Evilenko

A few years ago, I saw "Citizen X". I vaguely remembered this great film and the horrifying story it was about when my attention was drawn to "Evilenko, the real citizen X" in the videostore. It turned out to be a big disappointment. The description on the DVD-cover is more exciting than the film itself. The story jumps randomly forward in time, leaving a lot of questions unanswered, never really grabbing one's attention. The murderer gets a lot of screen time in the first 20 minutes, so you feel like seeing events from his perspective. Clearly, he's a freak, but more in a pathetic than a horrifying manner. His ability to "hypnotise" his victims comes out of the blue near the end of the film and made no sense to me. A lot of could-be-interesting supporting characters don't get enough time to evolve beyond flat-characters.

Watch Citizen X instead of Evilenko.

Evilenko is another film based on the character of Chikatilo. Along with the story the main theme is the role of the Soviet system and communist propaganda for the emergence and invulnerability of this mass murderer. Unfortunately, Evilenko fails to create a realistic picture of the criminal who took dozens of lives, nor to convey the spirit and meaning of the communist society that created him. The ugly Soviet reality in the film is exaggerated - neither the people were so fanatical, nor the government so omnipotent. If the goal is to create an absurd reality, like 1984 and Brazil - here it is unnecessary, the purpose of the film in my opinion is different. Police station and interrogations in an abandoned tunnel? Come on, don't take us for idiots. The killer, an analogue of Chikatilo in the film, also seems too unreal. Malcolm McDowell is a great actor, but unfortunately he also contributed to the image of Evilenko as a caricature of a villain. A criminal who hypnotizes his victims and makes witnesses forget him is a typical character in cheap novels, not suitable here. As a result, the film is perceived as a fairy tale and fails to create an image of reality. Everything that this film can't do, fortunately, has been achieved by another one - Citizen X - a great picture of the epoch and the deadliest murderer in history.

Well let's face it. This is in fact a great film. Malcolm Mcdowell is truly amazing. It is a sad film and not the slasher flick that I was expecting. MM is a fantastic actor. Every moment you see him in this film is quality stuff.

The story is quite unsettling and that might be a good thing? Many movies these days have nothing special about them at all! This film has some great acting, great cinematography and many uneasy moments. Not too bad at all.

Watch it - it's not a waste of time. Some movies are. I am looking forward to searching out other MM films (yes I know he did Clockwork Orange). Keep up the good work Malcolm.

In 1995, HBO produced a film called Citizen X which detailed the murder rampage of Andrei Chikatilo, who killed over 50 women and children.

Evilenko is a fictional representation of this serial murder spree which occurred in the Soviet Union during the fall of same in the late 1980's.

In every way, this version is weaker than Citizen X. The acting is inferior. Donald Sutherland, Max Von Sydow and Stephen Rea are exceptional whereas Malcolm McDowell is his usual overacting self and is not credible as the murderer.

The greatest weakness is an almost laughable explanation of how Evilenko seduced his victims. David Grieco, the writer and director, wants us to believe that Evilenko hypnotized his victims by staring at them.

Don't rent this. Instead, see Citizen X; a vastly superior movie in which the killer, using the actual name of the killer, Chikatilo, is played by the fabulous Jeffrey DeMunn with spine chilling conviction.

Evilenko is made extremely well, I've seen it twice now on DVD and Malcolm McDowell's towering characterization of the real Russian serial killer should be recognized as an artistic achievement. No, it's not Citizen X and that's a good thing. Where Citizen X reads like a plodding police investigation, Evilenko comes across as a searing reading of a killer's personal hell. David Greico has written and directed a completely interesting and thorough examination of Evilenko's mind and motivations. While the killings are handled dispassionately, the victims aren't one dimensional, we feel for them but Grecio never sentimentalizes them. Definitely a cut above the average serial killer film.