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.
Add a Review
-
neilor-14 July 2020
-
disclose-15 March 2006I'm rather split between whether I like this movie or not. Sure, I did enjoy it but there are some things that kind of bothered me. Mostly small details that I felt were either completely wrong or just things that I felt that the writer had missed. But of course there where a lot of excellent things that were mentioned and really brought out about Andrei Chikatilo (a name he later took, for you who didn't already know). I liked how they brought out Chikatilos passion for communism. According to what i have read about him he was very patriotic and a communist party member, so therefor you can imagine that he actually was as he was portrayed in the movie when it came to communist politics. There was also the great acting of Malcolm McDowell. The way he portrayed how Chikatilo felt uneasy when he felt his blood lust return and how he became more calm afterward. Accordning to authors of various books on Chikatilo he had told the police after his arrest that it was like a craving he had and it could only be quenched by the blood of his victims. And you could see that under the surface of Chikatilo in the movie when he was out in public. As if he seemed rather anxious and uneasy but was trying to hide it so that nobody would realize it.
But there were a lot of minor details that really bothered me. And I know this is just a movie and not really a documentary, but still. Like how he had no children in the movie, but the real life Chikatilo actually had 2. Yes he was impotent when it came to normal sex, but that doesn't make it impossible for them to have children. And then there was the fact that the main reason Chikatilo murdered people was because of sexual satisfaction through sadism. Chikatilo was a grade a sadist that only could achieve an orgasm through the pain of others. That's why he butchered and mutilated all those people. But instead they just skipped that whole part and drew it over as insanity. That was just all wrong. Chikatilo never was insane. (even though he tried for an insanity plea at court by acting as if he had various illnesses such as schizophrenia) He knew perfectly well what he was doing every single time. And what was up with that whole "hypnotist" bit? I mean that's the first time I've heard that about him. Sure he was said to have been very charismatic but I think that was taking it too far.
But all in all I think you can enjoy this movie if you're a fan of other serial killer movies like this one (Dahmer, Bundy etc etc). I was a little bit to distracted about details to have enjoyed this to the fullest. And I've heard a lot of talk about this other movie about Andrei "Chikatilo" Romanovic and that it is better, but everyone has different taste so you never know.
I give five because of my personal distractions. I'm not saying that it's bad at all. On the contrary, if you like this kind of movie you should definitely see it. If not, watch Hostel instead. It sucks, but at least the production values are good.
Sorry for all the rambling. Cheers -
sofiepeterson21 March 2011It's such a depressing movie. When I was finished watching my mood had changed. I felt down in every sense of the word. I had the exact same feeling when I had watched Citizen X. There's something so sad about Andrei Chikatilo combined with former Soviet Union I just wanna scream out in pure agony! It's not bad but if you've seen Citizen X (they are very alike) you don't need to see this, and if you want to stay in a happy mood you shouldn't either! But if you don't care about that, go ahead and watch. It's not a bad movie, it keeps you focused the whole time. But it's very disturbing. It's roles like this (Andreis) that can actually make you hate the actor behind it, because he did such a good job playing Andrei that I don't feel like seeing his face ever again! (It's a compliment but not necessarily a good thing)
-
Cablebot300018 August 2008A teacher by the name of Andrej Evilenko (played by Malcolm McDowell) is fired after he tried to rape one of his young students. This first scene is truly unsettling and shocking. From there is gets worse when this communist man decides he likes to kill. Mr. McDowell does an excellent, creepy job as a real life serial killer. Now, that being said, I'm not all sure how much of the story is actually real. Its pretty believable though. All this being said, everyone who took part in the movie was great, and the acting was well done. The movie as a whole is good, but also a little too much (well, maybe not to some viewers). The movie is quit graphic and intense, but not to gratuitous so that is good. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the story, or anyone in the cast. Other than that though, I'd say its up to whoever if they really wanna see it. I rate this 7/10 (mainly for the superb acting). (my rating) Rated R for disturbing and aberrant violent and sexual content, nudity and some language
-
lee_eisenberg25 March 2006Until I spotted "Evilenko" at the DVD store, I'd never heard of the man portrayed (Evilenko wasn't his real name). But it turns out that he was the Soviet Union's most famous serial killer. Andrey Evilenko (Malcolm McDowell) was a teacher in 1980s Kiev who tried to rape one of his students and got fired. From there, he started murdering children and women, all the while masquerading as someone defending communism.
