User reviews

I saw this move when I was 15 yo and found it rather atmospheric and creepy. The main actors are good, Jessica Harper and Michael Parks especially, but there are a few amateurish performances as well. The flashbacks to the murders of the past were nicely done too, they are quite tense and suspenseful actually, and the main characters in this flick behave in a manner that I at least found plausible. It's not a "no-holds-barred" terror movie or some "Friday the 13th"-clone, just a handsomely put together, semi-independent movie. Nice cinematography also and beautiful locations. However, the claim that this is a true story, is ridiculous and, considering the ending, not something even the filmmakers believe in.

As horror films go, THE EVICTORS is slightly above the usual stuff that was released back then. The acting and production values are good. The cinematography is gorgeous. The Vestron VHS tape I watched had the film in an uncompressed anamorphic transfer. Everything looked squished but my TV has a 16x9 option and when I activated it, the VHS image was widescreen and beautiful. I loved the sepia toned scenes (they are flashbacks). They give the film a distinctive quality. The film's biggest weakness is the story. It sorta comes into its own by the end of the film but even so it's still pretty weak.

The story is about a couple who are terrorized by a mysterious man who lurks around a house they recently moved in, a house with a long history of suspicious violent deaths. The wife (played by the wonderful Jessica Harper) is repeatedly terrorized by the lurker when the husband is away. This storyline works on a certain level but the character who plays the lurker/murderer is no Michael or Jason. That aspect of the story was severely underwritten and when the revelation of who this lurker is and why he's terrorizing the couple, what gloomy & mysterious atmosphere the film so meticulously created vanished in a blink of an eye. But the revelation is not bad enough to destroy the whole film. It's just too corny, too a la Scooby Doo.

The other annoying thing about this film is the pacing. It's a tad slow going. The action eventually picks up in the second half but the first half was very casual.

Even with all its faults, I still enjoyed THE EVICTORS. It's a gorgeous looking horror film and there's Jessica Harper, which always makes anything worth watching.

The Evictors, like Charles B. Pierce's other efforts (The Legend of Boggy Creek and The Town That Dreaded Sundown) is a spooky story based on actual events. This story centers around a house with a violent past. That past, however, does not stay dead. Instead it comes back to terrify any new occupants seeking to live in that same house. There are fine performances, some truly spooky scenes, and several twists towards its conclusion to keep the viewer entertained. Fans of this film should definitely seek out Pierce's other titles mentioned above. Happy Hunting!

In 1942, Ben and Ruth Watkins have just moved into an old Louisiana farmhouse. It's a beautiful place, but they soon learn of it's morbid past. Apparently, the previous few tenants all died in ways that raise suspicion. This doesn't sit well with Ruth, who stays at home alone most of the day while Ben is at work. As if she weren't spooked enough already, it isn't long before she finds herself menaced by a prowler who keeps showing up.

Charles B. Pierce, the man behind such southern-flavored gems as 'The Town that Dreaded Sundown' and 'The Legend of Boggy Creek', scored again with this outstanding mood piece. Atmosphere always was Pierce's strongest point, and 'The Evictors' features it in spades. The slow-burn pacing works brilliantly here, allowing the ominous tone to fester. The 1940's setting and impact of World War II on the financially struggling town are also well-realized, the former all the more so thanks to the lovely scope photography Pierce so expertly utilizes. Some effective sepia-toned flashbacks further the mood, as does the hushed nature of the townspeople in regard to the house's history.

Jessica Harper and Michael Parks play the married couple, and there is an obvious chemistry between them. It was great seeing the lovely Harper in a horror film other than 'Suspiria' for a change. Vic Morrow is on hand as the shady real estate agent who sales them the house and has eyes for Ruth. His role isn't the largest despite him getting top-billing, but it's an important one. Sue Ann Langdon also deserves mention as the crippled neighbor whom Ruth befriends.

The film offers up it's fair share of surprises as it heads toward the climax. There's one aspect of the story that was easily predictable, at least in my case, but others not so much. This is one of the true unsung gems of the 70's. The thought of it either not getting a release or being relegated to a shitty MOD DVD-R disgusts me to the core.

Keep your expectations low and you might have some fun with this movie from director Charles B. Pierce, which, like his earlier "The Town That Dreaded Sundown", is a period thriller based on a true story. It doesn't add up to much when it's all over, but it's well made and has some good moments. It's really the cast that helps to maintain viewer interest as it plays out with a rather deliberate pace.

Michael Parks and the lovely Jessica Harper play Ben and Ruth Watkins, a couple who move into a house in a small Louisiana town in 1942. It seems, however, that realtor Jake Rudd (Vic Morrow) hasn't been forthcoming with them about some details. The house has a violent history: all people who previously tried to move into the house came to bad ends. And before long Ruth begins to be menaced by a glowering redneck who shows up, usually at night, with a big sharp knife.

