DVD Review: EVILUTION (2008)

We’ve all heard the old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. I guess that should pertain to movies as well. I couldn't tell what kind of horror movie EVILUTION was by its cover. Is it science-fiction horror? Possibly. The soldier on the front, along with the jets and the DNA strands made me feel like it was, which is why I was so eager to give it a look.
Imagine my surprise when I started watching it and discovered it’s actually a zombie film.
The plot for EVILUTION is this, courtesy of imdb.com:

A microscopic alien life form has been discovered with the ability to possess the living and resurrect the dead. The US Army tried to communicate with it but failed. The Army then tried to create a genetically altered version of the alien in order to resurrect dead soldiers on the battlefield. The alien fights back, turning soldier against soldier. Scientist Darren Hall kidnaps the last pure specimen of the alien, determined to the reverse the damage inflicted and learn the secrets of life. Hiding in a mysterious building named The Necropolitan, he continues his experiments. On one fateful night, the alien is set loose on the unsuspecting tenants resulting in a new evolution of apocalyptic horror as infected tenants attack the unsuspecting, turning them into a cannibal horde. Darren and a small group of survivors must now find a way to destroy the alien possessed before they can escape into the city and bring forth the end of the human race.

I have to admit that EVILUTION caught me by surprise. It is one of those movies that start off wanting to go one way, but then shifts gears later on and tries to go another. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but doing so involves strategy and well-laid-out plot pieces. Thankfully, Evilution has both…for the most part.

The main character, Darren Hall, is played by Eric Peter-Kaiser, whose most recent claim to fame is portraying Mark Johnson in the 2004 hockey movie MIRACLE. Peter-Kaiser does a great job with his role, playing the quirky scientist who is only slightly distracted by his seductive neighbor Maddie. The character of Maddie is played by Sandra Ramirez, who currently stars in RAZOR, a movie currently in production featuring Sid Haig and Richard Moll. These two work well together and play off of each other nicely.

The movie itself was shot pretty well, for being a low-budget feature, although I think some of the Steadi-cam shots weren’t actually that steady. The special effects were good, with several nice gore scenes spliced in amidst the action. And the plot gives us a nice helping of humor that is interlaced with the horror, particularly when the characters Killah-B, Asia Mark, and Random are on the screen. These three gangsta-wannabes half-way made the movie for me.

My only complaint with this film is the very ending, when the movie tries to shift from being a horror movie with a science-fiction tone (i.e. ALIENS) to something of a supernatural thriller. I will not give away the ending, for those of you who want to see this, but I will tell you that I was left with a confused look and several questions as the credits started to roll. Overall, though, this was a fun movie and one I can see myself revisiting in the future.

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