Little Evil, released on Netflix on September 1, is a horror-comedy from Eli Craig, the creator of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. It tells the story of a man named Gary (played by Adam Scott) who becomes stepfather to a small child named Lucas (played by Owen Atlas) that might just be the antichrist.

The film parodies a lot of horror movies, such as Rosemary’s Baby, Poltergeist, and especially The Omen, while also exploring the idea of what it means to be a stepdad. It features a strong supporting cast, most prominent among them being Gary’s work friend Al (played by Bridget Everett), a fellow stepdad and one of the most colorful characters in the film.

The film does drag on for the majority of the first act, where Gary proves to be extremely slow on the uptake. A lot of the “he doesn’t realize his son’s the spawn of Satan” jokes fell flat as a result of them being repeated over and over again. That didn’t seem necessary because the second and third acts were strong and had some great humorous moments in them. The character of Lucas’ mother Samantha (played by Evangeline Lily) is also extremely underdeveloped, to the point where I didn’t remember her name until I looked it up.

Overall, I’d give Little Evil four stars out of five. It has a fairly strong story and some good laughs in it but features a few flat characters that dull the experience.

BRENNEN LARSON
blarson@lc.edu