''Surviving Evil'' (also known as ''Evil Island'') is a 2009

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed and written by Terence Daw, and produced by

David Pupkewitz David Pupkewitz is the founder and CEO of Focus Films Ltd. (UK). Starting out his career as an independent producer creating broadcast drama and documentaries for Channel 4, in 1995 he moved into Feature Film production with the George Sluizer hel ...

, Anton Ernst and

Malcolm Kohll Malcolm Kohll (born 5 November 1953 in South Africa) is a writer and film producer. Education He attended Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, where he trained as a journalist. On completing his course he came to London and did a pos ...

. It stars

Billy Zane William George Zane Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the 1989 Australian film ''Dead Calm'', a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promi ...

Christina Cole Christina Cole (born 8 May 1982) is an English actress known for portraying Cassie Hughes in the Sky One supernatural television series '' Hex''. Early life Born in London, Cole is the eldest of three siblings. She has a younger sister, Cassand ...

Natalie Mendoza Natalie Jackson Mendoza (born 12 August 1976) is an Australian actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her roles as one of the main characters, Jackie Clunes, in the British drama series '' Hotel Babylon'' (2006–2008) and as Juno in ...

and

Louise Barnes Louise Barnes (born 26 April 1974) is a South African actress. Barnes gained recognition in South Africa for various roles in locally produced films and television series'. She is best known for her role in the 2009 South African/UK horror film ...

. The screenplay concerns six documentary filmmakers who attempt to survive their visit to a

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

island to shoot a survival special when they discover that the

shape shifting In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...

, bloodthirsty

Aswang Aswang is an umbrella term for various shape-shifting evil creatures in Filipino folklore, such as vampires, ghouls, witches, viscera suckers, and werebeasts (usually dogs, cats, pigs). The aswang is the subject of a wide variety of myths, s ...

, a creature of

Philippine folklore Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various ...

inhabits the island.

Plot

A team of six documentary

filmmakers Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a Film, motion picture is #Production, produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through scr ...

, Sebastian "Seb" Beazley (

), Phoebe Drake (

), Cecilia "Chill" Reyes (

), Joey "Tito" Valencia (

Joel Torre José Rizalino "Joel" de León Torre (born June 19, 1961) is a Filipino actor and producer who is best known for his numerous films such as the biographical film ''José Rizal'' (1998), crime thriller film '' On the Job'' (2013) and the historica ...

), Rachel Rice (

) and Dexter "Dex" Simms (Colin Moss), arrive to spend six days shooting a wilderness survival special, ''Surviving the Wilderness'', on the remote Mayaman Island, one of the seven thousand islands that make up the

Philippine Archipelago The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine Archipelago, comprises about 7,641 islands, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited.Aswang Aswang is an umbrella term for various shape-shifting evil creatures in Filipino folklore, such as vampires, ghouls, witches, viscera suckers, and werebeasts (usually dogs, cats, pigs). The aswang is the subject of a wide variety of myths, s ...

creature inhabits the island. The second day, Joey and Cecilia travel alone to the village of the Isarog tribe, where people had been savaged and one woman's corpse remains with her stomach gouged open. Determined to stay for the whole trip, Joey forces Cecilia to keep her silence among the group about the lurking danger. That night, Phoebe overhears one of their conversations and together they discuss the Aswang, detailed as a

, flesh-eating, jungle tree creature of the

Filipino folklore Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various ...

, capable of procreating by altering the

fetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal deve ...

of a pregnant woman in an evolutionary process called ''Dungo nan bunti''. The creatures' fears include staying on the ground too long and fire. The third day, Sebastian is bitten by the Aswang and Phoebe comes across an infant corpse, as Joey and Cecilia follow map directions to a gun tower close to the Aswang’s nest. There, Cecilia finds out Joey is searching for gold to help his family. The gold and the

treasure map A treasure map is a map that marks the location of buried treasure, a lost mine, a valuable secret or a hidden locale. More common in fiction than in reality, "pirate treasure maps" are often depicted in works of fiction as hand drawn and contain ...

were left behind decades ago by Joey’s grandfather who was a prisoner of the Japanese army in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Joey detonates a hole in the tower floor and goes underground to find and obtain some of the gold. Just then, many Aswang creatures attack Cecilia, who stayed above to take cover for Joey. Cecilia falls out of sight, and when Joey returns to the surface, he is killed by the creatures, to Cecilia's horror. The group discovers Phoebe is pregnant and the Aswang creatures are after her blood to turn her baby into one of theirs. Cecilia escapes on foot from the creatures, with Dexter eventually finding her after she calls for help. This leads to the whole group coming under attack from the creatures, but they are able to injure some of them. The group attempts to leave the island on an

inflatable raft An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflata ...

