When I saw that Netflix was releasing an original movie with a cast including Adam Scott (“Parks & Rec”), Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”), Sally Field (“Mrs. Doubtfire”), Donald Faison (“Scrubs”) and Chris D’Elia (“Undateable”), I had high hopes. But what was sold as a horror-comedy with a cast of famous comedians was really a campy horror movie. Though some jokes were funny and the satire of the horror genre was well-played, the plot of “Little Evil” was meandering and unfocused.

While it’s natural in horror-based content to have doubt about whether something nefarious is actually happening, the stepfather-child dynamic in the movie made this, frankly, uncomfortable. Early into the movie, when demon interference is still a speculation, Gary (Adam Scott) starts thinking about murdering his five-year-old stepson. This plan is brought up in a casual way—but not as the ridiculous and far-fetched punchline to a joke. For such a big-budget movie, the script is clearly lacking. The concept works much better as a campy, “it’s so bad that it’s good” horror movie, but with its high budget and lack of side-splitting humor, “Little Evil” just doesn’t cohere in the way I had hoped it would. If you’re looking for content to half pay attention to while you do work, “Little Evil” may be a good choice; otherwise, this one’s a skip.