For a low budget slasher film, at least Malevolence manages to conjure up a nice amount of mood and dread with its desolate countryside locations and spooky John Carpenter-esque synth score. It's unfortunate that, with all this in place, it's not a very gripping story.
You have a few bankrobbers on the run who kidnap a mother and her young daughter and take them to a deserted farmhouse in the country that was the scene of a brutal murder many years ago except the killer was never caught and might still be on the land.
The story is almost too simplistic as are the characterizations. There's no one to really care about and that makes it much less frightening. The killer's look, seemingly inspired by The Town That Dreaded Sundown and Friday the 13th Part 2 is creepy, but that only goes so far when you don't care who lives and who dies.