A period piece set in 1942, it follows a couple who are terrorized by a mysterious man on the property of their new home in rural Louisiana, which is the site of various unsolved homicides from years prior.

In the final scene, set five years later in 1947, the now-insane Ruth has married Jake and willingly joins him in his continuing scam of selling the old family house to unsuspecting people, murdering them, and then living off the sale of the property to new owners.

[5] Bill von Maurer of The Miami News wrote: "The Evictors turns out to be a tidy little thriller movie that avoids cliches about haunted houses," but conceded that it "isn't a white-knuckle kind of thriller and it has its weak points you could punch holes in, but on the whole you get a generous helping of scares and surprises for a B-grade film.

"[6] In a review published in the Time Out film guide, it is noted: "Pierce toiled unspectacularly in the low-budget mills for several years, but scored a bullseye with this energetically ghoulish exploiter which relocates the Old Dark House on Bonnie and Clyde terrain.

The plot (city couple buy a lonely farm whose massacred former owners refuse to stay dead) may be perfunctory, but there are likeable performances, nice period details, and terrific set pieces, as well as a final twist incredible enough to be mildly surprising.