You gotta understand that this guy was downright sick, as the movie makes clear. I guess that this movie isn't a masterpiece, but it does a good job showing him going crazy. Probably recommendable, if only to show a certain part of history. -
t_atzmueller25 April 2013I have to admit, I've long been hesitant to watch "Evilenko". For one, I rather liked "Citizen X", thinking that very little could be added to the horrid story of Russian serial-killer Andrei Chikatilo. Another factor was that over the past few years we had gotten some very rotten acting by Malcolm McDowell (to mention only the tepid "Halloween"-Remake(s)), which made me believe that the old man had lost the last of his abilities.
"Evilenko" proved me wrong on both counts.
Rather than being another retelling of "The Ripper of Rostov" (like I had come to expect), the story of "Evilenko" is actually only loosely based on the Chikatilo-case.
Let's make that clear: McDowell plays a character that, in my opinion, counts amongst the most despicable, repulsive in cinema-history. A dirty old man out of the text-book from hell, without any redeeming qualities. Yet, through the sheer power of McDowells performance, the viewer cannot help but keep his eyes clued to the character of Evilenko – and worst, we're being sucked right into his mind, trying to analyze it, whether we want it or not. Nor does the actor allow us to perceive the character as a pure fiend or monster; he stays human though-out (despite the beast of a human) and that may well be the worst and most brilliant nuance of McDowells play.
You may have noticed that this review mainly speaks about the actor McDowell. It could (and even should) be mentioned that the cinematography is splendid, the soundtrack compelling, fitting, the atmosphere is possibly darker and gloomier than "Citizen X", even. That and the actors (including the child-actors) to a large extent are excellent. But in essence the film is carried by Malcolm McDowell and thinking about the many negative reviews I've written about the actor in recent years; well they may not have been incorrect and won't apologize. McDowell has performed rather half a**sed in many inferior pictures, but I was definitely wrong with one thing: he still is a great actor, very well among the most powerful of his generation and I truly would have to pull my hat off, if I was wearing one.
Not to call it a perfect movie, it definitely got it's weaknesses – loosing a little steam after the first half, the character which Ronald Pickup is slightly wasted, the revelation about Evilenkos father seems nothing but unnecessary and whether there was a need of Evilenkos "symbolic" powers of hypnotism remains questionable.
Not withstanding, it's an excellent film, this much I can guarantee – however, I cannot guarantee that you will like it, be comfortable with it or feel better after having seen it. A horrible film, in the most positive of terms.
7/10 -
thullman4 February 2006A 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. -
I vote often but rarely feel the need to go beyond that point. With that said I will keep it simple. The acting is believable, the soundtrack, compelling, haunting and delicious. The story, although altered and a piece of fiction based on fact, interesting. Performances all around are believable, Malcolm hits a definite peak with his portrayal, a career milestone. Don't expect disturbing scenes of horror, expect disturbing scenes of subtle perversion. We don't enter the mind of the serial killer, he has to let us out first. Inside the mind of Evilenko, you will see the blue sky. (comrade) Perhaps today is not the day, but I see this becoming a cult classic in the years to come. Recommended.
Also recommended is the Italy only soundtrack with vocal samples from the movie. -
alocastro711 December 2010In 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. -
the_wolf_imdb7 March 2008I have bought the DVD, because I remembered very powerful movie about Chekotylo. The problem is that the movie I have remembered was "Citizen X", not "Evilenko". Evilenko is stupid, absolutely surreal movie, classic Italian cheap crap. McDovell tries to save the movie, but script is too chaotic and unrealistic. The story is not true even if tries to pretend to. The strangest part is the fact the move is boring too, which is really strange for mass-murder thriller. Only first 20 minutes or so are interesting, but unfortunately the boredom lasts another 100 minutes! It was so dull I was not been able to watch it to the end. Well, 2 Euros wasted (at least it was cheap). Spare your time and money - watch "Citizen X" instead.
