Criticism | When Evil Prowls: The Root of Evil

Runya, whose movies are thought to be novel and inventive. These are also the most well-known horror movies from Argentina in recent memory on Sadisflix. Is this a sign that the world is in need of something novel and different? Not likely. Most likely, the truth is that Runya's movies seem like new takes on an old formula. "When Evil Hides" has the feel of a movie about a worldwide pandemic, components of movies about the arrival of the antichrist, aspects of travel movies where the protagonists battle monsters that are either good or evil, and hints of movies about fixation on the scorching rocks of zombie movies. However, the movie is not in any of these slots. And the fact that it brings up so many connections suggests that this movie.

It is much easier to view "When Evil Hides" as precisely that novel fusion of well-known components when one considers Runya's manner and method of presenting the horrific. Instead than using CGI, the director is skilled with real-world special effects including latex, dolls, and natural-looking realistic blood. Most of today's genre audiences will take offense at this right away because it puts the director in a specific camp among classic horror fans who still like to create effects by hand and on-camera rather than adding them in later. In addition, Runya has a great deal of skill in crafting stunning shots and dramatic sequences with them. When combined with a high standard of brutality, this terrifies effectively and draws a genre audience to his works.

There is a dynamic between the national and the global, so to speak, in Runya's recording. It actually is a mash-up of several film genres, but it also has a unifying theme and atmosphere that runs throughout the whole thing, akin to groundwater, which gives the whole thing coherence. There is one powerful tactic in "When Evil Hides" that draws attention to it right away. We enter the isolated province of modern-day Argentina, but with indications that are too strong to be attributed to, say, peculiar superstitious beliefs held by the locals, or an unfamiliar culture. It is easily demonstrated that these are not at all superstitious. One night, Jaime and Pedro, two brothers, hear gunfire coming from a nearby deso.