Six years after exciting horror fans with the violent hauntings of Terrified [Aterrados], Argentine director Demián Rugna returned to the genre to make one of the buzziest, most original demonic possessions stories of the modern era. 

And I get why When Evil Lurks sits near the top of most reputable best of 2023 lists. (It might have even grabbed the top spot on most lists had Talk to Me not been a thing.) When Evil Lurks revisits a lot of our pandemic anxieties by telling a demonic possession story that has potentially apocalyptic repercussions.

But to truly appreciate this film and all of its nuances, you have to be willing to submit to its unusual alternate reality where demonic outbreaks have already occurred in some Argentine cities and strange rules have been adopted to contain an outbreak of evil. It’s a daring, potentially off-putting world-building move by Rugna- one that could upend the whole experience if you misunderstand what is happening or are unwilling to play along. But if you are game, then there’s a lot of fun to be had with this one.

When Evil Lurks begins with two middle-aged brothers, Pedro (Ezequiel Rodríguez) and Jaime (Demián Salomon), hearing gunshot blasts at night. Padro, often acting as the brother’s lead decision-maker, tells Jaime that the sound came from the woods near their home and they should investigate at sunrise.

The next morning, the brothers find the body of a man that was cut in half on their neighbour’s property and a briefcase full of strange golden gadgets. Soon after, the brothers locate a shack close by that is being used an elderly woman and her two sons…and we see that something’s rotten in the state of Argentina. Literally. Cause “rottens” is what this film calls those who had demonically possessed…which, of course, one of the son’s happens to be. 

Terrified [Aterrados] proved that Rugna understands how to make frightening creatures, but he outdoes himself in When Evil Lurks with the bloated, decaying appearance of the “rotten” son. The possessed man looks absolutely grotesque, like if disease could be personified. 

Turns out, the dead body belonged to a “Cleanser” who was coming to remove the evil spirit from the woman’s son. Without a “Cleanser”, the belief is that the “rotten” will spread evil into the community until it eventually gives birth to a demon. And if that happens, then I guess everybody’s fucked. Worried about how close this all is to their property and how news of a “rotten” in the area might negatively impact the community, the brothers go to the authorities, but the police question the brothers on the accuracy of their account- even going as far as to doubt whether “rottens” even exist. (Remember those Covid doubters.)

Unsure how to move forward, they tell Ruiz, the landowner who has allowed the family to rent out the shack. It’s at this early point in the film that the brothers make a mistake of enormously tragic proportion. The brothers succumb to Ruiz’s abrasive behaviour and give in to his reactionary decision making. Ruiz wants to dump the son’s possessed body into another community 300 or so kilometers away. But there is uncertainty amongst the men as to what this might do, or if at this point that would even stop the evil from spreading into their area.

Rugna’s film comes with a lot of rules on how to deal with an infestation of evil caused by rottens, and unfortunately a lot of them are crippling or nearly impossible to follow all of the time. (Again, I remind you of the pandemic.) One rule says that you can not shoot rottens, or anything possessed because it causes the possession to spread faster…so good luck defending yourself. Another rule is to stay away from animals…so yeah, so much for the family pet.

Speaking of animals, they get a lot of the most inspired moments of terror in this movie. The scene with the goat might have been the film’s most memorable scene if there wasn’t for a later sequence involving a dog. I don’t know what Rugna has against animals- maybe nothing- but he sure knows how to tap into a common fear of our furry friends turning suddenly against us. 

And like Terrified [Aterrados] before, Rugna continues to prove that children are not exempt from being used as vehicles for horror. In fact, the film’s most quotable line is probably “Evil likes children. And children like evil.” (Kind of a profound observation.). And considering the film’s subtext, why shouldn’t Rugna use children either to be slaughtered or to be the ones committing heinous acts. Did the pandemic spare them?

Turns out, Rugna’s not even above weaponizing Pedro’s severely Autistic son to add to the film’s creep factor- which to be fair, can be problem for some viewers. (I get it. I won’t judge.) In a Demián Rugna film, nearly everything is on the table to be exploited for the sake of horror.

Now, I’ll admit, When Evil Lurks loses a bit of its punch in its third act after most of the pandemic commentary has run its course. There is also a definite tonal shift between the slow rollout of hyper-realistic daytime horrors and the relentless, throw-everything-at-us scattershot terrors leading up to the film’s late night climax. Still, watching Pedro, who started the film appearing like a competent man of action, get hammered with one trauma after another is perversely entertaining. He makes mistakes, but who wouldn’t when tiptoeing around a set of rules like “do not use electronic lights.” He is a man living in a nightmare where his actions keep ending in the death of loved ones, but inaction might end the civilized world. 

When Evil Lurks is a brutal, atmospheric, mature horror that brilliantly uses paranormal horror to dreg up our past anxieties about the pandemic. Demián Rugna is a master at creating visceral scenes that pack a punch and his paranormal creature designs are currently some of the best being put on screen. 

Now, after having two beloved horror features to his name, we have to consider Rugna as one of the key names, not just in Spanish horror, but in modern horror filmmaking in general. 

I am betting on him to win a trifecta.