FEAR NO EVIL (PTO) (CD) David Spear, Frank LaLoggia

FEAR NO EVIL (PTO) (CD)
David Spear, Frank LaLoggia

This imaginative low-budget horror film from first-time director Frank LaLoggia tells the story of shy high-school student Andrew (Stefan Arngrim) who, in a nod to the Omen films, slowly begins to realize that his feelings of alienation stem from the fact that he is the Antichrist. This revelation is not lost on Andrew's elderly next-door neighbor and one of his fellow students -- both of whom are actually archangels-in-hiding who have been waiting for the inevitable moment when the boy's latent identity finally begins to surface. Andrew's first demonstration of his powers allows him to avenge himself on his cruel classmates (in an imaginative scene, one macho poser is gifted with breasts), but soon he begins to undergo a more dramatic change. The climactic moment comes during an outdoor Passion Play performance -- during which the actor portraying Jesus onstage ends up being crucified for real -- and archangels Gabriel and Michael arrive to fulfill their destiny in the final battle between Good and Evil. Considering the budgetary limitations, this is still an impressive debut, tackling its weighty metaphysical themes with style and intensity seldom seen in other teen-horror films and boasting a superb score blending Punk, Pop and New Wave tracks with haunting Gregorian chants. Apart from its artistic merit, ("Fear No Evil") should stand as an inspiration to young filmmakers everywhere, since producer-director LaLoggia managed to scrape up $150,000 to finance the production and find distributors all on his own -- and all at the tender age of twenty-three, long before his future success directing the more subdued supernatural opus, ("The Lady in White"). 1980