Pierce gives this movie some semblance of style, especially the flashbacks - set in 1928, 1934, and 1939 - which are shot in a sepia tone. The scare scenes that occur really aren't that scary, but Harper is just so watchable that she makes up for any lack of suspense. She and Parks make for a very likable couple, and they're well supported by Morrow and the great Sue Ane Langdon as cheery neighbour Olie Gibson. Familiar character actors Dennis Fimple and Bill Thurman can be seen in small roles.

As in "The Town That Dreaded Sundown", the period recreation is nicely done, and the score by Jaime Mendoza-Nava adds a lot to the atmosphere.

Ultimately, there's really nothing here that's surprising, but "The Evictors" is still passably engrossing, and it does offer up a fairly interesting ending.

One of the final few films for the legendary American International Pictures.

Seven out of 10.

Cheaply made, plodding horror film that should have been much better considering it's based (incredibly) on a true story. Justifiably forgotten today, this only has a couple of effective moments. The scenes that are set in the past are filmed in an awful, yellow-tinted black-and-white that makes the film look even cheaper than it actually is. Jessica Harper deserves better. (*1/2)

A young couple -- just married -- rents a house in a village in Louisiana. But they are not welcome; the inhabitants of the village look at them with distrust -- in the house they rented were happening strange things in the past...

So, I was drawn to this because it had a young Michael Parks and the legendary Jessica Harper ("Suspiria"). I was hoping that Sam Arkoff would have more of a role than "presenting", but oh well.

I guess my biggest issue is that this is not much of a horror film. Both Netflix and IMDb say it is, and I agree... but the horror is subtle for most of the film and could easily have been left out entirely. Sure, we have a guy who gets an ax in his back... but otherwise, not too much.

I still liked the movie, but I wish more had been going on. This will not go on record as one of the stronger films in either Parks' or Harper's careers.

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 ****

Although "The Evictors" could be considered as a little bit too soft to fit into the horror category, I acknowledge it as a very effective and overlooked psychological horror film. I think it is a character-driven film, in which past events acquire a lot of relevance to build the atmosphere.

In "The Evictors", the story takes place around the year 1942. A woman named Ruth Watkins and her husband Ben, move into a cozy house in Louisiana, in what seems to be an isolated village. Ruth feels very lonely, since her husband is away most of the time and the other women from town don't seem very friendly towards her, except for Ollie Gibson, an elderly woman in a wheelchair, who also happens to be the only neighbor in the area. One day, Ollie invites Ruth to her house for a pleasant evening with some coffee and cake. Well, the pleasant evening stops being so pleasant when Ollie reveals to Ruth that, before she and her husband moved into their home, there was a gruesome murder in it. Ruth becomes rather shocked by this and she's even more shocked when she finds out that between the 1920s and the 1930s, there was another series of murders, which were allegedly very brutal.

Horrified by the events that took place in her house, Ruth begins to suspect that the person who committed all those murders is still around and he is out to get her. To make things worse, her husband is hardly ever home and Ruth doesn't have anyone to help her, except for Ollie Gibson, who clearly isn't much of a protection anyway.

The story is simple, but it's filled with well developed intrigue. "The Evictors" is an unpretentious psychological horror film that mostly features Ruth's descent into a transitory state of paranoia and fear, which threatens to ruin her traditional, happy life. Ruth is a defenseless woman, who suddenly needs to rise up and face an outside force that threatens her very own life. Of course, before rising up, Ruth tries to get her husband to fight for her, but when she realizes that he is unavailable to do so, she comes around and ends up doing all the dirty work by herself. Let's keep in mind that this story takes place in the 1940s, a time where women weren't expected to fight back and it was unimaginable that a frail and delicate lady like Ruth would match a big, strong man in a confrontation. The fact that this film takes place in the 1940s serves the purpose of giving us a lead girl facing severe challenges, since during those days, women were only allowed to say and do so much. If anything, "nice women" were expected to stay home, be good to their husbands, cook for them and, of course, make babies. Well, in this case, Ruth seems pretty comfortable with this arrangement, when she is suddenly pushed out of her comfort zone and is forced to step up and fight. I think this is interesting, because we get to see how our lead girl is forced to drastically change from damsel in distress to warrior, throughout the course of film. Towards the end, we get to see an unexpected and far-fetched twist that evidences Ruth's repressed desires, which in this case is romantic lust towards another man. This gives us another reason to believe that Ruth has changed and she is no longer that fragile and subservient woman that we see at first. My main problem with the ending is that it goes out of its way to give us a surprise, when it is rather unnecessary and it comes off as an attempt to shock the audience just for the hell of it and it's not even all that shocking either. "The Evictors" uses the perfect setting, which is a big dark house, located in the middle of nowhere, where the pretty and delicate housewife spends her the time.

This film features no gore whatsoever. The PG rating is a clear indicator that "The Evictors" is free from gore or nudity and it manages to stay on the "innocent" side, while providing a bunch of on-screen murders. The lack of gore and gruesomeness can be a let down to certain horror lovers, but the movie makes up for this with well created suspense and great tension. One thing that bothers me about "The Evictors" is that for moments, it is seems that Charles B. Pierce went out of his way to fill an hour and thirty minutes with never ending sequences that help to build tension, but that could have easily have been shorter and just as effective. All in all, a very enjoyable low-key horror film, done with a lot of simplicity. It can be highly enjoyed if one isn't expecting brutality of any kind or in-your-face horror elements, such as: visible supernatural elements, a profuse body count, beast-like creatures or exaggerated horror music.

