The Cycle

A woman from California traveling through the back roads of Pennsylvania (Daryl Hannah) picks up a traumatized female, who was part of a student archeological team from Boston. The youths were interested in the local Indian burial grounds whereupon they discover some of the remains are quite recent. What's going on?

Released in 2009, "The Devil's Ground", aka "The Cycle," is a backwoods slasher in the "Wrong Turn" mold with some nods to the "Friday the 13th" flicks, i.e. A hulking masked assailant in the woods with a machete.

Without giving away vital revelations in the last act, the story comes down to a toxic waste, bitter yokels and some mysterious crows. The Indian burial ground functions simply to attract the out-of-state college students and isn't related to the other stuff, unless you view the grounds as sacred land that curses anyone who desecrates it. Let's be generous to writer/director Micheal Bafaro and go with that.

The striking Lee Tomaschefski stands out on the female front as Lisa, although she doesn't do much for me personally. Meanwhile Maria Gruending is worth a mention as Tammy and I like protagonist Leah Gibson's doe-eyed look.

The filmmaking is professional so this is worth checking out for those who appreciate backwaters horror, particularly of the slasher variety. Despite some eye-rolling script flaws, like the map contrivance and the youths constantly referring to the killer as "the monster," I'd watch this over "Wrong Turn." But it's not as entertaining as any of the "Friday the 13th" movies. For a similar Canadian flick that's more effective, see "Butchers" (2020).

The flick runs 1 hour, 28 minutes. It's a Canadian/Czech production, but I can't find specific info on filming locations; the credits list the British Columbia Film Commission, so I'm assuming that's where it was shot (thankfully they don't show the Cascades or Rockies in the background since the story is set in northwestern Pennsylvania).

GRADE: C+

The movie was boring at the beginning and got interesting the last half hour more or less. Some shots were very clever. I really liked them. If you expect to see a lot of Daryl Hannah, don't. Her role is actually pretty small. As for the other actors in this film most of them are really bad. At the end the story becomes a little more complicated and it leaves you with some questions about the plot but I am sure you won't stay awake at night thinking about them. Don't expect a lot from this film because if you do you will be disappointed. If you see it for what it is (a b-movie with some interesting twists in the story) you won't be that annoyed by it.

By no means groundbreaking, however The Cycle still manages to be a somewhat tense and rather entertaining film. The story is interesting and changes up enough to remain fresh all the way through. The acting was on the mark (even the over-actors you can't help but like) and the action did well to keep you on edge. The death scenes would have benefited from a little more attention as they are a bit on the tame side and over too quickly. Overall I don't see the film as being something that will stick with you long after viewing however it does provide for an entertaining viewing. I would recommend giving it a chance.

I really did like this movie for several reasons and why it has received negative reviews is still a mystery. But the movie was good and I'm going to give it a 7 because it did have a good storyline and good acting as well. To be short, it was a story inside a separate story that led it to a twist ending that was not expected and will leave you thinking and there may even possibly be a part 2. You will need to judge this movie for yourself and ignore these people who say they never post and gave it a 1 of 10. I did find it leaning more toward horror then thriller but either way a good movie is a good movie.

Started quite well, continued well. We've seen plenty of these but still kept the viewer interested to a good extent. Come the end, the first twist at the gas station, nothing new but still kinda fitted. But after (whatever they were trying) it just ddnt work, not for me. Left a lot of holes and a lot of questions.