Genres

Visitors Review

the_wolf_imdb 2013-04-16 09:33:12

Utter crap

I have bought the DVD, because I remembered very powerful movie aboutChekotylo. The problem is that the movie I have remembered was "CitizenX", not "Evilenko". Evilenko is stupid, absolutely surreal movie,classic Italian cheap crap. McDovell tries to save the movie, butscript is too chaotic and unrealistic. The story is not true even iftries to pretend to. The strangest part is the fact the move is boringtoo, which is really strange for mass-murder thriller. Only first 20minutes or so are interesting, but unfortunately the boredom lastsanother 100 minutes! It was so dull I was not been able to watch it tothe end. Well, 2 Euros wasted (at least it was cheap). Spare your timeand money - watch "Citizen X" instead.

2013-04-16 06:56:03

The Butcher of Rostov

This review is from: Evilenko 2 disc deluxe edition (DVD) This movie is a fictional story based on the book The Communist Who Ate Children by David Grieco about Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo, a.k.a. The Butcher of Rostov, who confessed of murdering 56 women and children in the U.S.S.R. and was sentenced to death for 52 of them along with 5 counts of sexual assault in 1992. This movie is not a historical account of Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo's life, just a fictional story based on him dealing with his murders, his paedophilia, and the changing times in the U.S.S.R. from communism to the introduction of glasnost and perestroika by Gorbachev. This movie can be difficult for many to watch due to the subject material, so please be warned, Malcolm McDowell does an incredible job acting the part though (5 stars for this). Overall I give the film 4 stars out of 5.

2013-04-05 02:52:17

WHAT IS THE POINT???

This review is from: Evilenko 2 disc deluxe edition (DVD) I think the world of Malcolm McDowell and so when he mentioned this movie in an interview he gave as an extra on A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, I ordered the DVD. I thought EVILENKO was to be the true story of Andrei Chikatilo. With a story as bizarre and as chilling and as powerful as that of the actual killer, why would anyone mess with it all that much? Perhaps compress events, change some names, but the truth was way too terrible to tamper with. Or so I thought. But watching this movie is like wasting time studying a student drawing of, say, Munch's THE SCREAM and not paying due diligence to the actual masterpiece.So I watched the movie before the whistle was blown in the interminable extras on disc two. I watched the movie thinking, wow, the murderer was a hypnotist in addition to being a cannibal? And - wow - how the head cop outsmarts the villain during the interrogation, pretending to be himself hypnotized into taking off his clothes and helping Evilenko spank the monkey. Wow, I thought, reality trumps fiction almost always! I thought I was watching a close semblance to the truth of the hideous history - and when I discovered that the bulk of the storyline was fabricated, I slumped and wondered what the heck was the point?One point of the writer/director is given in his long, long interview on disc two. David Grieco pushes the notion that the breakup of communist Russia was the catalyst for the birth of Evilenko/Chikatilo. According to him, the one had much to do with the other. A fragmentation of identity, sort of, and a throwback to the origins of mankind where we ate one another. Frankly, I didn't buy any of it. Just like I was sorry to have bought this film. When I googled the true story behind this mess I was stunned at how much more fascinating, frightening, fiendish the true story was compared to anything fabricated in this movie. It boggles the mind wondering why anyone would base a film on a true story and then falsify and sanitize the truth of what was its supposed inspiration. Why promote this movie as being based on the real life story and then water it down so? Blood is thicker than water, after all!

2013-04-04 10:27:09

Pedophillia & Murder

Evilenko, is based on the true story of a serial killer known as Andrei Chikatilo who was a former member of the soviet union. Malcolm McDowell puts on an excellent portrayl of "Enko" (They changed the name for the slight differences in the film). The director stated that he didn't want to make a documentry. The film covers the last two taboos: Cannibalism & Pedophillia. Therefore as a warning it is a very brutal film. Some may even be repulsed it. But of course this is all a part of the film's honest portrayl of a monster. In my opinion, this film, out of all serial killer films: dahmer, gacy, bundy, gein and manson, was the most gruesome, difficult film to watch of them all. However unlike the others, even though they changed a couple of things, i felt it was the most close to the fact dipiction of a murderer. That and the acting is what makes this film worth watching. The Dvd features are better than most serial killer films because you get a documentry about the real killer and extras.

