Review: Fear No Evil (1981)

It really isn't surprising that a horror movie from 1981 would have a character possessed by Lucifer dabble with homosexuality (I think... it is never really clear if lead character Andrew - played by Stefan Arngrim - has always been Lucifer, or if he was possessed as a baby.  And those aren't the only possibilities either).  What is surprising is just how very gay this movie gets.

The plot:  Andrew Williams has been... something... since he was a baby.  At 17, he starts manifesting powers and acting demonic and it turns out he is the devil, Lucifer.  Three angels - also reincarnated as humans during this - have to seek him out and kill him before he brings about the end times.  Things get so incredibly gay along the way.

I really don't mean to harp on it so much, but I can't believe a movie that wears homosexuality so proudly on its sleeve got away with it in 1981.  Sure, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 was also insanely gay, but it at least was mostly subtextual.  This movie has an extended scene where two men - naked, I feel I should add - kiss in the locker room shower of a high school.  It start out as bullying and turns into something else.

As Andrew finds himself becoming more and more evil, he gets gayer and gayer.  It's marvelous.  He summons the dead, he forces a coach to kill a student, he wears lipstick.  All things that prove he is evil.

Now, I have to be honest here:  Long parts of this movie are exceedingly boring, and I totally understand anyone watching this movie and deciding it is not worth the time.  But for every draggy, boring scene (mostly following the reincarnated angels) there is some sort of batshit insane scene to pull you back into the movie.

The popular girl group wear satin jackets that say Queen B's and that B means exactly what you think it does.

It helps that Stefan Arngrim really commits to the performance.  He gives the role more than I think it asks for - in particular, his early apparent struggles with turning evil really muddy the mythology of what is happening - but he does an amazing job with what had to be an insanely risky role for 1981.  It transcends into something genuinely campy (in a good way) and is the primary reason I'd recommend this movie.

Andrew's father starts screaming his son is the devil like he is in another, better movie.

As for the other performances, they are mostly fine.  A few performances are rough, but nothing terrible.  All hit the proper tone the movie is going for, if nothing else.  If I had to pick a next best, it would be Daniel Eden as Tony, one of the bullies of the school, whose character is second to only Andrew as having the most out-of-pocket scenes scattered throughout the film.

There is so much male nudity in this, even outside the shower scene.

When shit really starts to hit the fan - a church play results in mass stigmata; the summoned dead attack other students on an island that somehow has a castle-like structure - it has one last moment of absolute what-the-fuckery before the angels confront our devil and save the day (Spoiler?  The devil wasn't going to be gay and win in 1981 people, come on).  And I do mean what the fuck did I just watch?  I can't even begin to think of spoiling it: it needs to be encountered, like stumbling upon a wendigo in the woods.  Knowing about it beforehand only lessens the impact.

Lucifer is made up of lasers.

Tonally, it is all over the place, as evidenced by the wild swings between boring and absolute crazy, but hot damn did I enjoy this.  Even if it is draggy, it's only 99 minutes long, so nothing drags for so long that it isn't worth the wait.

Like Empire of the Ants, this movie really transcends a proper rating given the anything goes approach to the screenplay.  But I'll give it a 6 out of 10.