The story relies too heavily on the familiar without any flourishes of nuance. There are horror film references abound, which is 100% okay as long as it doesn't feel derivative, but in the case of Little Evil, it nearly always does. The major nuance Craig brings to the horror table is Lucas' goat puppet, which manages to be both funny and creepy. The horror aspects in the film only really function as a nod or chuckle. Even the editing at times feels cut out of an Edgar Wright Cornetto film, which is definitely not a bad thing, but just comes as slightly left field tip of the hat for no apparent reason. This homages don't detract from the film, but they also do very little to enrich it.

Matthew Clark's cinematography, on the other hand, definitely helps to augment the experience. His lighting in the film is pretty stunning and may be his best work to date. Clark's versatility springs from darkened horror to bright lit family-comedy with ease, which matches the tone of Craig's screenplay perfectly, adding to its easygoing charm.

In the end, the film loses steam as it winds down to a close, but it doesn't stay a minute past its welcome and is pretty evenly paced. Despite it's mostly uninteresting plays on the familiar, the acting and the comedy manage to maintain a consistently fun ride. It's similar in style and absurdity to films like Hell Baby or Cooties, but turns out to be more entertaining because the comedy hits harder.

Rating: 3 horrible mulching accidents outta 5.