TODD AND THE BOOK OF PURE EVIL: THE END OF THE END (2017)

Studio:     Raven Banner
Director:    Craig David Wallace, Rich Duhaney
Writer:     Charles Picco, Craig David Wallace
Producer:  Andrew Rosen, Sarah Timmins, Jonas Diamond
Stars:     Alex House, Maggie Castle, Bill Turnbull, Melanie Leishman, Jason Mewes, Chris Leavins

Review Score:

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Summary:

Todd Smith reunites with his misfit friends and a former foe when the Book of Pure Evil returns to threaten Crowley High.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

In the town of Crowley Heights, which was founded by Satanists in the 1960s, Crowley High School stoner Todd Smith lusted after his classmate Jenny Kolinsky. The Metal Dudes convinced Todd to use ‘The Book of Pure Evil’ to win Jenny’s heart. However, Todd became possessed by the power of pure evil instead. Jenny teamed up with Todd’s best friend Curtis Weaver to defeat Todd, but the book flew away before they could destroy it.

Todd, Jenny, Curtis, science nerd Hannah B. Williams, and school janitor Jimmy regularly fought against the power of pure evil. Along the way, Todd learned he was destined to be ‘The Pure Evil One,’ who would destroy the world using the Book of Pure Evil. Desiring to become the Pure Evil One himself, guidance counselor Atticus P. Murphy Jr. cut off his father’s head to seize control of the Satanic Society that founded Crowley Heights.

The Metal Dudes learned Todd had to lose his virginity in order to become the Pure Evil One, so they set him up with Nikki. Nikki turned out to be all three Metal Dudes supernaturally combined into one entity, as well as Jimmy’s old girlfriend.

With the help of his dimwitted minion Elliot Everwood, Atticus used the Book of Pure Evil to become a man-goat. Atticus challenged Todd to an epic battle at the Crowley High semi-formal. The Metal Dudes forced Todd to use the book to become the Pure Evil One. Jenny prevented Todd from inadvertently destroying the world by professing her love for him. Todd then trapped Atticus in the book and sent it away to where he thought no one could find it.

Somehow, banishing the book killed Hannah. Curtis, who was in love with Hannah, blamed Todd for Hannah’s death, which broke up their gang of friends and fellow fighters of evil.

Now, deep below the Crowley Heights Retirement Home, a clone of Hannah Williams emerges from a pod in a secret laboratory.

Part 1: No Vest for the Wicked – Elliot Everwood recovers the Book of Pure Evil from a merchant in Mali. Hoping to reform the Satanic Society, Elliot releases Atticus from the book. However, Atticus claims that his time inside the book reformed him and he no longer wishes to be evil. Atticus leaves. A pentagram vest that also emerged from the book possesses Elliot.

Atticus returns to Crowley High to discover that Jimmy took over his job as guidance counselor. Atticus reluctantly agrees to assume Jimmy’s former job as janitor.

Todd and Jenny talk for the first time since Hannah’s funeral. When they see Curtis treating a blow-up doll as if it were Hannah, Todd attempts to apologize. Although Curtis initially refuses to speak to Todd, Jenny convinces them to set aside their differences so they can reform their gang.

Possessed by the sweater vest, Elliot comes to the school in the form of a yarn creature and kills two cheerleaders while searching for Atticus. Todd, Jenny, and Curtis realize that the Book of Pure Evil has returned when the surviving cheerleader tells them what happened.

Initially assuming Atticus is responsible, the trio is surprised to find Elliot holding Atticus captive within a yarn web in the lavatory. Elliot snares Todd, Jenny, and Curtis too.

Hannah unexpectedly emerges from a bathroom stall. Hannah frees Curtis’ mechanical arm, which Curtis uses to unravel the web and set Elliot on fire. Elliot crumbles to ash.

Todd, Jenny, Curtis, and Hannah curtly dismiss Atticus, who futilely professes his desire to join their gang for good. The Metal Dudes taunt the four reunited friends by claiming a new Pure Evil One is replacing Todd.

Hannah returns to the secret lab where she listens to a tape recorded by her mother Dr. Cynthia Williams. The tape reveals that Hannah was recreated as part of a cloning experiment.

Part 2: Zits Alors – Todd has a recurring nightmare involving the book. Meanwhile, Gavin McClintock, a student constantly bullied for his severe acne, purchases the Book of Pure Evil from a vending machine at school.

Curtis tries hypnotizing Hannah to recover her missing memories of what happened following her death. Hannah identifies her middle initial as D instead of B.

The four friends realize someone is using the book again when they find the body of a bully with his face melted off. They also learn that the book came back because Todd only banished it to Timbuktu, which he thought was a fictional location.

