High school hell when you’re a sheltered teen figuring out your telekinetic powers is one thing. It’s a different experience when your secret identity is Lucifer, lurking within the human form of a kid whose academic talents can’t mute the off-putting creeper vibes he emanates from every pore.
However, the main character in Stephen King’s Carrie, newly elevated in pop culture thanks to Mike Flanagan and Prime Video, may come to mind while you’re watching Fear No Evil, a 1981 cult horror tale from writer-director Frank LaLoggia (who later made the more mainstream ghost story Lady in White). Not only is there an awkward adolescent with a dangerous secret at the center of each, but there are gym class scenes that almost seem to mirror each other—until they don’t.
First, some context. While Fear No Evil spends a certain amount of time examining the social woes of high schoolers, several of whom appear to be patterning their performances after characters in Grease, it is primarily concerned with more Biblical matters. In a prologue, we see a determined priest, Father Damon (veteran actor John Holland), who is actually the archangel Rafael in human form, chasing after a man who he believes is a manifestation of Lucifer. Their confrontation ends with the man’s death, and—since “he had to die because he was the devil” is a weak legal defense—Damon is convicted of his murder and spends his final days in prison.
But the cosmic clash doesn’t end there. Fear No Evil makes a big deal about needing to fulfill a very specific divine promise, and just because this version of Lucifer has been defeated doesn’t mean he won’t return. In fact, he’s destined to have a second coming just so an all-important “final confrontation” can take place. And it’s on the way: after we witness a newborn baby screaming his way through his family’s attempts to baptize him in a grim ceremony that turns into a literal bloodbath, we jump ahead 18 years to 1981.
Lest you think Rafael’s demise means Lucifer, reborn as the spooky misfit Andrew (Stefan Arngrim), is going to have free reign to do whatever he wants, there are two other archangels on standby. One is Damon’s sister, Margaret (Stargate SG-1’s Elizabeth Hoffman), aka Mikhail; she lives off the grid and has a reputation around town for being a witch.
The other is, improbably, Andrew’s wholesome classmate Julie (Kathleen Rowe McAllen), who has zero clue that she’s actually the archangel Gabrielle until the clock starts ticking on that long-promised confrontation.
While the viewer has an idea where this weirdness is going, the route it takes to get there is the reason Fear No Evil has become a cult classic. There were tons of low-budget horror movies made throughout the early ‘80s, but few go as hard on the freaky details as this one does.
Andrew’s parents are obviously doomed—if you thought the mom and dad in The Omen had it tough, that was the Antichrist! This is that guy’s boss!—but there’s a tinge of (unintentional) camp to their suffering, especially when Andrew’s dad has a nervous breakdown in the local bar while screaming, “MY SON’S THE DEVIL!”
And Margaret/Mikhail is sort of off in her own world, with Rafael’s disembodied voice booming from the beyond to periodically remind her to stay on track.
The high school storyline is by far the most overwrought element here. A lot of that is thanks to the bully named Tony (Daniel Eden), the kind of cartoonish rebel who barks “Up yours!” at teachers and threatens his girlfriend with the gun he casually keeps in the glove box of his muscle car. When he unwisely picks on Andrew, the devil incarnate’s reflexive revenge targets Tony’s misogyny and his homophobia in ways that are truly shocking.
However, the most indelible scene in Fear No Evil is without a doubt the one involving dodgeball. “Frenzied” is the word that comes to mind to describe it, and it passes so quickly—there’s a brief but moody funeral scene after, then we move on—that it’s not until later that you start to ask the important questions. Like, in a town so eager to prosecute murderers, did the gym teacher get held accountable, or what?
Unfortunately, despite his Carrie-style antihero potential, there’s no rooting for Andrew here. He’d already be cringe-inducing even if he wasn’t assaulting Julie in her nightmares, and you are definitely on Team Archangel for the duration.
Fear No Evil finds a way to slather on a few more set pieces (including a religious play that ends badly for everyone, especially the poor guy playing Jesus, and a hoard of zombies… because why not?) before we get to the surreal third act face-off. The battle involves special effects that probably looked iffy even in 1981 but are sort of the perfect cheesy accompaniment to the rest of the film.
Adding to the movie’s odd appeal, it makes excellent use of a practical location for Lucifer’s temple hideout, a historic, castle-like structure on an island in upstate New York. It brings a haunted atmosphere to the murky night scenes that take place there.
There are also an astonishing array of well-known punk and new wave songs woven into the soundtrack, including tracks from the Ramones, the Talking Heads, and the Sex Pistols. How did Fear No Evil nab the songs in the first place, then manage to skate past the kinds of music-rights drama that can put indie horror movies out of circulation? Ask Lucifer, we guess.
Fear No Evil is now streaming on Shudder.
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