John’s Horror Corner: Eternal Evil (1985), a great idea for a rather boring movie.

MY CALL: Well, at least I’m one step closer to seeing every 80s horror movie ever made. That’s about the only positive I took away from this odd horror-drama. MORE MOVIES LIKE Eternal Evil: Maybe The Skeleton Key (2005) or Get Out (2017).

TV commercial director Paul (Winston Rekert) begins having out of body experiences during his dreams after learning about astral projection from an attractive dancer Janus (Karen Black; Invaders from Mars, Children of the Night, It’s Alive III, House of 1000 Corpses, Mirror Mirror, Night Angel). During these projections he essentially haunts those he observes, including his disapproving therapist. Some of Paul’s astrally observed victims turn up mysteriously dead from macabre, rib-protruding heart attacks. Now, this may sound really cool… if only it would lead somewhere satisfying. It won’t.

Meanwhile a detective is investigating these strange deaths, researching astral projection and spiritual vampires, and interviewing academics to explore the less rational possibilities. This sounds pretty cool, but the pacing is just too slow. And when death scenes transpire, there’s not much to them. Even when Paul’s own wife dies it is about as unexciting as this movie gets.

Let’s just spoil this movie, shall we. Some body-hopping spirits have been exchanging host bodies via astral projection over time in order to live forever. Once again, this may sound pretty cool… but it’s not. It’s boring. This all builds to a conceptually wild finale with numerous deaths that is, once again, yeah… kinda’ boring.

As far as 80s horror goes, this is perfectly competently made. Even more so than most typical teen-foddered slashers or haunted mansion movies of the era. This feels like a real movie; like more of a drama even. But just not a particularly good movie by any means. This is no hidden gem, and it has nothing particularly interesting to offer. I chose to sit through it after realizing it starred Karen Black and the director (George Mihalka; My Bloody Valentine, The Psychic) of at least one good horror movie. I may not regret the experience, and now I have checked another movie off my list of “all 80s horror movies I need to watch to see them all.” But I’m definitely not recommending this either.