The Devil's Work

Fantastic how Ursula Dabrowsky's The Devil's Work is filmed entirely in one shot and uses suspense instead of gore to rack up the non-stop tension. Super, super effective.

I particularly liked the music score by Mick Taylor and sound design by Tom Wroblewski. They are both outstanding.

It's a slow burn start, but I understand why Ursula Dabrowsky paced it that way and the tension holds through the set up scenes.

The last act really pays off.

I was at the Monster Fest screening and during the Q&A after the screening, the director told the audience that the film was shot in four nights. Incredible outcome by the cast and crew, particularly Maxx Corkindale, Cinematographer, given the schedule.

Great performances by Cassandra Kane and Luca Sardelis, who play two sisters, Charlie and Lindy. They have been brought up by a mother with serious mental health issues, and the film explores how this upbringing affects the women and their own relationship with each other in horrible ways.

Lindy's tragic flaw is that she has internalised the brunt of trauma for so long, the only way she can channel it is through mind games, manipulation, and a narcissistic rage that turns violent.

But rather than being exploitative, the film shifts POV and also shows a sad, poignant side of Lindy, where she is seen as a victim of her tragic circumstances.

In the end, The Devil's Work is an extended metaphor wrapped in a psychological horror film about what needs to be done when you have toxic family members who are making your life hell.

There's so much to love about this film. It's a taut, intensely suspenseful experience creating a strong and sustained sense of claustrophobic fear and dread. Directed by South Australian based horror movie maker Ursula Dabrowsky, the story is a clever, heightened and horrifying rendition of how the damage done by family dynamics in childhood can manifest later in life. The film creates a kind of dark, almost tactile feeling of the damaged psyche as a place one ends up feeling trapped. The talented actors, Cassandra Kane, Luca Sardelis, Mark Fantasia and Kerry Reid are well cast for bringing to life the sticky web of dark undercurrents that tie these characters together. For aspiring filmmakers in this genre, there is so much to learn from how cleverly, stylishly and elegantly this low budget horror story is crafted at all levels - from the story, the talented small cast, and using a singular location to great effect. Music composed by Michael Taylor, and the sound design by Tom Wroblewski both deserve a mention as the audio experience creates such beautiful tension and foreboding throughout the story, complementing the beautiful cinematography by Maxx Corkindale. There are some exquisite effects in make-up design by Dominique Keeley - stay until the end. Settle in to a nice cosy room in the dark and prepare to feel tense and anxious in all the right ways as you watch The Devil's Work ... but maybe don't invite any of your siblings to join you. Do pop this one on your Valentine's Day viewing list though!

This it's not so much a review as a warning. The action in this movie could have been distilled into about 11 minutes. That 11 minutes would have been well done but you would have needed another 79 minutes to make a complete film. It must have been done for less than $2,000, and it was probably shot in less than a week. The camera work is very amateurish. It looks like it was shot with a cell phone. There are many lengthy and painful close-ups of characters doing nothing However, there is a quality to it that makes you stick with the film far longer than you should while you crave for some action that never comes. Don't bother with this.

Saw The Devils Work by Ursula Dabrowski in Adelaide. It was my first time watching a Dabrowski film and after seeing this it left me wanting to see all of her work. I LOVED IT! I'm not much into to gore but love a suspenseful thriller and this film delivered. The balance was perfect and done in a way which made it feel authentic and believable, fully immersing me in the script. I thought the music was fantastic, heightening the suspense and the acting was excellent.

After the screening during the Q&A Ursula revealed that The Devils Work was shot in just four days, on a very low budget and in one location. Incredible talent to pull off such a feat. Highly recommend!

I am stil actually watching this right now . ,apparently there's still about twenty minutes to go , probably five will be credits .

It started out fine .(why people bother locking doors if you leave keys under mats is a mystery to me . ) About twenty minutes in I was thinking this seems like one of those short films and had to double check that it wasn't , seemed like it was pretty obvious what would happen and should be over soon , here I am , feels like an hour later and apart from a lot of wandering around and slow walking I still feel the same . Some of the reviews talk about one shot take thing but so what , that's been done before , This should have been like thirty minutes ,tops .

Oh no , surprise ending ...nah . Not really. Finally over though.

It's not bad , but way too long and nothing exciting or new.