Two brothers mishandle a demon-infected body causing an epidemic of destructive evil.

It’s Hispanic Heritage Month so you can bet your ‘culo dulce’ Spanish language horror made the watchlist. Two sexy gauchos in blood-soaked berets attempt to flee evil itself through rural Argentina – what more could you want? Be warned, this is a feel-bad movie that doesn’t shy away from on-screen taboos. Hold your children tight, y’all.

WHEN EVIL LURKS (2023) hits the ground running when brothers Pedro and Jimi discover dismembered remains on their land, leading them to a nearby home harboring a “rotten”, a person whose body is distended and pregnant with an unborn demon. The remains they’ve found were of a “cleaner”, an expert in aborting said demon so, with no help left, the frustrated property owner, Ruiz, convinces them to dump the bloated man far away. But the men lose the rotten when it unknowingly falls out of the truck. The property owner brushes off the mistake, convinced they’re in the clear until one of his goats soon displays signs of possession. All Hell literally breaks loose as a chain reaction of possession erupts across town. Brutality and death follow Pedro and Jimi no matter what they do, threatening to destroy everything they know.

Demián Rugna is solidifying his stamp among modern horror filmmakers by shocking audiences with daring choices that make you think, “Did they really just do that?” Rugna succeeds in drawing you into a hopeless nightmare, and while it loses steam in the third act, it still manages to add a notch on the belt for Spanish language horror.