Evilenko

Poor old Malcolm McDowell, he has yet to even come close to having an acting role as prestigious as when he played Alex in A Clockwork Orange. Apparently, Mr. McDowell rubbed Stanley Kubrick the wrong way after A Clockwork Orange and it probably cost him a very successful acting career. Instead, McDowell has spent his career playing in such films as the recent Italian film Evilenko. After watching the film, I had no clue that it was actually Italian. I would have assumed Evilenko was some anti-Russian British propaganda film.

Evilenko is a film loosely based on the Ukrainian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. Chikatilo was a sicko that was convicted of killing 52 women and children mostly in Russia. He had a problem with impotence and his murders stemmed from that unfortunate problem. For some reason, it was not hard for me to believe Malcolm McDowell was a child murderer and sex pervert. I found it awfully awkward seeing McDowell attempting to molest a young school girl while in a state of derangement. That being said, the only thing that carries Evilenko from beginning to end is Malcolm McDowell’s performance.

Italian composer Angelo Badalamenti lent his musical talent to Evilenko by producing the films scores. Badalamenti is best known for his scores in David Lynch’s brilliant Twin Peaks series and his films such as Blue Velvet. Unfortunately, Badalamenti’s score doesn’t really stick out in Evilenko. The lack of a notable score also goes hand in hand with the film's lack of overall aesthetic. Evilenko had the feeling of a very cheap TV production produced in one of less than prosperous countries of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the film lacked the overall artistic power that one comes to expect from an Italian director.

Andrei Chikatilo was a card carrying communist. It is not secret (or maybe it kind of is) that communists are the biggest mass murderers in human history. The impotent killer of Evilenko however, has no real position of power except over little children. The way Malcolm McDowell looks at a child is a somewhat disturbing thing to see. What is even worse is seeing the elderly nude body of Malcom McDowell. Evilenko is a film for those that are fans of McDowell or films about natures worst predators. Just don’t expect a work of artistic genius.

-Ty E