Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Spoonixel Amateur movie with Big budget

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS**** The movie starts back in 1928 with an eviction notice for the Monroes who've been behind in not paying their state & property taxes for the last five years. Refusing to go quietly and join the legions of homeless people in and around Shreveport La. The Monroes decide to fight it out with the evictors made up of mostly state police and end up getting blasted by them in return. It's now 1942 and this young married couple the Watkins Ben & Ruth,Michael Parks & Jessica Parker, move into the former Monroe house not realizing what's waiting for them there! It was the real-estate agent Jake Rudd, Vic Morrow, who sold the house to the Watkins who kept from them not only the deaths of the Monroes but a number of other strange and unexplained death that occurred there over the last 14 years to people that lived, and later died violently, there.Predictably strange things started to happen to the Watkins that included this tall and creepy looking farmhand who showed up at all hours in the day and night to terrorized the couple. He even went so far as murdering with a ax in his back to kind and elderly junk-man who just happened to show up to sell Ruth some of the trinkets he found rummaging through the neighborhood garbage dump! It's the Watkins's next door neighbor the wheelchair bound and widowed Olie Gibson, Sue Ane Langdon, who goes out of her way to make both Ben & Ruth to feel at home in the neighborhood. But you soon notice that their something that Olie's is keeping from them as well as we in the audience that explains the terror what the Watkins are going through! And it all has to do with the shootout back in 1928 with the state police that left the Monroes dead and buried. ***SPOILERS*** "The Evictors" has already after some 35 years reached cult statues with the movie considered among the best of the slew of 1970's horror movies in it concentrating more on story not on special effects as well as blood & gore which is mostly absent in it. The shocking ending that leads to an even more shocking double ending, when you thought the movie was finally over, makes what at that time was a better then average horror movie to an all time classic one!

Woodyanders Ben Watkins (a solid and likable performance by Michael Parks) and his wife Ruth (winningly played by the lovely Jessica Harper) move into a creepy old house in a small Louisiana town. They find out that said abode has a violent history attached to it. Director Charles B. Pierce, who also co-wrote the engrossing script with Garry Rusoff and Paul Fisk, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, presents a flavorsome evocation of the 1940's period setting, offers a strong feeling of the rural region and its people, builds a good deal of tension, stages the shock set pieces with aplomb, grounds the plot in a believably sleepy everyday rustic milieu, and delivers a couple of neat surprise twists at the end. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this picture humming: Parks and Harper make for appealing leads, with fine support from Vic Morrow as friendly, yet shifty real estate agent Jake Rudd and Sue Ane Langdon as pleasant and chipper crippled neighbor Olie Gibson. Familiar character actors Bill Thurman, Dennis Fimple, and Jimmy Clem pop up in cool minor roles. Chuck Bryant's handsome widescreen cinematography boasts lots of gorgeous sepia-tinged black and white for the flashback scenes. Jamie Mendoza-Nava's spirited shivery score hits the stirring shuddery spot. Worthwhile fright fare.

merklekranz "The Evictors" oozes with tremendous 1940s atmosphere. I would say however that the film being based on a true story, as the opening claims, is highly unlikely. The acting by innocent home buyers (Michael Parks & Jessice Harper) is totally acceptable, while Vic Morrow turns in a suitable performance as a sleazy Realtor. Many of the authentic looking Louisiana locals, could actually be authentic Louisiana locals playing themselves. This greatly enhances authenticity, along with at least a bunch of terrific 1940s automobiles. Though the film is strong on atmosphere, the script leaves several annoying questions dangling uncomfortably. - MERK

AngryChair In 1942, a couple moves into an old farm house in Northern Louisiana only to discover all the previous tenants have met with sinister fates. But does this eerie history have anything to do with the ominous stranger that's now terrorizing the young wife? Director Charles B. Pierce may be best known for his docu-chillers The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) and The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976), but The Evictors may just be the over-looked gem of his film career. Like his previous films The Evictors has a splendidly gritty, rural atmosphere that gives it a raw believability. This becomes all the more effective when the story builds to some strong tension as our heroine is stalked by a phantom prowler. There are also a number of flashbacks, shot in stylish black and white, that have a chilling creepiness.The story is fairly well-written, as the plot takes a few unexpected and surprising turns. Its only real flaw is a final revelation that's a bit improbable. Pierce does well at creating a 40's era atmosphere, much like that of The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The camera work is nicely done and the music score solidly spooky. The biggest highlight here may come from star Jessica Harper's understated performance. Harper (best known as the heroine of Suspiria and Phantom of the Paradise) makes a truly convincing role here.Over all, The Evictors is definitely a film worth checking out for horror fans, particularly those who are fans of Pierce or Harper. This is an underrated effort in need of a new audience.*** out of ****