The Evil Within

The Evil Within is a 2017 American horror film written and directed by Andrew Getty and starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Dina Meyer, Frederick Koehler, and Michael Berryman. It was originally titled The Storyteller. The film's conception and development was a personal project of Getty's, who largely self-financed it at the estimated cost of $4–6 million; production took fifteen years to complete. Following Getty's death in 2015, editing for the film was completed by producer Michael Luceri. The film made its official premiere at the Fantasporto Film Festival on February 26, 2017, and was later acquired by Vision Films, who released it via Video on Demand on April 4, 2017. The Evil Within received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the film's unevenness and dialogue while simultaneously commending it for its strangeness, and Getty's devotion to the material. Plot Dennis Peterson is a man with a mental disability who has had nightmares all his life since he was a child, including one where he entered a carnival ride that seemed underwhelming. He is told that "the ride isn't over." As an adult, Dennis has a dream where a living demon, called "The Cadaver", fastens a zipper onto his back and enters his body. Also, in his dream, he finds a hidden room in the cellar that holds a full-length mirror that Dennis believes The Cadaver came from. The very next day, his brother John presents him with an identical mirror as a gift. He begins speaking to his reflection, who seems to answer back to him. John has difficulties of his own. His girlfriend, Lydia, demands that they get married but is upset that he will not do anything about Dennis. He is visited by Mildy Torres, a woman from social services, who believes that Dennis needs to be taken away after receiving an anonymous phone call where someone accused John of having trouble controlling his temper. This upsets John as he feels that Dennis is his responsibility. Dennis continues to have nightmares of The Cadaver, and his reflection informs him that in order to get rid of it, they need to start killing animals. He begins working in the secret cellar, which perplexes John, especially when he sees that Dennis has videos on taxidermy. Dennis says the videos are not his but were accidentally switched with another customer.