2013-03-24 21:52:38

Good dvd:

This review is from: Evilenko 2 disc deluxe edition (DVD) This is one of those movies that keep you on the edge of your seat.It had me saying oh no through out the whole movie. His wife had so much trust in him.....sad!

jezjonson 2013-03-24 14:40:10

Malcolm Mcdowell at his best

Well let's face it. This is in fact a great film. Malcolm Mcdowell istruly amazing. It is a sad film and not the slasher flick that I wasexpecting. MM is a fantastic actor. Every moment you see him in thisfilm is quality stuff.The story is quite unsettling and that might be a good thing? Manymovies these days have nothing special about them at all! This film hassome great acting, great cinematography and many uneasy moments. Nottoo bad at all.Watch it - it's not a waste of time. Some movies are. I am lookingforward to searching out other MM films (yes I know he did ClockworkOrange). Keep up the good work Malcolm.

2013-03-17 20:17:06

Russian rude awakening

This review is from: Evilenko 2 disc deluxe edition (DVD) Russia finallly enters the 20th century socially with their revelation that they have a serial killer, a concept totally foriegn to their way of life and thinking-althouigh this version is a fictionalized docudrama style film, it is done with an unwavering adhesion to the facts of this case, one of the most prolific serial killers of all time much less Russia- Malcolm Mcdowell was superb,totally capturing the essence of depravity that no doubt infused the murderer, and leading you down a path you dont want to follow, but must-although much of this was covered [and very well] in the movie Citizen X, it delves deeper into the lives all of those involved in the case, and definitely holds your attention to the end

2013-03-17 11:25:40

Some of the subject matter in this movie is of the highest importance...

This movie is a "must-see" for all... There are elements in this story that take place that are ultra important for the general public to be aware of. This film is difficult to watch and very disturbing, however, if you can manage to view it, very educational. People need to be aware of "other sides" of reality. Though this is a "true crime" "serial killer movie", it has phenomenal aspets to it. Andrei, the serial killer not only murders rapes and eats people, but this tale indicates that he also hypnotizes anyone he wants, though it may not all be by choice. An extremely interesting film, unique in that anyone who watches it can somewhat see how the human mind can work, what is not only possible but is a reality, the usage of the brain and what it is capable doing, and or how supernatural external entities can take over, either way. In this case it is not clear cut, exept to say that Andrei appears to perpetuate it all, but in one case where he did not seem to want to murder a girl until she performed fallatio on him. I need to read the book to get a more accurate viewpoint on that stance, and additionally, I have not seen the bonus features yet. Now here is something that probably not one single person who reads this will believe... I once knew a man who could hypnotize a mouse to walk into a snakes mouth. I wasn't sure weather to believe it myself, of course at the time I thought this was far fetched. However, this man was able to get inside of my head and made me not only think of a word of his choice, but the word reverberrated in my mind for at least a good minute I would say. The word just kept getting louder faster, pounding inside of my head. I could not get the word out of my head, it just finally stopped... And when it did, this man said just the word, nothing else, outloud to me... And I am definately not crazy.

TM-2 2013-03-02 17:05:46

Awful...Awful....Awful

I seldom vote a movie so low ....this got a 2 from me. I was sooodisappointed! The real story is soooooo much more interesting.Why on earth the writer / director felt the need to take a real lifestory and then wrap it up in fictionalized nonsense is beyond me.Imagine a story like in the movie Downfall about the last days inHitler's bunker. As brilliant a movie as could be made. Imagine thatinstead of Hitler, it chronicled the downfall of a Mr. Hilter, a badfictional character. Further imagine that what actually happened wasmodified to make a different story. Who cares about a mythical MrHilter an his stupid story when you have the horror of the story ofHitler and what his last days were. This is as bad an idea as what Ican possibly imagine! This movie is not about the mass murderer Andrei Chikatilo. This isabout a Mr.Evilenko (Mr. Hilter) If you want to see a much better movie about Chikatilo see Citizen X.Sorry but this is pure trash (and I liked The Adventurers andCaligula)!

