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| Images courtesy of Unearthed Films |
Not wholly unlike Sean Connery following his turns in The Red Tent and The Russia House, Malcolm McDowell soon after starring
in Karen Shakhnazarov’s 1991 Russian produced English language drama The
Assassin of the Tsar began appearing in more Russian oriented casting
roles. The most notable example, one
which apparently was initially a problem for the actor, was in Italian writer-director
David Grieco’s debut true-crime film Evilenko in 2004.
Loosely based on the director’s own fictionalized novel
account The Communist Who Ate Children examining the life and exploits
of Ukrainian born Soviet serial killer Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo with the
last name changed to Evilenko, the 80s-set period crime drama saw McDowell in perhaps
his most evil incarnate role to date, surpassing A Clockwork Orange and Disturbed
even. Released in Italian and
British cinemas before surfacing on DVD in the US via TLA Releasing, the film
languished in rights limbo for years until boutique label Unearthed Films saw
fit to dole out a full 4K UHD limited collector’s edition package.
1984 Kyiv, schoolteacher Andrei Romanovich Evilenko (Malcolm
McDowell sporting thick-rimmed glasses in a raincoat with a tie and demonic
gaze) is discharged from his position after attempting to sexually assault one
of his students. Responding by claiming
the school board “no longer represents true communism” following the collapse of
the Soviet Union and left to his own devices, soon Evilenko unleashes a killing
spree involving the rape, murder and cannibalization of women and especially
children.
Meanwhile local magistrate and father figure Vadim Timurovich
Lesiev (Marton Csokas) is tasked with tracking down and incarcerating the
killer while psychiatrist Aron Richter (Ronald Pickup) tries to profile him. Supposedly through all of this, it is implied
Evilenko has innate psychic abilities which enable him to easily lure in his
victims and manages to claim as many as 55 victims before authorities
inevitably do catch up to the beast in the act of feeding.
Made after the 1995 American TV film Citizen X which
saw Jeffrey DeMunn in the role of Chikatilo with far more artistic liberties
taken with the facts and figures in the 2004 film by David Grieco, Evilenko is
an effectively draining and repellent crime scene investigation serial killer
drama. Featuring McDowell in an
unforgettably carnivorous performance as a pedophilic serial murderer who at
one point is literally caught red handed feeding on a fresh kill, Evilenko from
its grim visual aesthete by Fabio Zamorion to its overtly Twin Peaks sounding
score by legendary composer Angelo Badalamenti is a thoroughly miserable and
unsettling experience.
Moody and dour, the film is aided by a brave and at one
point daring performance by Marton Csokas as the strained detective working in
tandem with Ronald Pickup as the psychiatrist who is among the first of the
authorities to figure out Evilenko is the killer. The ensemble cast of supporting character
actors are also good though special attention goes to the underage cast who
have to play against a pretty terrifying Malcolm McDowell.
Released in the spring of 2004 Italy, budgeted at around
$9.7 million, the film gained a cult following thanks to its leading actor and
original score by Angelo Badalamenti which also featured two songs with Dolores
O’Riordan singing Angels Go to Heaven and No Way Out. The film was nominated for the prestigious
David di Donatello Award for Best New Director and the Italian National
Syndicate of Film Journalists as well as won the Fantafestival Grand Prize
while Malcolm McDowell won the European Silver Ribbon for Best Actor.
Sometime in 2015, Ridley Scott and Daniel Espinosa did a big
screen Hollywood film adaptation with the ghastly and ill-fated $50 million
bomb Child 44, a curious star-studded misfire that’s largely been
forgotten. While that film continues to
burn into cinders and ash, the reputation of Evilenko just got a shot of
adrenaline with Unearthed Films’ new 4K UHD made from the original camera
negative and stacked with plentiful extras including a new commentary by
McDowell and Grieco, an 81-minute cast and crew interview including McDowell
and Angelo Badalamenti and an in-depth look at the real life of Andrei
Chikatilo. While the subject has been
tackled a few times in film with debatable results, despite the fictional
aspects Evilenko is probably the definitive screen adaptation of one of
the Soviet Union’s most bloodthirsty killers.
--Andrew Kotwicki
