EVIL
unrated, 113 minutes

It’s a movie called “Evil,” but it’s not a horror show. This Swedish film directed by Mikael Hafstrom is a character study focusing on the would-be redemption of a sociopathic teenager. The results are decidedly mixed, but the film – nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards in 2004 (!) – does have its potent moments.

Erik (Andreas Wilson) is a relentless and compulsive bully. He has an abusive stepfather and a loving but weak mother who allows violence to continue in the household. (To distract herself, she plays the same composition on her piano – in an almost Pavlovian response – to accompany each successive beating of her child.) Erik lashes out violently at his classmates; it is not long before he pummels a fellow student until he is unrecognizable.

“There’s one word for people like you, and that’s evil,” declares Erik’s principal, who possesses a flair for the dramatic, “Evil in its purest form.” Erik takes the diagnosis in stride, but he is summarily expelled and enrolled at a boarding school. Like an asylum run by the inmates, this is an institution where the students make and enforce the rules. Erik quickly makes an enemy of Otto Silverhielm (Gustaf Skarsgard), an upperclassman who wields the most power in the collective student body. Rather than fight back against Silverhielm’s tyranny, however, Erik adopts a pacifist philosophy, even as he and his friends are humiliated and even tortured.

That Erik makes such a substantial psychological turnaround in what is more or less an afternoon is improbable, to say the least. But it sets up a “Carrie”-like finale for the audience, which is waiting patiently for the abused hero to snap and bring about a gore-filled reckoning. The conclusion of the film is not quite that extreme (though Mr. Hafstrom does not shy away from a bucket of human waste that figures prominently in back-to-back scenes), but it is nevertheless unsurprising. Still, the film is most effective in quietly showing the nasty details of abuse that the students mete out and suffer.

– Edward Goldberger

NEIGHBOR NO. 13
R, 115 minutes

Juzo (Shun Oguri) is a nice guy. He’s cute, hard-working, polite, and so shy around women he can barely speak. Nothing ever seems to upset him, and for good reason: When he gets angry, his Dr. Jekyll facade crumbles and he becomes a grotesque Mr. Hyde. Played by Shido Nakamura, Juzo’s alter ego is a sadistic, shambling monster in an orange down vest whose face was ruined by an acid spill caused by a classroom bully.

“Neighbor No. 13” is a scaled-down, blue-collar version of the Incredible Hulk, a guy so traumatized by childhood abuse that the slightest emotion can bring a psycho killer clawing out of his soul. Juzo moves into apartment no. 13 in a toxically drab building right downstairs from Toru, the schoolyard thug who ruined his face. Now a permed ex-biker, Toru lords over a local construction company but he doesn’t recognize Juzo when he applies for a job. Slowly an elaborate revenge plot ensnares Juzo, his son, and his perky young wife, Nozomi (Yumi Yoshimura, of Puffy AmiYumi, the sugary J-pop duo responsible for the catchy theme song of “Teen Titans”).

Everyone is slicked with fluids: Blood, sweat, and plenty of less savory liquids run down their faces. Trapped on the low end of the economic ladder and robbed of joy, they crawl through their drab lives with all the self-awareness of flies. Kindness is met with murder, generosity begets brutality. Talking to your next-door neighbor is likely to get you killed. Ang Lee ruined the story of the Hulk, turning it into an action-movie cartoon. This grim, bloody movie reminds us that the story of two men trapped in one body is nothing less than pure horror.

– Grady Hendrix

THE SHAGGY DOG
PG, 98 minutes

Every children’s movie seems to have that dicey moment where an overeager premise gallops past good taste. “The Shaggy Dog” doesn’t disappoint: Halfway through, Tim Allen, playing the title dog, sniffs about and then actually asks Kristin Davis whether she’s in heat.

“The Shaggy Dog” is an innocently silly diversion that rewards adults with the sight of Ms. Davis staring deep into the eyes of a sheepdog as it whimper-speaks “I love you.” The back story to this metamorphosis? Big pharma nabs the moptop canine from a Tibetan monastery to find the secret of its multiple-century longevity. Genetic tomfoolery renders its doggy essence contagious, the dog escapes, and Mr. Allen gets bitten. His life as a dog then turns his trial against the protesters upside down. Didn’t old movies just blame an ancient curse and have done with it?

It’s a suitable match for dumb manbeast Tim Allen, but he’s upstaged by Robert Downey Jr. Yes, Mr. Downey in a Disney movie: He plays the profit-mad pharma villain with finger-waggling absurdity and the frisson of manic forbidden pleasures. It’s a relief for anyone who gets limited kicks from watching Mr. Allen chase sticks (which, actually, is somewhat satisfying).

Danny Glover, Philip Baker Hall, and even Jane Curtin pop up for a few days’ work. The varying engagement of the cast provides its own meta-drama. Ms. Davis seems to sleepwalk through scenes, which is understandable for someone who must get licked by Tim Allen.

– Nicolas Rapold