Wickedly Evil Review | Road Rash Reviews

4 star hilarious heist-gone-bad film.

Wickedly Evil (a.k.a. Bad Things in the Middle of Nowhere) is a 2023 Irish comedy/horror film written by Bryan Walsh (Common People) and Garry Walsh, who makes his very impressive directorial debut with this belting comedy/horror film.

It will be available on UK Digital Platforms from 13th November 2023 courtesy of 101 Films.

“I couldn’t get turtle masks, alright? I got the next best thing, didn’t I? The cousin of the bleeding turtle, the frog.”

As the film opens we see Gaz (Darryl Carter) and his accomplice Dancer (James Farrelly) making their getaway from a daring heist against rival gang, The Lynch family. Unfortunately, while they are arguing the finer points of frozen bread, Claire Lynch (Louise Bourke – Who We Love, Let the Wrong One In), turns up and catches them. She shoots Gaz in the leg and in the heat of the moment, Dancer shoves her in the back of the car.

Meanwhile, another member of the gang, Frankie (Joseph McGucken) has arrived at the rendezvous, a small bungalow in the middle of the countryside, which is currently unused. Unable to find the key, his commotion attracts neighbour Sadie (Cat L. Walsh) who has a spare key, but finds him a little suspicious.

Finally Dancer and Gaz arrive, but there is no sign of the fourth member of the gang, Momo (Liam Cooney) who still has the majority of the cash from the job, although they do have the cocaine, which Dancer is tucking into enthusiastically. Mastermind of the operation The Chief (Owen Roe – Michael Collins, Intermission) is not happy with the way things are progressing and things go from bad to worse with the arrival of Detective Murphy (Andrea Kelly – Thursday’s Child), investigating the disappearance of a couple the week before. What is going on here and will our hapless criminals get away with this daring but bungled heist?

“You put the belt above the wound to stop the blood flowing out of it. Gaz, we’re going to have to move this belt up over the wound.”

Wickedly Evil is a brilliant film, laugh out loud funny from start to finish, to the point where you almost forget it’s a horror film. It comes as a bit of a shock when you get to the horror parts, which are few and far between but work well, with decent special effects.

It isn’t for the easily offended, the language is extremely fruity and it does help if you can decipher a Dublin accent, but it’s worth the effort, because it’s packed with one liners. I’m still laughing at the idea of eating a horse’s a*** through a letterbox. It also has an excellent twist. Almost everyone involved is a newcomer and if this is where they start out, I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Refreshing, funny and well worth a watch.

“Don’t tell me to relax. We have a hostage, a gunshot victim and I’ve done more cocaine than Maradona at the bleeding World Cup and you want me to relax?!”