Delayed Reaction: The Field Guide to Evil

The Pitch: Fine. If no one can agree on an idea or a language, then we'll all do our own.

A horror anthology from international filmmakers using regional folklore as an inspiration.

I like horror anthologies. This is no secret. They have all the strengths of horror with none of the drawbacks. I mean, when was the last time you watched a horror movie and thought "I'd like to know more of the deep mythology about this"? No, if you're like me, you're either looking for a good fright, a creepy atmosphere, or a nice inversion of a trope. And, even with the best intentions, horror ideas are hit or miss. It's no fun committing 90 minutes to an idea that, 40 minutes in, you know isn't going to work. An anthology introduces an idea, gets in a scare, and gets out before you have enough time to really think about it. If you don't like a story, 15 minutes later, you are done with it. That's perfect.

Needless to say, The Field Guide to Evil was an easy sell for me. I'll admit that the subtitles took me by surprise (I should really look movies up more before I start them...wait. No. That would be an awful idea). The hit rate of the stories wasn't great. None of the shorts blew me away. I don't think I have a clear favorite. Nearly all of them have some cool ideas. I liked the story of the new mother being haunted by the goat creature. The story of the two cobblers and the princess had the feel of a warped fable. I wasn't crazy about the Greek Christmas goblin story or the Appalachian mountain children.

So, remember a hundred words back when I said no one actually wants to learn deep horror mythologies? Well, that might've helped for this specific movie. Each short begins with a brief description of the lore that inspired the story. The problem is that they either gave away too much information about what was about to happen, or it left things too murky. The power of folklore is how it reflects the values and customs of a certain culture. A paragraph and a few striking visuals don't convey enough information. As a result, I spent most of each short trying to figure out if they were playing it straight or for laughs.

This is worth watching just for the number of horror ideas in it, but it's not one I intend to revisit. With some calibration, a Field Guide to Evil 2 could be pretty good.

Verdict: Weakly Recommend