Malevolence (2004)

35% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
29% of users liked it
(1,727 ratings)

A handful of bank robbers on the run stumble upon a danger far worse than the police in this horror opus. Julian (Brandon Johnson) and Marylin (Heather Magee) are a young couple who have fallen deep in debt. Desperate to get back on their feet again, they team up with Marylin's brother Max (Keith… More A handful of bank robbers on the run stumble upon a danger far worse than the police in this horror opus. Julian (Brandon Johnson) and Marylin (Heather Magee) are a young couple who have fallen deep in debt. Desperate to get back on their feet again, they team up with Marylin's brother Max (Keith Chambers), an ex-con, and his buddy Kurt (Richard Glover) to rob a bank. On the run from the law after the robbery turns into a shoot-out, Kurt impulsively grabs a woman named Samatha (Samatha Dark) and her daughter as hostages, and head out to what they believe is an abandoned farmhouse in a sparsely populated rural village. However, the thieves and the hostages quickly discover the house is not abandoned after all; a serial killer who has been preying on the community for decades has been using the house as a base of operations, and the criminals soon find themselves at the mercy of a horror more gruesome than they could ever have imagined. Malevolence is the first feature film from long-time horror fan Stevan Mena. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Stevan Mena
Genres: Horror

In Theaters: Sep 10, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Apr 19, 2005
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Critic Reviews

David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer
If ever a movie deserved to go directly to DVD, it's this dreary horror treatment.
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
Diehard horror fans may want to weigh in. The rest can see it soon at the video store.
Robert Dominguez, New York Daily News
The acting and dialogue is as silly as the potato sack the killer wears on his head.
Ned Martel, New York Times
Stevan Mena's debut film carves up body after body in a ritual homage to the serial-killer genre.
Dustin Putman, DustinPutman.com
A low-budget, underseen genre gem that makes up for occasionally stilted dialogue and unpolished acting with a remarkable visual sense and skillful command of building tension.
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film
retraces killing grounds so old and familiar that at times it seems little more than a fan boy's compendium of favourite moments from the last half century's worth of slash-and-dash mayhem.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Apesar da trilha de filme barato e dos dez minutos finais de projeção, que escancaram a falta de experiência do diretor-roteirista, o longa é bastante eficiente em seu segundo ato.
Johnny Butane, Dread Central
Malevolence is the result of a film lover that spent their entire life striving to be the best they can.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...certain sections of Malevolence are far more engaging than others, with most of the second act a complete write-off.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Basically, you begin to tick off all of the standard horror gags as they come. And they all come exactly as expected.
David Cornelius, eFilmCritic.com
Many scenes on their own show some great promise. But Mena can't get his film to work as a whole.
Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com
For a presumably heartfelt homage, Malevolence is surprisingly low-key and almost lethargic.
Betty Jo Tucker, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
This low-budget movie is a classy horror package.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
The fanboy approach to filmmaking is always the same: Take a typical slasher-movie premise and copy all the things that impressed you when you were on the verge of puberty.
Prairie Miller, Long Island Press
There's much more left to the imagination than spelled out with digital artifice.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jacob P

This horror film was pretty good. It had a great story and antagonist.
John M

This is the middle section of a three-part trilogy. "Malevolence" was a well-made low-budget slasher and very effective, extremely well-done photography BUT it heavily use the slasher clichés BUT it is still a worth checking in the genre.

Cast

Samantha Dark
as Samantha
R. Brandon Johnson
as Julian
Heather Magee
as Marylin

Richard Glover
as Kurt
Courtney Bertolone
as Courtney
John Richard Ingram
as Sheriff Riley

See full cast

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Malevolence (2004)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Jacob P

John M

Cast

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