-
maxbrinck26 February 2006Evilenko 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.
-
I saw this movie at the Natfilm-festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. I was thoroughly unimpressed. Not true, there was actually one good thing about the movie: Malcolm McDowell. His acting is superb, he can play a maniac like few others and in this movie he is positively chilling. I also loved his performance in 'The Company', another horrible movie with a few good performances. It is sad that he can't find a good movie to invest his considerable talent in.
Back to the movie. The movie was presented by the director who explained, that he wanted it to be a parable on the collapse of communism and the disillusion, that brought with it. This explains, I think, to some extent what went wrong. He tried too hard. The script ended up being a mishmash of a fascination-with-serial-killers-horror-movie and a self-indulgent and trite piece of symbolism. One of the worst scenes is the interrogation scene, where the investigator confronts Evilenko and "battles with him on his terms". I don't think I have ever seen so many clichés and and so much half-digested pop-psychology forced into such an unnecessarily long scene. The dialogue is completely unbelievable and it certainly doesn't help, that it is, for the most part, delivered by utterly untalented people. Why the director chose to use Russian actors and dub them with second-rate voice actors is a mystery. Marton Csokas plays well enough, if a little wooden and the actress playing Evilenko's wife steals the frame in the few scenes she is in. Other than that the movie is a complete waste of actor wages.
In conclusion, I would like to say, that I think this movie gave me an understanding for the horror Evilenko's victims must have felt. I certainly couldn't get out of the cinema fast enough. -
Zidamon29 December 2005This is the true story of citizen Chikatilo, a serial killer on the loose in former Russia and the man who brought him in, detective Vadim Timorovic Lesiev.
McDowell plays his role as a creepy killer very well, but the rest of the movie can't keep up with his performance.
This story has been told before in the movie Citizen X from director Chris Gerolmo, and in my opinion so much better. Although detective Lesiev is called Burakov in this version of the story, Stephen Rea plays this role very well. You can feel his frustration fighting against a corrupt and unwilling system. The part of Chikatilo is played by Jeffrey DeMunn and he does a great job. His performance of the warn out factory worker with a deadly secret, is so much more believable than the monster McDowell portrays in Evilenko.
Besides that, Citizen X can support on a great cast (Donald Sutherland, Joss Ackland, Max von Sydow, John Wood) and has something that Evilenko lacks: a good script! -
mrhankey117 January 2006Macolm Mcdowell did a great job in this movie as Andrej Romanovic Evilenko. His one of the best actors, but he played only in a few very good movies. In this and in A Clockwork Orange, but that was ages ago. Also Marton Csokas played very good as the police officer. Do not think this movie wasn't good, due to the bad reviews. Watch this movie yourself and you'll see it's very good. There are now like 160 votes on this movie because nobody knows it. IT IS as good as citizen X, Very different story, and a much better plot. The director, David Grieco, did a great job in working out the characters. You know more about the killer and about the police men, then in citizen X. Go to see this movie and you really enjoy it. 8/10
-
imdb-64620 January 2006I started watching this movie because the story of Chikatilo is one that is horrible as well as interesting.
On the DVD box it said the real story of Citizen X. Well, those who have seen the movie Citizen X will probably agree with me that this version is completely garbage. Not only is this movie stupid, the author of the book, who is also the director of the movie, just made a ridiculous story.
The real "monster of Rostov" was Andrei Chikatilo and not Andrei Evilenko. And the policeman was Viktor Burakov and not Vadim Timurovic Lesiev.