, but the creatures pursue them again and end up killing Dexter. At nightfall, Sebastian and Phoebe go down a ditch in the jungle; however, Sebastian badly injures himself with his machete during the fall. He tells Phoebe to run and tries to fight off the creatures, but they kill him. By sunrise on the fourth day, Rachel and Cecilia take shelter at the gun tower. Rachel looks for Joey’s satellite phone, and one of the creatures emerges, only for Cecilia to shoot it with Joey’s gun. Rachel uses a rope to go underground, but it snaps from its wooden hinge and she falls, causing her to lose consciousness. Cecilia solely combats the entourage of creatures which fly out of its nest; however, one of them grabs her and brings her there. A handheld explosive she was preparing before she was taken detonates in the nest, killing her, a pregnant woman inside, and the creatures in the explosion. While this goes on, Phoebe escapes the island on the raft. The next day, she winds up on another island where she realizes three pregnant women are soon to give birth to more creatures. Back at the gun tower, the

sat phone A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio through orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. The advantage of a sa ...

rings in Joey’s bag. Underground, Rachel shows signs that she is alive.

Cast

as Sebastian "Seb" Beazley *

as Cecilia "Chill" Reyes * Joel Torre as Joey "Tito" Valencia *

Colin Moss Colin William Moss (30 April 1914 – 16 December 2005) was a British artist and teacher who served as a camouflage designer during World War Two. Biography Early life Moss was born in Ipswich above the family shop and off-licence. His fath ...

as Dexter "Dex" Simms *

as Phoebe Drake *

as Rachel Rice

Production

Production on the film began in March 2008 and concluded in five weeks. It marked the directorial debut of director/writer Terence Daw. The story was set on a small island in the Philippines, though the filmmakers discovered areas in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

to shoot. Supported by

national parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

, they were able to film in the 253-hectare

Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve is a 253 hectare protected area in the suburb of Yellowwood Park, Durban, South Africa. The park was proclaimed in 1963, after land was donated by Mr Kenneth Stainbank for its purpose. The reserve is managed by ...

in Yellowwood Park, Durban, which had the lush tropical vegetation the filmmakers needed and was the ideal double for a Philippine island. Another place used was a beach near

Umkomaas Umkomaas, a small coastal village on the subtropical south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa was formed when a harbour was built in 1861 to export sugar. The village rests beside the mouth of the navigable uMkhomazi River, also known as the Mk ...

, shown in the scene where the crew arrive on the island. Producer Anton Ernst said, "Our main aim with this film is to take the audience on a roller coaster ride - filled with fun, excitement and suspenseful horror. We are proud that we were able to cast Billy Zane, star of one of the biggest films ever made, with our own stars Colin Moss and Louise Barnes, as well as the fine talents of Christina Cole, Natalie Mendoza and Joel Torre."

Release

The film premiered on 10 July 2009 and was part of the 2009

Shriekfest Shriekfest Horror Film Festival is a film festival specializing in the horror genre. It is the longest running horror festival in Los Angeles. In 2017, Shriekfest expanded to include an Orlando, FL festival location. History Shriekfest Horror F ...

in Los Angeles. It was released in the UK in Cinemas on 2 October 2009, and on DVD on 5 October 2009.

Soundtrack

The score was composed by Colin Baldry and Tom Kane. The original soundtrack featured songs from Jean-Raphael Dedieu and

.Moss Surviving Evil: News24: Entertainment: SouthAfrica
/ref>

Reception

Andrew Pulver of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "It's all rather obviously low budget, and takes a l-o-o-ong time to get going, but when it does it's efficient, rather than especially inspired." Corey Danna from ''HorrorNews.net'' wrote, "''Surviving Evil'' is ridiculous but it is actually a cut above the rest, but just a little. There was a real effort here by Daw to make the best film he could and mostly succeeds. It seemed that the film was written with a specific budget in mind and was able to deliver on the said budget. He never once tried to over step his bounds and made a safe horror film with plenty of blood, awesome looking creatures, and the most important ingredient, characters that actually have souls. People we are able to root for and people that feel and look human."

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

rated the film a score of 2.5 out of 5, commending the creature design as the film's best aspect, as well as the character development. However, the reviewer criticized the film's occasionally shoddy cinematography, and moments of stupidity.

References

External links

* * * {{allrovi movie, 493515, Surviving Evil 2009 films 2009 horror films English-language South African films British horror films South African horror films Films set in the Philippines Films shot in KwaZulu-Natal Films shot in the Philippines 2000s English-language films 2000s British films