Evil Come Evil Go (1972) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film takes place in Los Angeles, using the city's urban landscape as a backdrop. The setting exposes street life, busking, and public preaching, creating a contrast between spectacle and danger. Crowded streets and hidden corners allow the cult-like operation to operate under the radar.

• los angeles
• setting
• urban
• city
• location

Los Angeles provides public spaces where performance, manipulation, and violence unfold. The city's dual nature, visible spectacle and hidden danger, mirrors the film's themes of religious fanaticism operating in plain sight. The urban environment enables the group to blend in while carrying out their deadly plans.

• los angeles
• urban setting
• performance
• manipulation
• public spaces

The theme examines how Sister Sarah Jane Butler uses religious fervor to dominate Penny and push her toward a fatal cause. As Penny is drawn deeper into the 'Sacred Order,' her trust and obedience grow. The attempted TV platform shows how control extends from intimate relationships to mass media, amplifying the duo's influence and danger.

• power
• control
• domination
• religious fervor
• sacred order
• manipulation

The film explores how faith language is weaponized to justify violence and moral cleansing. The slogan 'God is Love, not Sex' sits alongside murder, revealing chilling hypocrisy. Religion serves as a tool to regulate bodies, behavior, and loyalties within the group, with Sarah believing she is chosen to cleanse the world.

• religious fanaticism
• faith
• god is love not sex
• moral cleansing
• hypocrisy

The theme intertwines sexuality, coercion, and violence as instruments of control. Penny's relationship with Sarah becomes a site of manipulation where intimacy is weaponized to enforce subjugation. The dynamics expose how desire and affection can be exploited to sustain power over others within a coercive scheme.

• sexual exploitation
• coercion
• manipulation
• intimacy
• control
• subjugation

Sister Sarah Jane Butler is a religious fanatic portrayed by Cleo O'Hara. She believes she is chosen by a higher power to cleanse the world and uses faith to justify murder and domination. She exerts charismatic but cruel control over Penny, orchestrating violence and manipulating those around her to further her deadly mission.

• sarah jane butler
• religious fanatic
• cult leader
• domination
• cleo o'hara

Penny (Penelope von Prut) is a naive, emotionally vulnerable woman portrayed by Sandra Henderson. She is drawn into Sarah's cult-like circle, and her loyalty grows as she is used to further violent plans. Her internal conflict surfaces as she complies out of fear and the desire to belong, revealing how pressure and dependence erode personal agency.

• penny
• penelope von prut
• vulnerable
• cult
• sandra henderson

Sarah exerts charismatic but cruel control over Penny, shaping her actions and the duo's deadly plans. Penny's trust and obedience grow as she is drawn deeper into the 'Sacred Order.' The relationship is manipulative, Penny's desire to belong and fear of abandonment make her compliant in Sarah's violent agenda.

• sarah
• penny
• relationship
• manipulation
• control
• sacred order

Junie is Penny's ex-girlfriend who visits and becomes entangled in the dangerous dynamic surrounding Sarah. Portrayed by Jane Tsentas, she represents a vulnerable witness who is not spared from the escalating violence. Her fate underscores the peril that accompanies challenging or entering the cult-like control.

• junie
• ex-girlfriend
• jane tsentas
• witness
• vulnerability

The woods serve as a setting for potential victims and add to the film's atmosphere of peril and ambiguity. Characters like the Man in Woods and Woman in Woods contribute to a sense that the wilderness operates as a stage for fate and violence, acting beyond the control of the central characters. The woods represent concealment and confrontation.

• woods
• wilderness
• danger
• victims
• concealment
• forest

The film has an overwhelmingly dark tone focusing on manipulation, misogyny, and the corruption of innocence. The intensity is high due to its graphic, disturbing content centered on a religious fanatic who murders people during sex, creating a constant sense of dread. The narrative is straightforward but leaves no room for hope, with a bleak, nihilistic ending.

• tone
• atmosphere
• dark
• nihilistic
• dread
• manipulation
• horror