When Evil Lurks (Spanish: Cuando acecha la maldad) is a 2023 supernatural horror film written and directed by Demián Rugna.

An international co-production of Argentina and the United States, the film stars Ezequiel Rodríguez, Demián Salomon, Luis Ziembrowski, Silvia Sabater and Marcelo Michinaux.

[5][6][7] The morning after hearing gunshots in the woods near the land where they work, brothers Pedro and Jaime discover a disemboweled corpse, which leads them to a nearby shack where María Elena, an elderly woman, and her two sons, Uriel and Eduardo, are in hiding.

The family dog, who previously licked Pedro's demon-mucked clothes, mauls Vicky (Leonardo and Sabrina's daughter) dragging her outside.

As Pedro steals a car and drives away with his sons, a possessed Leonardo rams his truck into Sabrina and Vicky, who later dances gleefully.

Mirta explains that they must find and kill Uriel using the appropriate ritual to prevent the demon from being fully born.

Pedro and Mirta's search leads to a schoolhouse filled with possessed children who killed all the nearby adults and worked to conceal Uriel.

Losing his patience and believing that a nearby fire axe might help dismember and move Uriel, Pedro runs to the office only to be locked in by the children.

The demon taunts Pedro, marking him with streaks of blood and sparing his life as he leaves, followed by the children.

Inspecting the property, Jaime finds the possessed Eduardo, who admits to killing and eating the original Cleaner four days before.

[9][10] When Evil Lurks is produced by Shudder and La Puerta Roja, the latter a joint venture partnership between the Argentine-based Aramos Cine and Machaco Films.

"[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.