Absolutely shocking moments of gore with awesome practical effects. They really show everything too, doesn't shy away from killing kids and animals in the worst imaginable ways. The story in between these moments are incredibly boring to me though. Annoying dialogue, frustrating decision making and unnatural character interactions—or is it culture shock?! I doubt it cause it's awful, I hope nobody thinks like these characters. The superstitions and religious beliefs are also overly exagerated to the point of becoming comedy. Too much melodrama and exposition in the third act. A frustrating watch. It's too bad because I really enjoyed the beginning of the movie and the epic gnarly gore scenes.

A completely different take on possession. Avoiding all the stupid cliches from American movies, director Demián Rugna takes a gruesome, intelligent, and shocking route that makes the movie one of the most original horror films I've watched in a long time. The third act slows things a little more than I would wanted, but the end leaves you satisfied and devastated.

Without a doubt, this IS the movie you should watch in October 2023 instead of the megahyped Exorcist secuel.

The only strength of the movie is its willingness to go to extreme extents of showing us some dark and disturbing gore. The plot however is so underdeveloped and the characters are not interesting at all.

Checking out When Evil Lurks is recommended if you enjoy dark, suspenseful, and extreme horror films. That being said, you might want to seek elsewhere if you're searching for a horror movie with a well-developed story and cast of characters.

A lot of the movie was good, but it just had such terrible character decisions that really took away from the quality of the film. It made me really frustrated.

A very dumb movie with full of dumb people

This film offers an intriguing perspective on possession, complemented by impressive makeup and practical effects in the majority of its scenes, although some portrayals of possessed children towards the end could have been better. However, it falls short in exploring various missed opportunities and unresolved plot points. Additionally, some characters appear underdeveloped, and certain decisions appear as irrational/stupid in a way that not even fear or despair would justify them.

Just to mention a few points from the top of my mind:
[spoiler] At some point we see that the devil has difficulties manifesting the possession on autistic people, this interesting fact is simply thrown away a few minutes later. [/spoiler]
[spoiler] What explains Jimi not being possessed after driving over his possessed sister-in-law? [/spoiler]
[spoiler] How the kids at the school (terrible acting, btw) moved all those bodies? Including Uriel. [/spoiler]
[spoiler] One of the rules “to not get infected” mentioned in the film is to not hurt the possessed, but Pedro slaps the shit out of a little possessed girl???? [/spoiler]
[spoiler]Everyone seems to know the rules, but they conveniently forget them? [/spoiler]

I ain't never seen anything quite like this

this movie is nonsensical and very dumb. so many unlogical dialogues and the writing is terrible as well.

Decidedly original, meticulously tailored suspense, confronting and masterfully written.

It is independent and relatively lower budget films like this that leave me in awe of the creative process of film. This isn't necessarily the film for those looking for 'big scares', but it is particularly tense, well paced and undoubtedly dark with many very vivid scenes of violence. The writing is a definite strong point of this film, writer-director Demián Rugna is an absolute talent, and this movie has secured his oeuvre on my to-watch list.

There were some fairly unsubtle context dumps, but not after giving a chance to piece together the narrative for yourself. It does frequently fall into the territory of 'protagonist makes repeated terrible and frustrating decisions', but given the development of the protagonist [spoiler] (such as his responsibility as a parent, and his continual personal failings towards his family)[/spoiler] this is entirely fair. The momentum unfortunately lags in the third act, with an ending that I found to be [spoiler] somewhat anticlimactic in nature[/spoiler].

While not a criticism (again, it links to themes), those with a particular aversion to depictions of child abuse or violence may want to skip this one.

There are a few interesting scenes here but not enough to carry the film. As of this comment Rotten Tomatoes sits at a 97% critics rating and 81% audience score. This is actually more interesting than the film itself.

WOW, what an unexpected Argentinian gem of a movie, unfiltered with no care for pg rating nor tailoring to a minority crowd, it does not rely on unnecessary jumpscares, horror movie cliches or tropes either. a must-see horror movie of the 21st century!

This was a great time. A new take on the zombie/exorcist genre, with fun world building and lots of unanswered questions. The acting is good, and the practical effects rocks! There is a lot of gruesome depiction of animals and kids getting hurt, so be aware - but it was very entertaining, and even though the story was a little all over the place - i loved it. Very interesting in my opinion

Nice surprise from this Argentinian production

You're thrust into a world with it's own rules around the supernatural. Don't bother making sense of it; just enjoy the horror lol

Stupid Main Character. Stupid Script.

A lot of really gnarly, unsettling sequences and imagery. I really like the world building and the way they drop you in as shit gets wilder and wilder. I do think it kind of peters out at the end and relies on straight up character stupidity. It kind of hits parody by the time it cuts to credits.

Like me discussing my sex life: This is what the fuck I'm talking about!

While the intense pacing trails off a bit in the third act, the originality, the unpredictability and the fact this goes places most movies won't makes When Evil Lurks top tier horror for the year.

Not just a bunch of “for the sake of it” jumpscares like every other horror movie. The plot is decent and the story is continuous, did not move around. Pretty good tbh, no goosebumps moments though.. just a ‘horror’ movie, not a ‘HORROR’ movie.

After seeing an overwhelming amount of online praise for this film, I may have had too high of expectations for this one. There was some really good imagery but the characters/motivations and plot felt a bit off for me. Still thought it was good but not game changing.

Decent low budget horror movie.
The gore and great practical work is what really makes it stand out, if you’re into it of course.
Unfortunately where it lets itself down is the plot with the final act also being very underwhelming. The decision made by the characters at times were annoying and frustrating.

I’ll give it more than it deserves. I’ll follow the authors. I liked the feeling of hopelessness, even the heroes may not have understood right away, but having missed the patient at the beginning, they already guessed that this was the end. Well, the idea is nothing, it looks fresh. In the end, of course, it was deflated. Budget more to detail the world?