The Restaurant

Was it a great movie, no. However, it was very entertaining. The acting was ham fisted, and the script...meh, but you know what, it worked! The film was extremely self-aware and did not take itself seriously. Therein lies it's true strength. The Devil's Restaurant is quirky in all the right ways. Pay no attention to the low scoring reviews, some of which did not even bother to use proper spelling and grammar. This movie is not groundbreaking and I doubt it was made with any award aspirations. To be frank, I started watching this with the intent of simply having something playing in the background while doing other things. Two minutes in and I was hooked, though. Is it horror? Well, the premise definitely is. Comedy, absolutely. Let go of your expectations, open your mind, and enjoy this silly little film.

I disagree with several reviewers who've blasted this film for bad or "wooden" acting. One of the indicators that you're watching good acting is that you forget the actors are acting, and that was pretty much my experience here, with a wide range of characters played with appropriate gusto and skill.

Much of the violence is out of shot, the details left to the viewer's imagination. A dying scream followed by a generous splash of blood can say more than the grossest, most graphic death.

There were a few problems with the plot and the pacing, and the ending could have been better; however, with a little sympathy and patience, you'll find an hour and a half of decent entertainment here.

Take a film with no scares, no humor, bad dialogue, bad acting, no money, a stupid story and you have The Devil's Restaurant. Blows my mind that people may have actually spent time working on this. Time for a new job or hobby or whatever this was....

I actually rather enjoyed this film. Did it have its flaws? Yes. Do I wish it was gorier? Absolutely. But the overall film works, even with the minuscule budget it had.

It never fails to amaze me...after I see a film that I consider moderately enjoyable, I then read reviews that say it's the worst film in the world, or in this case, the worst director in the world. I found the directing to be smart, taking advantage of specific elements (eg lighting & sound) to hide some of the shortcomings in fx due to budget constraints. The premise is interesting and the cast does an above average job at conveying their respective characters. Much of the dialog feels a bit broken and over the top, but I have absolutely zero doubt that the director cast the film with this in mind. While not an over the top comedy/horror, the film does indeed have a fair amount of black comedy throughout.

My personal wishes would have been:

• loads of gore. The premise is perfect for a full-on gorefest, especially with the black humor portrayed by characters and the script.
• a little more development and story behind the demon. We get some, but not much. It certainly isn't needed, but it could have assisted in adding depth to the story.

The 85 minutes went by very quickly and I was entertained the entire time. The film moves quickly, adding just enough character development and backstory to provide the minimum amount of knowledge necessary for the tale being told. This is no Oscar winner, nor will it be one most people would even watch a second time, but I enjoyed it.

For fans of:

• horror
• black comedy
• demonic stories

It is worth RESTATING...this is a low budget indie film. If you go in to this expecting tons of great fx, loads of gore, and jump-scares, this film is not for you. If you like a moderately paced dramatic horror film with dark humor, and done on an indie budget, give it a shot. It's on Prime right now (11/2019) so it's worth the price.

THE RESTAURANT AKA THE DEVIL'S RESTAURANT tells the story of a Faustian Bargain between the manager of a Restaurant and a demon. The terms of the deal are that the demon makes the restaurant successful by sending it lots of guests, many of whom will never be missed if they disappeared, and in return the manager feeds some of those to the demon.

Based on this premise, a script for a horror-comedy would seem to almost write itself: many aspects of the restaurant industry can be mined for scenes of situational humor, not to mention that food itself is a ripe subject for entertainment.

Alas, this movie felt very much like the script needed to be rewritten a few more times. After an awesome prologue during the opening credits, by far the best part of the film, it gets progressively sillier and worse. By the time the movie ends, one feels disappointment at just how short this fell of its potential.

The main characters cannot be blamed. Mark Robert Turner and Anthony Misiano did well, the best job in the cast. Turner's character reminded me a bit of John Cleese's character in the TV series FAWLTY TOWERS, and Misiano seems to be a natural comedian.

The production design was okay. The exterior of the restaurant looked kind of shabby compared to what a fine dining Italian restaurant is expected to look like, but that may well have been the point: it would take the demon's powers to attract lots of people to this place.

Some of the cinematography gave this away as a low budget affair, but this does not set the movie back nearly as much as the screenplay. The premise was good, some aspects of the story were innovative, some of the gags landed, but it all felt like it should have been allowed to stew a little more before being served up for realization.