Susie from Suspiria (1977) plays a 1940s housewife in a movie I can only describe as "if Fulci's The Beyond were made for television instead of being a masterpiece."

Set in Louisiana with violent black and white flashbacks to the 1920s and 30s, The Evictors is little more than a twee imitation of classic Southern Gothic. Comes complete with a mysterious disabled character who is not what they seem.

The ending is neither satisfying nor haunting and yet The Evictors is too good-looking as a period drama to be a funny B movie. This is the sort of flick some Gen Xer or older Millennial will treasure, lost and found from childhood, but for most of us this is the mediocre derivative of significantly better films.

I remember seeing this movie back when we first got HBO in the early eighties as a kid. The movie had a PG rating, no gore, no masked men wielding a knife, and no big production qualities and yet still managed to scare the heck out of me. There was something about the brooding atmosphere and dark haunting score that did it for me. I also remember the film had some narration in it which made it even more creepy because it gave the film a more sinister fear of the unknown quality.

Like other psychological horror film classics such as Rosemary's Baby, The Others, and the Blair Witch Project(I'm sure some will disagree with me on that one)those films allowed the viewer to create the scariest horror of all, the horror that resides in our own heads.

3 stars for Vic, i can't stand the husband and despite the chick. Its like really are you seriously this stupid? You don't know your husband's outline? Creepy that its based on true tale but not that great otherwise.

"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

The Evictors is another in a string of low-budget but memorable films made by producer/director Charles B. Pierce during the 1970s. The best of these were, of course, The Legend of Boggy Creek and The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The rest of Pierce's oeuvre is spotty but almost all of his movies show signs of his talent for coming up with interesting film ideas and executing them with a fair amount of creativity.

This film is a mixed bag. The plot is that in 1942 a couple (Michael Parks, Jessica Harper) rent a house in southern Louisiana, where they are subjected to a series of strange occurrences and attacks. Then they find out the house has a history of violent happenings with previous inhabitants.

The setting and premise are right in Pierce's wheelhouse. He directs with his usual flair for creating atmosphere and setting up some nice tension throughout. The flashbacks are particularly well-done with nice attention to detail from the periods involved. However, some slow spots drag the film a bit and the ending is a let-down. Still, there's enough of interest here to warrant you checking it out. Good direction, nice music, and the biggest "name" cast Charles Pierce ever had. In addition to Parks and Harper, there's Sue Ane Langdon and Vic Morrow.

"The Evictors" takes place in a rural Louisiana town in 1942 and is also based on a true story. A young couple from New Orleans move into their dream house in the woods of Louisiana. The home seems ideal for a wife to fix up while the husband is out working his new job. The previous owners are still attached to the house and will do anything they have to in order to get it back for themselves. The new owners begin to fear for their lives as a mysterious stranger stalks and violently threatens them.

I've found a new favorite director in Charles B. Pierce. He is the perfect example of a filmmaker who doesn't need to lean on graphic imagery and gore to get a viewer's blood pumping. He is a believer in the "less is more" school of thought and it works perfectly for him. Pierce slowly builds tension and then lets it explode on you at the last minute. You know something dreadful is coming but are still creeped out about it when it finally arrives.

Although "The Evictors" isn't a completely true story, all you have to do is a little investigating to know there's still quite a bit of validity in what happens on screen. I think that's what makes the film even more frightening. The thought that real people went through these ordeals in some form or another.

I also found it interesting that besides some bad language, "The Evictors" was rather clean for this type of movie. There wasn't any nudity to be seen. I was wondering why this was until I read that director Pierce was a Baptist.

Charles B. Pierce directs this spooky yarn about a young newlywed couple(Michael Parks & Jessica Harper) who rent an old house from a helpful real estate agent(Vic Morrow) in Louisiana reputed to be haunted(there was a police shootout there that opens the film). Couple discovers strange things going on, and after a mysterious disappearance, seek the help of some friendly neighbors and the real estate agent, only to find the truth to be more complicated and sinister than they realized...

Reasonably suspenseful film isn't particularly original, but does create an eerie atmosphere around the old house, and final revelation is surprising, if a bit disappointing, though still works modestly well.

Released on DVD as a double-feature with "The Town That Dreaded Sundown".

Then, this is a good one for you. I actually liked it, and I originally saw it at the theater when I was a kid. There are some truly eerie characters and the plot is kinda spooky, so it's worthwhile. If you dig dusty, Southern related horror flix set in the backwoods, rent this baby....

Decent little horror thriller, supposedly based on true events. Set in the US in the 1940's the setting is good and a little creepy. The film is totally carried by Jessica Harper as Ruth, the main character of the film who is gradually disturbed by happenings in the house she has bought with her husband. Decent set pieces and a nice twist at the end raises it above the mediocre.