Devil's Den

The best way to describe this movie is fun. If you are looking for something to scare you, it won't, in point of fact it won't even try. If you are looking for a well scripted, entertaining little story that takes a couple of unexpected twists, and keeps you laughing along the way, then this is a definite must see.

It is a low budget movie but the production value is actually pretty good. The strip club it mostly takes place in is pretty cool looking, nothing on the scale of From Dusk 'til Dawn, but considering the budget it is better they didn't even try. The action was fast paced and well choreographed, Devon Sawa and Ken Foree were quite funny, and the chemistry between them was outstanding.

Unfortunately, my favourite moments would be considered spoilers and I cannot mention them, but suffice to say, with all of the low budget, and big budget drivel that passes for horror today, this one is quite a little gem.

Cheers

I was looking for a horror film last night and came across this one in the video store. It surprised me because I had never heard of it. What a great find! I laughed all the way through it. The plot twists were nice, especially where I assumed something was going to happen one way because it always happens in these type of genre films, then it twists for that very same reason. A certain Japanese scene that comes out of nowhere is my favorite.

Kelly Hu is hot but no where near as hot as the girl who plays Jezebel. She is smoking, and I'm surprised I haven't seen her in more stuff. Definitely got a new fan in me.

Devon Sawa is funny and Ken Foree is as solid and reliable as ever, even pretty funny himself in a gruff mentorish sort of way.

It's a low budget movie so I can see why I went straight to DVD but still, definitely worth the 90 or so minutes it takes to watch.

Hope they make a sequel.

On their way home from smuggling a case of high-potency Spanish Fly, two young men get lost and end up at the Devil's Den, a gentleman's club with no cover charge and some fine-looking ladies. But what starts off as a leisurely diversion quickly turns to panic when the pair discover some of the dancers are looking for a little more than a few dollars.

This film comes from director Jeff Burr ("Leatherface" and many others), am an with a solid history of directing horror films with a little less serious of an edge (such as the Puppetmaster films). I mean this in the kindest of ways, because finding the right blend of horror and comedy is an art form, and one that Burr has really found a knack for. This film entertains -- the balance of laughs and gore is flawless.

At first glance, I thought writer Mitch Gould might owe some serious kudos to Robert Kurtzman -- I'm not the first person to notice that the undead dancing in a club is not a new idea (see "From Dusk Till Dawn"). But don't underestimate Gould. Despite his background being more stunts and less writing (this is his sophomore effort), he really gave his heart to this script. A blend of characters and situations that would only otherwise work on an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" seems right at home in the Devil's Den.

The assembled cast is by no means foreign to the horror film (or the horror comedy film). Devon Sawa (Quinn the Spanish Fly smuggler) has come a long way from his days as the cute Casper and is now a noted horror celebrity ("Final Destination", "Idle Hands"). Sawa may have lost his boyish looks and charm, but his unique style and delivery have stayed pure. Ken Foree (Leonard, a vampire-hunting swordsman) needs no introduction. Appearing in both "Dawn of the Dead" films, Burr's "Leatherface" and countless other horror classics, this man's resume looks like a year's line-up of screenings at a college horror club. In short, Foree shines as usual. And although much younger than Foree, Kelly Hu's horror credentials also span back multiple decades ("Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan"). She plays the character of Caitlin perfectly, with enough panache and luxuriousness to rival any "final girl" in modern horror. Just don't ask how come she never runs out of bullets (it's a movie!).

A twist I really liked is the idea that the way to kill ghouls is not by removing the head or the heart or using some special equipment (silver bullets, crosses, etc.) but simply starvation. I don't recall ever hearing this from another film and it's an interesting twist. Leonard's explanation that decapitation is a great way to disconnect the mouth from the stomach (and thus speed up starvation) was ingenious.

While the film is full of great one-liners, gorgeous women and some serious gore (a scene where a man's heart is removed through his back was glorious), the key moment that told me this film was a winner involved the blind samurai (played by Ken Ohara). The feel of the movie changed, but in such a way you knew the creators were capable of anything -- no reason to worry about any loose ends or amateur sloppiness.

While I had not heard of this film prior to this viewing, I can see it becoming popular among horror fans and somewhat of a sleeper hit. While not of the same caliber as the classics, there lies in this film a certain charm that makes it both easy and enjoyable to watch again and again.

I had a nice time sitting through this edgy horror comedy, and have no regrets. It was certainly targeting the younger viewer however I found it a decent expenditure of my time due to the better than average talent they acquired.Eventually I sort of fell into the rather macabre storyline. Obviously the budget was low and the sets didn't change much,in fact everything happens at one location,"the strip club from hell" but for my two cents I have to say they pulled of a nice entertaining little package, probably due to a lot of things like good camera work, a descent director and some pretty good young and not too well know actors like Kelly Hu, who happens to be one of our local girls here in Hawaii. Kelly gave a nice performance, although it's probably hard to step down from a role as Cassandra in the scorpion King to something with less of a bang, she and Devon Sawa, Ken Foree and Karen Maxwell gave it a great effort. I think this film will be a bit of a cult classic in the ghoul killing vampire wasting category. If you don't think a ghoul hunt with dry humor would be your cup of tea then perhaps you should pass on this one, but if your not offended by that sort of thing then give it a shot, I think you'll have a few laughs and the time will go right by. I'm sure we will see a lot more of the cast from this film, they seem to be practicing a craft called acting.

OK so in actuality, this is a total B movie (by which i mean it pretty much sucks). But you know what totallyi redeems it? It STARS Kelly Hu. I mean, she is not just an bit part. She is the star role. OK, you had me with Kelly Hu (in her prime). It is what it is!

You know what else kinda redeems the movie. Its about GHOULS. Different! not vampires, not demons, not werewolves. Ghouls! Bonus points for that and Hu, brings this movie from a 5 to a 7.