Weenola 2013-03-02 01:06:49

The only thing bad about this movie is,. that it is spoken in English.

Evilenko,.. what can i say or tell about it,..One of the most disturbing and sick serial killers opens his mind andinvites you to enter it barefoot.It goes all the way in every thought, emotion, expression and action,..the mind opens and reveals the sickness and horror.I watched this DVD and from 1 minute i felt weird, i dunno, i had thisweird and unpleasant feeling in my stomach, i wanted to turn it of buti just couldn't. Malcolm McDowell is amazing in this movie and grabbedme by the throat and took me the whole journey. I couldn't resist it.I forgot i was watching a movie instead of a real life documentarybecause the acting and environment is so real and intense.One of the most scary things in this movie is the way Evilenkoapproaches and master his victims,. truly amazing.If i could choose to be captured and held on a chair in a hostel movieor look evilenko in the eyes i would choose to be tortured ala hostelstyle, Because looking in the eyes of evilenko is a dark and tormentingjourney that goes on, even beyond death.The tension in this movie is really good, the cat and mouse gamebetween Evilenko and special agent Vadim Timurouvic Lesiev is exitingand delivers a lot of scary moments. (the scene in the prison cell is atrue masterpiece)Good story, good acting, this is an amazing movie! It hits you in theface like a nailed bat, full force, raw and pure.Not for everybody because of the disturbing scenes and way of filmingbut even if it isn't your kind of movie, you still cant Deni that thisis a masterpiece.The only thing that i find a little disappointed is that it is spokenin English. I think that if it was spoken Russian it would be a moredarker movie,. but fair is fair, the English will also do.

2013-02-12 15:11:39

Disappointing

This review is from: Evilenko 2 disc deluxe edition (DVD) After watching Citizen X I found this not near as engaging but a different view. Disappointing to say the least.Wouldn't watch again.

imdb-646 2013-02-12 02:11:03

Trash!!! A complete piece of garbage.

I started watching this movie because the story of Chikatilo is onethat is horrible as well as interesting.On the DVD box it said the real story of Citizen X. Well, those whohave seen the movie Citizen X will probably agree with me that thisversion is completely garbage. Not only is this movie stupid, theauthor of the book, who is also the director of the movie, just made aridiculous story. The real "monster of Rostov" was Andrei Chikatilo and not AndreiEvilenko. And the policeman was Viktor Burakov and not Vadim TimurovicLesiev.Don't read the book by David Grieco, but read the true story, writtenby Robert Cullen.

Q 2013-02-02 22:15:53

Frank Look at Chilling Subject

Overall, honest look at a painful subject. Marton Csokas is brilliant. He's subtle, you need to observe him closely: a hard gulp speaks in place of words for instance; later he cuts loose with a rage that is awesome. Malcolm McDowell is a wonderful villain, as always.

exadx 2013-02-02 09:20:56

Evil and Co

Since his fateful role in "Clockwork Orange" as Alex De Large, MalcolmMc Dowell was doomed to spend the rest of his career playing thevillain archetype (Caligula and countless B-horror movies...). Let'shope he earned enough money to help him to forget what would havehappened if Stan the Man didn't choose him among 10.000 Mick Jaggerlookalikes (yes, our favorite worn out handbag was approached for therole).Evilenko's the dumbest flick a director can bring forth with a subjectas sensitive and hard to cope with as serial killers and paedophilia's.Not an ounce, not even the merest gram of nuance or elusiveness,D.Grieco wrecks everything with the subtlety of Red Army soldiersdiscovering German women hidden in a Berlin cellar during WWII. MalcolmMac Dowell tries alone to rescue the movie from a predictable flop, tono avail. He and the late Klaus Kinski led the same kind of career, butthey could only save what was worth saving.

Jason 2013-01-28 23:16:37

Malcolm McDowell rocks

I think this movie departs from reality - but McDowell held my interest throughout the movie. It's a fascinating and horrific story of an evil man and McDowell kicked ass. Some of the lesser characters were a little weak - but I enjoyed this suprising movie.

