Evil Things is a wonderfully creepy little thriller that has everything most films of this genre lack -- a compelling storyline, really effective acting, and filmmakers who actually appreciate true suspense and know how to manifest it on film.

I love blood and gore even more than the next guy, but the reality is that blood and gore are often used to prop up movies lacking a decent plot. The truly remarkable horror film does not require blood to be shed on camera and usually succeeds much better without it. Evil Things is a case in point. I've watched and reviewed hundreds and hundreds of horror films, and I'm telling you that I want to shout from the rooftops about just how good this movie is. I really can't understand why so many people hate it so much.

This film works because it is wholly believable -- and disquietingly so. Let's face it: the odds are quite low that your camping trip will turn in to a fight for survival against a family of inbred cannibals or three days and nights of terror against an evil spirit of legend, that those quasi-friends of yours who unexpectedly invited you for a weekend on the lake are really planning on sacrificing you to some demigod, or that some dude is going to stumble up to your cabin with some form of hellishly contagious, organ-liquefying disease. Films with those kinds of plots can certainly scare you -- but only up to a point.

Evil Things, in contrast, tells a story that you can envision really happening -- and, just to boost things up a notch, it all goes down in a place you would normally feel safe and secure. I'm not talking about coming home to find some dangerous psycho waiting for you or waking up to find an intruder -- that's much too quick and easy. This story builds up the tension slowly, as the characters cycle through increasingly worrisome moments of fear and relief, letting much of the horror percolate in the audience's imagination before finally unleashing its full fury. It's not at all difficult to put yourself in the place of these unfortunate characters, and that is a recipe for an avalanche of creepiness.

To say this film has no plot is simply laughable. Let's see: five friends head out of New York City to enjoy a wintry weekend out in the country, at the home of one girl's aunt, celebrating the 21st birthday of one of their own. Their trip along increasingly snow-packed roads is made even more eventful by a case of road rage that eventually escalates into so much more.

I was quite impressed by the acting. The characters are quite funny when they're relaxed and goofing around, and they seem genuinely frightened by the increasingly ominous circumstance they find themselves in. These girls can scream with the best of them, to boot.

With a budget of just over $3 million, Evil Things proves that you don't need a lot of money in order to generate visceral fear and dread. To me, effective horror is all about the creepiness factor, and this is one of the creepiest films I've seen in years. I don't care what anybody else says -- I freakin' love this movie.