Jenny’s excitement over being able to fight evil again is extinguished when she discovers Todd can no longer get an erection. Todd seeks counsel from Jimmy regarding his impotence. Jimmy concludes that Todd is suffering from an inferiority complex because there is a new Pure Evil One.

Atticus learns there is dissension among the friends when he overhears Curtis unsuccessfully attempt to change Hannah’s mind about quitting the group. Hannah continues listening to her mother’s tape. Hannah begins wondering if she might be the Pure Evil One when she discovers her mother’s cloning experiment was created for that specific purpose. Hannah ends up dead after one of Gavin’s zits inadvertently explodes on her.

Todd, Jenny, and Curtis continue dismissing Atticus’ attempts to join their gang. When they see Gavin’s popping zits melting students and teachers, the trio surrounds Gavin with locker doors, forcing Gavin to explode himself. The Book of Pure Evil flies away.

In the secret lab, Hannah E. Williams emerges from one of the clone pods. Although she retains all of the memories of the previous Hannahs, this Hannah recognizes she is evil.

Part 3: Songs About Boners – Realizing she is now evil, the Metal Dudes convince Hannah to sow further dissension among Todd’s friends. Frustration boils over between Todd and Jenny. Hannah exploits the opportunity to seduce Todd by supernaturally restoring his erection.

Jenny and Curtis catch Todd and Hannah making out. Jenny storms away. Todd goes after Jenny while Curtis tries repairing his relationship with Hannah. Hannah insults Curtis before leaving. Curtis finds the ‘Pure Evil Experiment’ tape inside a bag left behind by Hannah. Curtis later learns the truth about the Hannah clones when he listens to the tape.

Todd tries reconciling with Jenny while Atticus eavesdrops. Todd also fails to make amends with Curtis. After Todd blows him off yet again, Atticus struggles with wicked urges before concocting a scheme to reunite the four friends.

While smoking weed together, Hannah convinces Todd to summon the Book of Pure Evil. When he does, the Metal Dudes arrive to help Hannah take the book from Todd. Hannah knocks Todd unconscious.

Atticus seeks help from Jimmy to convince Jenny and Curtis to work together again. When Curtis confesses that Hannah is an evil clone, everyone realizes that Todd was manipulated. Jenny, Curtis, Atticus, and Jimmy head for the retirement home.

Part 4: This is the End of The End of The End – Jenny, Curtis, Atticus, and Jimmy arrive at the secret lab where they find Todd held in a clone pod by Hannah and the Metal Dudes. Hannah explains that her evil scientist parents worked with the Satanic Society to create a Pure Evil One from the book itself so that they didn’t have to wait for the real one to appear. However, all they succeeded in doing was creating a cloned vessel that could contain the power of pure evil. Hannah now aims to become the Pure Evil One by transferring Todd’s power into her body.

The Metal Dudes morph into a wolf that Atticus’ father once forced Atticus to have sex with. Atticus summons the courage to defeat the wolf with a mop, reverting the creature back into the Metal Dudes. Jimmy appeals to his true love for Nikki, which forces the Metal Dudes to unwillingly transform into her.

Jenny throws her sword into Hannah’s head. Atticus and Curtis rescue Todd from the stasis pod.

Hannah F. Williams emerges from her pod. Jenny and Curtis convince Todd to flee so that Hannah cannot take the remaining pure evil power that wasn’t already siphoned back into the book.

Jenny, Curtis, Atticus, and Nikki continuing killing and fighting increasingly monstrous Hannah clones until they get to Hannah I. Todd returns with giant baby Brax.

Fearing they are about to die, Todd and Jenny express their love for each other, which restores Todd’s boner. Todd fights Hannah while everyone else destroys the remaining Hannah clone pods. Although the Book of Pure Evil flies away once again, Todd manages to defeat the final, colossal Hannah monster.

A normal Hannah emerges from a pod that Curtis saved from destruction. A tape reveals that Hannah’s mother created one last clone without the DNA of pure evil. Cynthia Williams considered this Hannah to be her real daughter, and planned on running away from her husband Dr. Bob Williams when her plot was discovered. Todd, Jenny, Curtis, and Jimmy welcome Hannah into their gang, along with Atticus and Nikki too.

At Crowley High, a student turned into a giant with female boobs for eyes bursts through the top of the school. Todd, Jenny, Curtis, Hannah, Jimmy, Atticus, and Nikki prepare to attack.

