Unseen Evil Reviews

This is terrific low-budget monster mayhem with shocks gross-outs and humor. Hatch and Thomerson are great in their respective roles and the twist ending is good for a sick chuckle. Thirty years ago Unseen Evil would have played drive-in double features all summer long. Give it a look.
(VIDEOSCOPE MAGAZINE)

WOELFEL’S BEST FILM…

Really a terrific combo monster movie/suspense chiller. The early scenes in the van reminded me of the early parts of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, where you get that claustrophobic feeling and this sense of overwhelming discomfort, like something is down that road and while you don’t know a that point what it is, you sure as hell know it’s nothing good. I also liked the fact that so much of the monster was hidden and what made the film work much of the time was what you COULDN”T see (something so few artists-filmmakers, writers, whatever-fail to realize today).
(THE EDGE MAGAZINE)

UNSEEN EVIL IS A REFRESHINGLY ORIGINAL HORROR MOVIE.

Director Jay Woelfel has combined a cast and crew that have taken great care in making sure this film is entertaining, great effects, music, and full of surprises. The filming is beautiful with the scenery set deep in the woods, even the cave sequences are filmed wonderfully. They have that dark, eerie presence to them, which you would expect from an ancient hidden cave. Great CGI work, especially for a low budget movie, the appearance of the “creature” was very impressive. There is also a good score. The surprises I spoke of you will have to discover for yourselves. Just remember things aren’t always as they seem. Late night B-movie fanatics, this is a must see!
(ENTERTAINMENT ZONE ON LINE MAGAZINE)

A FAST PACED WELL-ACTED LITTLE CHILLER.

Thanks to a surprisingly solid cast, including veterans Richard (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) Hatch and Tim (TRANCERS) Thomerson, economical and effective direction and some very uneven but at times quite effective CGI work this one succeeds as an effective little thriller.
(CINESCAPE MAGAZINE)

The film is entertaining, the effects are low budget but decent for what they are. If you are looking for something different you may want to pick this title up.
(VIDEO VIEWS)

Very Enjoyable! I was totally hooked after the first ten minutes. It has some very suspenseful and entertaining moments, and some pretty good performances. It is a very decent horror movie and one that I recommend.
(IMDB REVIEW)

***** GREAT HORROR FILM THAT KEPT ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT

This is a great horror film that was very entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat for 90 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, this is a low budget horror film, but it’s one of the best of that genre that I have seen in a long time. If you enjoy “scary monster in the woods” movies like I do, you will love this one. As a bonus, this flick also features great 70’s stars like Richard Hatch, Tim Thomerson and Robbie Rist! Check it out!
(AMAZON REVIEW)

THE FILM WORKS.

All the performances are solid, the film has a good pace, a steady drive to the cave- with a gradual revealing of the intrigue to come along the way-then the headlong run from the cave, that keeps interest up even when there actually isn’t a lot going on. It’s a very solid “B” picture.
(JOHN THONEN, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST)

A GOOD EXAMPLE OF ITS TYPE.

It features an impressive montage of computer generated planets in space…Richard Hatch is quite a bit better here than in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. Unseen Evil seems to have a cast and crew who care, which is more than can be said for most of the junk that ends up on video shelves these days. Horror fans need to see this film as proof that there are imaginative people still out there, trying to make low-budget movies that work.
(STOMP TOKYO)

**** FUN B-MOVIE

My friend and I watched this movie the other day and really liked it. If you are into B-movie, horror movies, you will really have some fun with this one. It has a lot of action, suspense, aliens, a scary monster, a wisecracking black guy and cool dude Tim Thomerson. It also has a great surprise ending which I won't give away. We give it two thumbs up!
(AMAZON REVIEW)

UNSEEN EVIL IS A FORMULA MONSTER MOVIE THAT BREAKS THE FORMULA WITH GENUINE PLOT TWISTS.

Richard Hatch was so stoic in his days as Apollo on Battlestar Gallactica, that it's unsettling to see him play such as soulless villain as Dr. Peter Jensen in Jay Woelfel's UNSEEN EVIL. Woelfel helps keep Hatch reigned in with a role that could have gone off into Nicholson-Joker land with some hammy scene-chewery. As Jensen, Hatch plays a college professor blinded by greed who resorts to pillaging Native American artifacts from a sacred burial ground. Simple vanity motivates Jensen's petty greed; he's a man who has been passed over time and time again for the recognition he feels he deserves. If he can't have fame, he would rather have fortune. At the dig all hell breaks loose as an ancient being protecting the dig-site goes about taking back whatever's been stolen As the story unfolds, events are kept tightly together and UNSEEN EVIL becomes a textbook example of low-budget moviemaking where the filmmakers have to make-do with what they have: a cave, a bus, volatile characters, and a monster that can't be seen - which saves on the FX budget and helps play-up the fear of the unknown. There are certain moments where the movie tries to bite off more than it can chew with some out-of-place CGI effects, but unlike other movies the effects aren't the point those scenes and aren't as distracting as they could be. Writing this review after interviewing Jay Woelfel puts me a disadvantage in that I've already discussed the thematic ground with him, much of which he spelled out for me - from character motivation and flaws to an the intention NOT to have UNSEEN EVIL be a Native American soapbox. Woelfel is also nice enough to shell much of the film's credit off on screenwriter Scott Spears, dispelling the myth that directors hog all the limelight for themselves. With UNSEEN EVIL, both men have a small movie they can be proud of.
(B-INDEPENDENT)

UNSEEN EVIL, a Jay Woelfel film takes a basic monster movie plot and gives it a little extra depth. Indeed, the ways in which the characters interact are not only interesting but downright quirky. Richard Hatch as Dr. Jensen does particularly well. A palpable sense of guilt and regret hangs over his character from the film’s first scene. UNSEEN EVIL despite an extraterrestial twist, is basically a familiar “monster wants its gold back” plot. What makes the movie work well, though, is how the film doesn’t make any effort to deny its nature. The characters play through the scenario with dead earnestness, never giving into attempts at self-referential hipness that so many modern horror movies now lay on so heavily. The fact that the movie isn’t afraid to be a monster movie, albeit one with interesting characters, makes UNSEEN EVIL a fun addition to the giant monster sub-genre.
(CULT CUTS MAGAZINE)