No-budget, filmed-with-friends serial killer flick Evil Everywhere is the scattergun sequel to the makers’ previous effort Paura Tutto. In the first film, set in 1985, high school graduates were targetted for murder by a malevolent force who picked off the youngsters by dispatching their victims in alphabetical name order. The authorities suspected that one of this cohort, the ‘social outcast’ Zeke Zanderfeldt, was behind the killings, but he went into hiding after battling the true murderer.

Now, two years on, Zeke has re-emerged just as the killer has begun another murderous outrage. As well as its premise, Evil Everywhere picks up the central conceit of its predecessor: it’s a tongue-in-cheek homage to eighties shlock cinema and the motifs of the slasher genre. The film follows Zeke’s attempts to track down the killer, whilst evading arrest and the threat of death, as the new murder spree unfolds.

There’s a sense of gleeful abandon in the realisation of the multiple murder scenes that follow, complete with cheesy special effects. The bargain-basement bloodletting is delivered with a knowing acknowledgment of its shortcomings, and with the audience invited to share in a collective rolling of eyes. Numerous ‘killer’ moments from other horror flicks find reflection in the script, with the filmmakers’ love for the sensibilities of direct-to-video terror evident throughout.

Enthusiasm notwithstanding, the quality of acting amongst the film’s young ensemble is decidedly dodgy. The most accomplished aspect of the film is its annoyingly uptempo soundtrack, which cuts in with synth-pop signatures at key points (although the movie’s sound texture is all over the place).

The film’s own mythology is not very interesting and, as new characters are killed off almost as soon as they appear on screen, there’s little sense of rising tension as the film coasts towards its finale one-hour in.

How much you’ll enjoy Evil Everywhere depends on how far you relish observing the efforts of cheerful amateurs delivering a story with production values that would make the Troma studio feel they were shortchanging their audience. You might buy into the filmmakers’ audacity and complete lack of concern with creative standards, even those of grindhouse cinema. Equally, you might conclude that, in the end, Evil Everywhere is a film that will have been way more fun to make than it is to watch.

Evil Everywhere is out now on DVD/VOD in the US.