Don't read the book by David Grieco, but read the true story, written by Robert Cullen. -
ptram-16 April 2007Evilenko is one of those rare moments in the history of cinema, where a (nearly) perfect mix of elegance and perversion succeeds in producing an alarming portrait of the world in which we live. Acting, screenplay, direction, music and scenes, all contribute to create a realistic, dark atmosphere of decadence and inner horror. The story tells this is somewhere in Russia during the Gorbacev era. But we can locate it everywhere - everywhere there is a school, and there is a hierarchy ready to cover even the worse crimes. Malcom McDowell creates one of the most credible, disgusting and disturbing monsters ever seen on screen. Not fascinating as Hannibal Lecter, his clear character alteration is not enough to be aware of his pernicious attitude. This is the first movie of Grieco: not bad as a debut! The movie has not been really distributed in Italy, and I see the average score in IMDb is very low. I understand this is not the usual investigation movie, so it's hard to be accepted. However, I found it to be an important movie, if not really a milestone.
-
jined23 April 2004The story about the russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo that was probably one of the worst of the history, blamed of killing over 100 peoples and and even eaten parts of the body (some was children). In my opinion this movie is too slow and too much philosophical, is a story, seen from the eyes of the russian detective Vadim Timorovic Lesiev, but such an important representation is lacking of thrill and suspence even some interesting action. Here is represented as a sort of philosophical documentary. Evilenko is an important character and the intense interpretation of Malcolm McDowel probably is not enough to save this movie. Worth to see in a dvd rental.
-
Jonny_Numb17 February 2006"Evilenko" is a dramatization of the crimes of Russian pedophile/serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, and the latest film to join the ranks of DTV fare such as "Ted Bundy," "Ed Gein," and "The Zodiac Killer" (among others). Like the aforementioned films, this paints a half-cocked portrait of madness undermined by inadequate production values, embellished details, and a plodding pace (there is no reason for this to crawl towards nearly 2 hours). Writer-director David Grieco brings some flair to the images and storytelling, and Malcolm McDowell is finely awkward in the title role, but the overall structure is incredibly mundane: like other films of this type, we have policemen on the trail of a mad killer; mad killer kills; police arrive at crime scene(s); killer is caught; killer is killed. Angelo Badalamenti, best known for his work with David Lynch, composed the generic, undistinguished score. "Evilenko" has the benefit of McDowell, but precious little else--overall, it's a bland, boring experience.
-
claudio_carvalho23 February 2007In 1984, in Kiev, the communist teacher Andrej Romanovic Evilenko (Malcolm McDowell) is dismissed from his position after a pedophilic act against a student. On 15 May 1984, the pedophile Evilenko begins to rape children, and then slashing the victims in pieces and eating them. The magistrate family man Vadim Timurouvic Lesiev (Marton Csokas) is assigned to catch the serial killer and almost eight years later he finally captures the monster that killed fifty-five persons, most of them children and young women. On 22 May 1992, Evilenko goes to the court and on 14 February 1994 he is finally executed. "Evilenko" is a very impressive movie, based on the true story of a serial-killer from Soviet Union that recalls a darker and scarier Dr. Hannibal Lecter of "The Silence of the Lambs". The first point to highlight in this practically unknown gem is the stunning performance of Malcolm McDowell, who seems to be tailored for evil characters and is amazing in the role of a pedophile cannibal. Marton Csokas is also excellent, performing a persistent and firm investigator involved with the sick deaths and frustrated for not finding the monster. The direction of the promising David Grieco is also magnificent, keeping adequate pace and exposition of the scenes. The music score of the composer Angelo Badalamenti is outstanding as usual. In the end, "Evilenko" is a highly recommended movie that deserves to be discovered by the viewers. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "Evilenko"
-
panic-3416015 August 2018I was very disappointed after watching this picture. They took a historic case and made a dumbed down, stupid and at times insulting story. On several occasions it tries to shock the audience by the killer being a communist, as if that would be worse than being a serial killer. Remember this is played out in the soviet state, being a communist was a very good thing and even required. The way the story is told is not at all fitting to the surroundings. Not worth watching, go see Citizen X instead.