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Review:

“Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End” is the 2017 animated feature follow-up to the live-action TV series that ran from 2010-2012, which in turn was adapted from a 2003 short with the same name. Although “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil” was cancelled prematurely after just two of its four planned seasons, it proved popular enough that a crowdfunding campaign raised 164% of its goal to give fans some sort of conclusion in cartoon form.

Having never watched any of the 26 episodes in the series, I’m unfortunately not in a position to judge how well the movie ties up loose ends, or whether its animated style reflects the live-action tone. As a neophyte introduced to the wildly weird world of “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil” through this film, I can conclude that “The End of the End” nevertheless welcomes newcomers by dishing out a goofily good time. I can only assume this means franchise faithful should feel the same way.

Everything anyone needs to know about Todd and the Book of Pure Evil receives a recap in a breathlessly narrated two-minute intro. My spoiler-hidden film synopses usually run far below 900 words. My recap of this film’s recap hits 30% of that at 300 words to cover only 120 seconds of content. That’s how much background blows in your face to make sure you understand the starting point and can identify everyone playing a part.

It’s a lot of exposition, though the character types are so standard that the catch-up curve isn’t terribly steep. High school stoner Todd has a crush on cool classmate Jenny. Chubby best bud Curtis and his bookish girlfriend Hannah are their sidekicks. Bumbling baddie Atticus, jokey janitor Jimmy, dimwitted minion Elliot, and a trio of ‘Metal Dudes’ round out remaining roles. Basically, the titular tome bestows prophesized power on Todd, but leaves a lot of chaotic evil in its wake. Huh. Maybe I didn’t need 300 words after all.

Apparently when we last left everyone, Todd had successfully banished Atticus as well as the book, though he did so at the cost of killing Hannah, which broke the bonds of friendship among their group. Unexpectedly, the Book of Pure Evil has somehow returned to haunt the halls of Crowley High. Just as inexplicably, Hannah has also returned. Naturally, the only way to get to the bottom of what’s going on involves getting the band back together while forging a few new alliances too.

Familiar with the property or not, the other thing necessary to know about “The End of the End” involves its below-the-belt sense of humor. In keeping with the spirit of the series, the film fills irreverence to the brim with gags that include dildo nunchucks, bestiality rape, popped zits causing flesh to melt from faces, and musical numbers making multiple references to masturbation. I wouldn’t say that “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil” is necessarily intelligent about its immaturity. But I will admit that a good-natured genesis for such jokes adds appeal that isn’t always easy to come by.

Chalk it up to the animated frame. Or maybe my mood was better than usual. But I’m someone who has never seen “Dumb or Dumber” or “There’s Something About Mary” because that type of dopey body fluid humor usually bores me. And yet “The End of the End’s” juvenile behavior amused me much more than I would have thought possible on paper.

What’s peculiar about that is I wonder if I would appreciate “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil’s” live-action counterpart, and I’m hesitant to even try. Something about a stoner attempting to inflate his pal’s accidentally slashed sex doll/imaginary girlfriend through a hole in her crotch gains more childish charm when depicted with cartoon characters. The animated veneer takes the edge off the uncouth absurdity while simultaneously adding an edge of flippant fun that comes across as endearingly entertaining instead of objectionably cheap.

There’s a big difference between professional voiceover artists and actors doing a one-time role that average audiences may not pick up on in terms of audio-only performance ability. A quick perusal of IMDb doesn’t turn up any other animation credits for “The End of the End’s” core cast. Yet they are genuinely good, sounding as seasoned as any experienced VO veteran. Of particular note, assuming he is capable of doing different voices, someone ought to hire Chris Leavins (Atticus) for regular sound booth work immediately. If I didn’t know these were the original actors playing their old roles, I would buy a lie that producers cast whoever sounded best for each part.

Blending some of the style of “Archer” with “Scooby-Doo,” “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End” looks, sounds, and plays like any other cartoon I’ve seen on Disney XD while babysitting nieces and nephews, except for the profanity, nudity, and excessive boner jokes. That’s not a backhanded compliment. That’s a straightforward one. The animation production quality, while not exceptional, qualifies for primetime, at least by basic cable standards. Okay, that part may count as a backhanded compliment.

Several bits go on too long and some material misses its mark. That’s not out of the ordinary considering how much content Charles Picco and Craig David Wallace’s script crams onto the screen. “The End of the End” makes up for small setbacks by compromising with large-scale setpieces that couldn’t be accomplished outside of cel-shading or a seven-figure budget.

“Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End” can be dumb or occasionally dull. It can also be fiercely funny, even with its brow hanging low. A little bit “South Park” and a lot bit “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the animated feature manages to slap together an unexpectedly enjoyable smorgasbord of horror and humor catering to longtime fans and new converts alike.

Review Score: 80

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