Where the Devil Roams

Short review: 'Where the Devil Roams' made me really happy. To see a family making independent horror movies is terrific, but these are anything but your average home movies. This one is made with a lot of class. It's extremely dark in the early going, but it isn't afraid to throw in some moments of humour. And it's absolutely funny stuff, but the tone is so dark you can almost feel bad for laughing.

This one was described to me before going in as a slow-burn, but I'm not sure I'd agree with that assessment. There's a hell of a lot of violence and mayhem for a 'Slow-burn". Then the twisted ending is the cherry on top. I enjoyed this movie. 7/10.

Apparently, this family production has its followers, but I am not rating this as someone who has seen their other movies. They are carnival performers, set likely during the depression, and the carnival features many grotesque performers. We find them at a performance, and follow them to their next performance, racking up some gruesome body counts, all of which are photographed by their daughter, Eve. Seven is the father, and his act is cutting off his fingers, and then sewing them back on. Maggie, the mother, simply likes to kill. The stay in a barn, and the farmer comes out and invites them in. Maggie kills him, saying considering what the Germans did to Seven, he deserved it. The farmer had a Norwegian flag, and when Maggie asks if that is German. After the answer she says close enough. There are some flashback WWI scenes setting context. It is one of some horrific scenes, and some really darkness by the family. The story will be off-putting for many, and hard to take. Others will appreciate the horror of the story. There really is no remorse about the killings. This really is a movie for the fans of their family films.

Living in a floundering carnival, a group of workers trying to make due during the Great Depression find themselves under the spell of a gruesome object in the possession of a popular act in the carnival with them which forces them into a massive killing spree to find a better life for themselves.

This was a massively disappointing and nearly unwatchable genre effort. Among it's only positive points here stem from the technical qualities on display which are genuinely impressive at capturing a haunting, dark mood. The period setting, the miserable existence working in the type of environment that looks like a soul-crushing existence, and the general lifestyle of the various participants they stumble across in the rampage they commit secures this kind of atmosphere incredibly well. Even with the way this plays out that shows the descent into madness that they fall into, with each of the family members shown to have a special liability that helps to make the plight seem all the more dynamic and ingrained into this atmospheric setting. Coupled rather nicely with the genuinely gruesome and bloody kills featured here which come about not just through the carnival acts but also the incredibly graphic murders they engage in as the sense of the curse carries out, these are enough to give this one some positives. There are some massively disappointing detriments on display with this one. The main drawback here is the absolutely draining and just plain dull pace that this one plays at where it's not really that interesting in the slightest. The tempo is a major part of this where it's just so slow-going and plodding that there's very little chances to do something interesting with a clunk storyline that doesn't warrant this type of length so it's sluggish means of carrying out the family's destructive rampage or the inner workings of the carnival where their work with the sacred heart for their deal is all just so bland and dull it's not that interesting. That factor is the other big factor here, where even though this goes for the type of in-depth analysis on the family it does very little make them endearing or worth following in this type of feature as so little of it tends to just become quite uninteresting. Added with some obvious anachronistic tendencies that give its setting away, these bring the film down overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS is another creepy film from The Adams clan. Set during the Great Depression era, we are taken along with a family of three carnival performers (John Adams, Toby Poser, and Zelda Adams), as they embark on their spree of grisly murder.

Known for making the best of meager funds, this movie is no exception. As usual, the story is unique and gruesome, and the practical gore effects are well-realized. It's cool to see a family of filmmakers put together such a dark genre effort. The music -also performed by the Adamses- is a sort of ethereal sounding gloom-metal that might not have been around in the 1930s, but fits the overall mood of the film.

Recommended for those who appreciate low-budget horror movies that are quite out of the ordinary...

Well, this is a first time for me.... never before have I finished a movie and immediately rewound it and watched it again. I was so intrigued, but felt like I missed out on so much of the story for various reasons and was not content with that haha.

The first thing you're likely to notice after the opening scene is the quality and style of the picture. It's so lovely and unique, it gives the entire film a very specific aesthetic vibe that I found very visually pleasing. Along with the picture, you are hit with disorienting music, wild imagery, and jarring characters that make you feel as if you're almost in a daze while viewing. 93% of the frames throughout this movie are so striking you could take a still at any given moment and frame it. There were also some shockingly successful practical effects in this. Tons of really awesome real to life and jarring gore. Unfortunately, the few green screen effects were not as successful. There are also plenty of Easter eggs and fun running themes throughout such as the shoes and the Frankensteined dolls and such. This is one to pay attention to so you can catch everything.

The acting here was really quite interesting. It was almost as if they were putting on this cultivated, stilted delivery that begged this almost dark, fanciful, dazed, story book atmosphere. Throughout the film I really enjoyed their odd family dynamic. They were presenting this almost "3 Wise Monkeys" theme that I found quite intriguing. The three of them did an excellent job. The entire experience was certainly on the thematically dark side, while being chock-full of symbolism, metaphors, allegories and nuanced messages... yet somehow, still managed to have an oddly lighthearted sensibility to it. It never felt like it was taking itself too seriously, despite the art house nature of it all.

As stated, I watched it a second time because I was a tad confused throughout and felt like I missed out on parts of the story that I wanted to partake in. I got much more out of it and enjoyed it even more the second go around. Unfortunately, you can guess the majority of people are not going to invest double the time into this, so I feel it won't reach as many people as it could. I do think there was a slight disconnect with the storytelling within the script that could've been addressed in the way of improving the viewer's accessibility and understanding of the plot.

Small example - a man says "They already took it" whereas, if he were to say "They already took it, the fat SOB came by today and made me sign it over"... it's not super spoonfed but makes me go "oh, that's who he is talking about". Little allusions such as this make it easier for the viewer to draw parallels and connections from scene to scene and character to character. I feel as though different occurrences of this were part of the reason I was confused during my first viewing. However, there is certainly something to be said for a sense of confusion and what that evokes. Not everything is meant to be explained or fully understood and I think this film is a good example of that. Even my second time there were things that went over my head and I could not decipher.

I have been a fan of this family and their work for quite some time now. I'm so pleased to see their success through bigger productions and quality work. I think they are innovative, original and creating truly unique work. As an indie actor, these are the kinds of productions I love to see and would kill to be in. This isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if it's not... go read a book lol. 6.5 rounding down to a 6, would recommend.