-
jezjonson27 November 2006Well 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. -
Fatcontortionist7 December 2015This movie "based" on story of Chikatilo is little to non-accurate. Directed badly with pathetic actor performance of side characters it made me stop watching throughout 70% of movie and is complete waste of my time.
Never did Chikatillo had "long-gone" father reuniting with him, he also did not kill grown up men. His main target type were girls and young women along with young boys.
What to say, they did not even care to pronounce Russian-Ukrainian surnames and names correctly and it sounds pretty retarded.
Only McDowell is somewhat worthy, otherwise it is terrible.
Reading article on Wikipedia about Chikatilo is way more exciting than watching that pretentious pseudo documentary "movie". -
mistymanning28 February 2006Being somewhat of a serial killer history buff, I was surprised and excited to see "Evilenko" on the shelf at Hollywood Video. Based on real-life Russian killer Andrei Chikatilo, (I assume they changed the name to incorporate the word "evil", but I don't know for sure) this movie falls short of true drama AND any type of documentary. McDowell's accent is appalling (and ever-changing), and the scenes with the children are just plain disturbing. And not in that "Silence of the Lambs" disturbing way. In a "dear god I'm watching something bordering on pornography" way. I know I'm sort of exaggerating here, but it felt really wrong, and forced. No good!!!!
-
vasarik20 November 2013I think it is safe to say if you are looking for an accurate depiction of Andrei Chikatilo then this film is not for you. Although if you're going to moan about it, the fact they changed his name and made that the film title might have been a bit of a clue and you don't really have a case. It's not intending to be an accurate representation and they have been pretty clear.
Some of the characterisations are not particularly thorough. I wish they had done more with Ronald Pickup, as his character could have been used to create more life to Marton Csokas' character. It was also a shame to see so little of Frances Barber.
There is actually lot wrong with this film technically. Some of the voice dubbing grated particularly with me. I often found myself occasionally distracted by some technical element of the production that highlighted the fact this film was not on a blockbuster budget.
On the plus side, I do think the subject was handled with exceptional taste. As a film about a prolific serial killer, it didn't become overly graphic.
They do make use of a plot device which didn't feel particularly right when introduced, but it is then employed to great effect later on. At least it's not a clumsy device that is mentioned and it's clear it will be important later on, it's just something that become intrinsic to the main character without any real explanation.
There is also a very nice detail to unsettle the viewer which they may have been tempted to make more of, but the exercised great restraint in keeping its involvement minimal to achieve the best effect.
If I was going to rate this film objectively, I'd probably give it 6/10. It's not really bad, but there was just some elements that let it down.
That said, Malcolm McDowell is incredible in the main role. By the end of the film I found myself mesmerised by his whole persona whenever he came on screen. Throughout he manages to portray Evilenko as someone wholly believable and yet wholly creepy. Someone who struggles daily to fit in with the world and who has developed various mechanisms to act normal in it.
I really enjoyed this film. I understand why people have given it 9s and 10s. It was a great ride watching this absorbing character navigate around the authorities. You want him to get caught, but he is just a bit too clever or lucky for it to happen straight away. If I was going to give this film a rating purely subjectively, I think I might have been a little bit generous and given it a 10/10.
So splitting the difference, I've given it an 8.
If you haven't seen Citizen X, or you're the kind of person who can watch both on the same subject and appreciate the fact they are just films.
*and*
If you haven't read so much about Andrei Chikatilo that you're going to sit drawing comparisons.
Then I would definitely recommend watching this. In my opinion it's worth watching for Malcolm McDowell's performance alone. -
MumrikDK9 April 2005Nothing, and I mean nothing, works in this film. The acting, the accents (you'll repeatedly see actors alternate between a fake Russian accent and their own, be it British or American), the story telling, etc..
When the movie ended the first thing one of the friends I saw it with said was "Let's get out of here!" and I couldn't agree more. Evidently the same goes for the rest of the audience as most of them left before the announced Q&A with the director.
The fun we had in the 30 minutes we spent afterwards going through plot holes and inconsistencies almost earns Evilenko a "2"... almost....