Meeting Evil (2012)

John is taken on a murder-fueled ride by a mysterious stranger that transforms the weak-willed, disillusioned husband and father into a desperate hero willing to go to any length to protect his family.

Director:

Chris Fisher

Writers:

Thomas Berger (novel), Chris Fisher

Stars:

Luke Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson, Leslie Bibb

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Wilson	...	John Felton
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Richie
Leslie Bibb	...	Joanie Felton
Peyton List	...	Tammy Strate
Muse Watson	...	Frank
Tracie Thoms	...	Latisha Rogers
Bret Roberts	...	Peter the Pool Guy
Jason Alan Smith	...	Trevor
Tina Parker	...	Rhonda
Danny Epper	...	Redneck Trucker
Ryan Lee	...	Scooter (as Ryan Scott Lee)
Sam Robbins	...	John Felton Jr. (as Samuel Robbins)
Gabrielle Harvey	...	Sam Felton
Danny Hanemann	...	Bartender
Allie McConnell	...	Gas Station Attendant

Storyline

The real estate agent John is down on his luck: he has been just fired from his job; his home has been sent into foreclosure; and his marriage is going downhill. On his birthday, his wife Joanie has an argument with him and she takes their children walking. Out of the blue, stranger Richie knocks on his front door and asks for help, since his car is not starting. John helps to push the car but hurts his leg, and Richie offers to take him to the hospital. Richie is inconvenient and along their journey, John realizes that the man is a psychopath killer that commits a spree killing everywhere they go. Then, Richie releases John on the road and tells him that he will pay a visit to Joanie and his children. Meanwhile, the police detectives Frank and his partner Latisha Rogers suspect that John is the serial-killer and they pressure Joanie to tell where John might be. Further, they discover that John and Joanie are cheating each other with a colleague and with a worker respectively.

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Plot Keywords:

foreclosure | marital infidelity | rotary phone | killing spree | murder | 

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Taglines:

Evil Comes Knocking

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Encontro Diabólico

Filming Locations:

Destrehan, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$181 (USA) (4 May 2012)

Gross:

$181 (USA) (4 May 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Louisiana Entertainment Screen Services - L.E.S.S., Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA), Stage 6 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Tammy and John are leaving the police station, John's is holding Tammy and his arm jumps around inconsistently between shots.

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Quotes

Richie: Stop trying to figure me out. I got my own ideas.

User Reviews

Some problems, but an interesting and well-made film

A pretty decent film with good production values and very good acting all around. Probably it's hard to avoid, but the story does suffer from the Hollywood effect - making every movie look like any another movie, since they all need to be sold somehow. In it's favor, 'Meeting Evil' starts out fairly loyal to its source material, and stays on track most of the way, despite some unneeded upping of the conventional stakes, and a couple extra back story complications. These don't really hurt the film, and it's a fairly exciting experience, up until the contemporary Hollywood twistiness at the end, which, though interesting, blunts the point of the Berger novel (at least as regards the main character). It tries to make its own point about evil in everyday life, and might have succeeded were it not for the logical problem it introduces with the Richie character's motivation. Though it's not in the book, I do think the concluding scene is actually pretty good; or it would be, if the viewer can get past the twist that doesn't really fit.