, however, that realtor Jake Rudd (Vic Morrow) hasn't been forthcoming with them about some details. The house has a violent history: all people who previously tried to move into the house came to bad ends. And before long Ruth begins to be menaced by a glowering redneck who shows up, usually at night, with a big sharp knife.Pierce gives this movie some semblance of style, especially the flashbacks - set in 1928, 1934, and 1939 - which are shot in a sepia tone. The scare scenes that occur really aren't that scary, but Harper is just so watchable that she makes up for any lack of suspense. She and Parks make for a very likable couple, and they're well supported by Morrow and the great Sue Ane Langdon as cheery neighbour Olie Gibson. Familiar character actors Dennis Fimple and Bill Thurman can be seen in small roles.As in "The Town That Dreaded Sundown", the period recreation is nicely done, and the score by Jaime Mendoza-Nava adds a lot to the atmosphere.Ultimately, there's really nothing here that's surprising, but "The Evictors" is still passably engrossing, and it does offer up a fairly interesting ending.One of the final few films for the legendary American International Pictures.Seven out of 10.

I sincerely doubt this is based on true events, as the opening statement makes. I figure it was just a ploy to give the movie a creepy aura, like the rural flicks MACON COUNTY LINE and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (curiously, also A.I.P. flicks) used. But that's not important, of course; only the movie itself is. Unfortunately, the movie itself is kind of a drag. It doesn't take long to realize that *nothing* is really happening, and not too much is going to happen when the movie gets close to the end. The period detail is respectable, and the movie does offer some sepia-colored flashbacks that do have a creepiness to them. The best of them happens to be the one at the beginning of the movie, making it easy to watch the best part of the movie when it comes on TV, then quickly change the channel once that opening has ended.