GEORGI 2013-01-28 04:08:31

A real story

I'm sorry to disappoint you my friend but the whole story is real,real cold and brutal.In fact if there were more visual scenes of violence the movie i think would be too hard to watch but this is European type of cinema it relays on the plot mainly not the visuals.And to the people that are not familiar with this story-it really happened that way,Chikatilo was really a man who we couldn't even imagine,unique and horrifying he manipulated his victims so well that it seems like science-fiction when you see it in the movie,and there are even theories that the people he killed are even more than proved and that he kept the names with a hope of a smaller sentence.An interesting fact is that in the moment of his execution(he was supposed to be shot in the head) he screamed "Don't shot me in the head the Japanese would like to buy my brain" and they really offered a big price for it later.But still they shot him.In the head.If his brain was studied who knows what things we could learn from it?!?

2013-01-17 12:20:28

Grim Business...

Andrei Evilenko (Malcolm McDowell from A Clockwork Orange, The Barber, etc.) is a devout communist. Unfortunately, his beloved Soviet Union is collapsing around him. Evilenko also happens to be a prolific serial-rapist / murderer and voracious cannibal ( most of his victims are children). When we first meet Andrei, he is an elementary school teacher. We are quickly convinced that this is not the best job for him, as he attacks a small girl within minutes. Yep, this guy is a disgusting, extremely dangerous beast. Evilenko is a walking abomination, a man consumed by perverse demons and hideous ghosts. So intense is his bitterness and hate that he can only destroy those in his path. Detective Lesiev (Marton Csokas) is assigned to track down the infamous killer. This leads to several twists and near-misses where Evilenko slips right through the manhunt. I must say that as repugnant as Andrei was, what I found most "shocking" was the lengths to which Lesiev would go in order to catch him and extract his confession. The final interrogation is pretty wild, yet ultimately effective. EVILENKO is an unsettling story of a man-made monster using party affiliation and chaos as cover for his malignant deeds. Highly recommended for those w/ the stomach for it...

thullman 2013-01-17 01:12:28

fascinating true story turned into a piece of crap

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

Jonny_Numb 2013-01-08 22:03:35

Say it ain't so, Alex!

"Evilenko" is a dramatization of the crimes of Russian pedophile/serialkiller Andrei Chikatilo, and the latest film to join the ranks of DTVfare such as "Ted Bundy," "Ed Gein," and "The Zodiac Killer" (amongothers). Like the aforementioned films, this paints a half-cockedportrait of madness undermined by inadequate production values,embellished details, and a plodding pace (there is no reason for thisto crawl towards nearly 2 hours). Writer-director David Grieco bringssome flair to the images and storytelling, and Malcolm McDowell isfinely awkward in the title role, but the overall structure isincredibly mundane: like other films of this type, we have policemen onthe trail of a mad killer; mad killer kills; police arrive at crimescene(s); killer is caught; killer is killed. Angelo Badalamenti, bestknown for his work with David Lynch, composed the generic,undistinguished score. "Evilenko" has the benefit of McDowell, butprecious little else--overall, it's a bland, boring experience.

2013-01-08 06:52:08

Mesmerizing

This is a riveting movie that takes us to places, figuratively and literally, that make us glad to be back home again, safe and sane. It takes us into the mind, behind the piercing blue eyes, of a serial killer. Malcom McDowell delivers one of his best performances ever as Evilenko, a man who killed and ate numerous children and young women. The brilliant acting raises this movie far above the current spate of serial killer accounts though. It has unique intensity. McDowell convinces us of his character, a man wrapped in rabid loyalty to the Communist Party in the decade just before the Party's fall. From his gravelly voice, to the great Russian bear hug he extends to his victims - McDowell concentrates new kinds of tyranny and menace into his portrayal.The movie also takes us onto the scene of Communist Russia's last years. Filmed in the Ukraine, it shows both the milder side of life under the Communist regime (children playing along tree-lined pathways) and the grim side (interrogation rooms with stained walls and the relentless sound of water dripping somewhere in the background).I don't now why this movie got so little publicity. It deserves to be considered as one of the top movies of the year. And McDowell deserves top awards for leading us down those tree-lined paths - into a nightmare.