Evilenko: Limited Collector's Edition – Unearthed Films (UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 2003
Director: David Grieco
Writer: David Grieco
Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Marton Csokas, Ronald Pickup, Ruby Kammer, John Benfield, Evgeniya Gladiy, Ihor Ciszkewycz, Frances Barber, Vladimir Levitskiy, Alexei Chadyuk, Viktor Glushkov, Ostap Stupka, Vernon Dobtcheff, Adrian McCourt

Release Date: February 25th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 117 Minutes 54 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (UHD)/Region A (Blu-Ray)
Retail Price: $54.95

"For years, Andrei Evilenko (Malcolm McDowell, A Clockwork Orange, Gangster No. 1, TV's "Entourage") eluded the obsessive Detective Lesiev (Marton Csokas, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, xXx, Aeon Flux) and the psychiatric profiler Aron Richter (Ronald Pickup, The Chronicles of Narnia). Spurred on by his rabid fury at the gradual crumbling of his precious Soviet Union, Evilenko is a man who will live, die and kill as a communist." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (4K UHD), 4.25/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "New 4K restoration of the original camera negative by Unearthed Films."

Evilenko comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 77.3 GB

Feature: 75.2 GB

The source looks excellent; colors look correct, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and grain remains intact.

Evilenko comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.9 GB

Feature: 33.7 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English with removable English subtitles and removable English SDH. Though the audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced, it is limited range-wise.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD include an audio commentary with writer/director David Grieco and actor Malcolm McDowell.

Extras on the Blu-ray include a photo gallery with music from the film playing in the background, a theatrical trailer (2 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),  a documentary about the real-life basis for the character of Evilenko titled Evilenko Dossier: Andrei Chikatilo (27 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, Italian, Russian with removable English subtitles), David Grieco and Malcolm McDowell interview for Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University (69 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a collection interviews David Grieco, Malcolm McDowell and composer Angelo Badalamenti, producer Mario Cotone, costume design Agata Cannizzaro, actors Ihor Ciszkewycz, Marton Csokas, Ronald Pickup, makeup artist Alessandro Bertolazzi, cinematographer  Fabio Zamarion, and set photographer Fabian Cevallos (81 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, Italian, French with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with writer/director David Grieco and actor Malcolm McDowell.

Other extras include a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Written and directed by David Grieco, Evilenko was adapted from his novel The Communist Who Ate Children. Though Evilenko is a work of fiction, it is loosely based on the life and crimes of serial killer Andrei Chikatilo.

A former school teacher is unable to control his impulse to rape, kill, and cannibalize women and children.

We notice something is off about the protagonist the moment we are introduced to him. Though he works with children, his contempt for them is clear. After he’s fired from being a teacher he quickly evolves into a psychopath with no regard for life. He becomes more brazen with each new victim, never fearful of being caught.

Considering the subject matter, a character who rapes and eats his victims, most of whom are children, surprisingly most of the carnage is kept off-screen. That said, when there are more graphic moments, they do not hold anything back.

Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) is cast in the role of the protagonist Andrej Romanovic Evilenko. He’s an actor who's known for portraying psychopaths. He delivers a phenomenal performance that captures his character's god complex. That said, Malcolm McDowell’s performance is so powerful that it overshadows all of the other performances.

The score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti, who is most known for his collaborations with David Lynch. He delivers another exemplary score that heightens and perfectly captures the mood. The main theme and one other song were co-written by Dolores O'Riordan, who also sings both of them.

Though it becomes clear where the narrative is building towards, that does not lessen the impact by the time the finale arrives. The well-constructed narrative does an excellent job building momentum and creating tense moments. Another strength of the narrative is its peaks and valleys; key moments are given an ample amount of time to resonate. Ultimately, Evilenko is an uneasy journey into the darkest side of humanity that lingers on in your mind long after its final image.

Evilenko gets a solid release from Unearthed Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a wealth of extras; highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer