Mockumentary ‘Michael Myers: Absolute Evil’ is a Gratifying and Surprising Watch

While I adore documentaries, I’m not always huge on mockumentaries. The filming format has always left factual cases crawling under my skin, while the clearly fictional pieces have been known to impress, but lack the general impact of a true story.

While Rick Gawel’s picture, Michael Myers: Absolute Evil never truly feels as though it could conceivably be based on an actual movie, it’s still a well-assembled film that features a lot of different voices, each recounting tales of Myers’ childhood and eventual killing spree as a grown individual (it feels wrong calling him a man), and everyone who sits in front of the camera to share their stories deserve a nod of respect for turning in convincing performances.

This lot may be about as amateur as it gets, but they’re also completely invested in this project, which elevates their performances. No one wanted this picture to feel like a cheap mockumentary no one would watch, the crew showed up determined to gift viewers an engaging and informative little slice of celluloid, and personally, as a hardcore Halloween fan, I’ve got to say that the movie absolutely rocked.

I love spirited micro films. There are so many shoe-stringers out there that simply have no pulse it’s tough to predict the pics with love invested, and the pics shot to refrain from dying of boredom. Gawel didn’t make Michael Myers: Absolute Evil as a means to avoid boredom, he made this film as a loving tribute to John Carpenter and his riveting creation, as well as for the fans who can’t get enough of all things Michael Myers.

As the film unfolds we hear testimonies from former orderlies, nurses, psychiatrists and even a grown Lindsey Wallace (played by Michelle Courvais), who absolutely kills as one of the very few to survive an encounter with the faceless menace known as Michael Myers. Hats off to Courvais, because she really is impressive, and she actually lends an embraceable quality to the picture.

For a few moments my wife was flabbergasted, pointing at the television and asking, “that’s Lindsey Wallace grown up?!”

Naturally I had to toy with her mind a bit. For a good 15 minutes I had her believing Michael Myers – and the film Halloween – are all facts of life, a real serial killer who really tore through a suburban neighborhood with no remorse. She’s no fool, so she caught on fairly quickly, but that look on her face, believing her husband’s favorite genre film was actually inspired by real events was absolutely priceless.

For the record, I got a laugh out of that ordeal, but I got a nice Charlie horse to accompany that laugh.

Technically speaking this film far surpassed my expectations. I’ve seen countless micro-docs and it seems they always suffer the same faults: poor sound and a serious lack of understanding how lighting works. We don’t run into those issues here, which tells me Gawel had a little technical knowledge tucked up his sleeve.

Whatever it was up that sleeve, it worked. This is a fun mockumentary that a lot of Halloween fans are really going to enjoy. It’s engaging, and it essentially covers the stories told in every Halloween film in existence, and beyond. If you’re in the mood for something tame yet interesting (I loved a lot of the vintage photos of a supposed Michel Myers in captivation), give Michael Myers: Absolute Evil a try. You’ll probably get a kick out of it.

And you don’t have to travel far to see it. We’ve got the entire film attached below. Give it a few minutes to impress!

Rating: 3.5/5