We’ve all seen The Omen, or at the very least know of its story. What if Robert [Gregory Peck] had just taken time to be a good father and work through all his “issues” with Damien [Harvey Stephens]? What if he had a support system, or if, you know, it was written like a comedy?
When Gary [Adam Scott] started dating Samantha [Evangeline Lilly] he knew that she had a son and that he one day wanted to be his step-dad. After Gary and Sam were married, Gary learned that Sam’s son Lucas [Owen Atlas] was not like any other child. Lucas was very distant, and Gary felt like he would never be able to connect with him on any real personal or emotional level. It also didn’t help that Lucas tried to bury Gary alive in the backyard.
Gary begins to suspect that Lucas might be a little more than just mad about him marrying his mother. Lucas has been accused of driving his teacher to take her own life. He also speaks in a vocal tone that is not of this world. That’s before the footage of him standing in a tornado unaffected by its winds is even brought to light. Gary starts to believe that maybe Lucas might be the anti-christ. That starts to put a bit of a strain in his relationship with Sam.
Little Evil is a good teardown of The Omen and what is presented as the main plot throughline. That being that the child is evil and the only way to excise this evil is to kill him. Little Evil’s ultimate suggestion is that the best way to help out a child that is possessed by demons is to show him some love and understanding. Be a dad, basically. It’s a comedy… with heart. As cheesy and cliche as that sounds.
The plot is decent enough, but really Little Evil is elevated by its cast. Adam Scott as the somewhat reluctant step-dad is perfect casting. Evangeline Lilly as Lucas’ understanding and irrationally optimistic mother is again, wonderful. Then there is the plethora of supporting cast members that really bring the rest of this film together. Adam Scott goes to a therapy session for step-fathers that is full of well-known actors like Donald Faison, Kyle Bornheimer, and Chris De’Elia. Tyler Labine plays a conspiracy theorist videographer. Hell, even Clancy Brown shows up as a priest.
As far as horror movies go, I wouldn’t exactly call Little Evil scary, but is more… thriller/suspense. Think of it as more in the vein of Tucker and Dale vs Evil and less like the Exorcist. This is a movie that I can see my wife and I watching at some point, and she is a pretty big scaredy-cat when it comes to horror movies. I would recommend it to pretty much anyone that is looking for a good laugh along with their pseudo-horror.
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