December 3, 2016 - 13:28 AMT
Jinga Films acquires Brazil’s supernatural horror flick “Our Evil”

The U.K.’s Jinga Films has acquired world sales rights to Brazilian first time filmmaker Samuel Galli’s supernatural horror flick ‘Our Evil’, Variety said.

“Our Evil” takes place in the underbelly of Sao Paolo, telling the story of a spiritualist who after receiving warning that a demonic power is coming to destroy his daughter’s soul, employs a serial killer in an effort to protect her.

The film begins as a standard slasher shock piece but takes a sharp turn as characters actions are given explanations and a more supernatural element, only hinted at in the first half of the film, is properly introduced and developed.

Galli uses the change in direction of the film to keep the audience guessing. “I think when you mix things up, you keep the audience always guessing and uncomfortable, like a violent scene and a soft song or a dark scene with elements of innocence,” he said.

Julian Richards at U.K. based Jinga Films said the film “combines the brutal realism of ‘Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer’ with the supernatural shock-tactics of ‘The Exorcist.’ The film uses Brazilian religious sentiments to elicit a style that Richards compares to the Coen Brothers 1984 classic ‘Blood Simple.’

Said Fright Fest’s Alan Jones: “‘Our Evil’ is shocking, surprising, gripping and always keeps you guessing.” He goes on to predict “Our Evil” will change the game for future Latin American genre cinema.

Snagging numerous awards and festival berths across Europe and the Americas and building a catalog containing films from around the globe over the last near 15 years, Jinga Films has positioned itself as a established player in the horror genre. Films it has handled include cult hit “A Serbian Film,” and “Outlanders,” which won both Best Picture and Best Feature Film at Cuba’s Gibara Low-Budget Film Festival.

Co-producers of the film from Alief + 4th & 7th Entertainment, Miguel Govea and Brett Walker had been pursuing Jinga for some time now, having introduced the piece to Jinga at past festivals. The film had up until now stayed under their radar but this week at Ventana Sur they took note for the first time. It was “Definitely a case of a producer’s rep knowing the best sales company for a film and making sure that company watched the film before any others,” said Richards.

Galli also acts as executive producer of the film alongside his associates at Kauzare Films, Tato Siansi and Victor Molin, and Alief + 4th & 7th’s Miguel Govea.

“When I arrived at Kauzare Films, it was a company that made commercials,” said Galli. “I started to write the script and we bought all of the equipment we needed based on the shots I had in mind, went to the set, and here we are.”

Going forward he says that he and his partners at Kauzare Films want their next project to be an international co-production but as for the immediate future, “Now we are gonna show the movie to the world. My head has lots of stories to tell and I am putting them on paper and developing them.”