Following a successful streaming release on Shudder, Argentinian writer-director Demian Rugna's follow-up to his excellent 2017 TERRIFIED (which you can also find on Shudder) is getting a whistles and bells 4K UHD and Blu-ray release in both limited and standard editions from Second Sight.
Investigating gunshots they heard in the night Pedro (Ezequiel Rodriguez) and his brother Jimi (Demian Saloman) come across a severely mutilated body in a field lying next to a box filled with esoteric equipment. At a nearby shack they find an old woman whose son is very ill. In fact he has become a 'rotten' - a term for someone in whom a demon has taken root and will soon be birthed. The son himself has been 'possessed' for over a year and is now little more than a huge festering bag of pus.
Killing him is out of the question as apparently that will release the demon as well, so they conspire to drag the man's body to a more remote location to avoid their village coming under the demon's power.
The body falls off the back of their truck and disappears.
Meanwhile more demonic stuff is going down. The owner of the land they are on sees one of his goats possessed, kills it and suffers the consequences. In town Pedro tries to warn his ex-wife and her new husband that Evil is coming. His warning falls on deaf ears until something really awful happens involving the family dog and their little girl.
And that's just the setup for a movie that moves at a clip, is outstandingly gory, and for once doesn't spoon-feed its audience explanations as to what is going on. Instead you have to put the various bits of information together to understand how the world we are being given a glimpse of works. It's another excellent piece of horror cinema from Rugna and marks him out as a talent to follow.
Extras on Second Sight's disc include a commentary track from academic author Gabriel Eljaiek-Rodriguez who helpfully fills in some background of the political situation in Argentina at the time of filming as well as analysing the film. Another excellent piece of analysis is provided by Mike Muncer's nine minute video essay that looks at the different techniques director Rugna uses to inspire terror. There are also interviews with Rugna (28 minutes), Ezequiel Rodriguez (23 minutes), Demian Saloman (18 minutes) and actress Virginia Garofalo who plays Pedro's ex-wife. All these extras are on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs, both of which are included in the limited edition while being available separately as standard releases.
Exclusive to the limited edition is a 120 page book with new writing on the film, six art cards, a behind the scenes gallery and storyboards and a box to keep it all in.
Demian Rugna's WHEN EVIL LURKS is out in both limited (UHD and Blu-ray and book, etc) and standard UHD and Blu-ray releases on Monday 28th July 2025
