Devil's Den

This film essentially begins with two young men by the name of "Quinn" (Devon Sawa) and "Nick" (Steven Schub) driving back to the United States with a cache of Spanish Fly they had recently purchased in Mexico. Naturally, being the losers that they are, they cannot wait to try their merchandise out on the first unsuspecting women they meet, so they stop at a small, seedy nightclub known as the Devil's Den along the way. To that effect, noticing a beautiful dancer by the name of "Jezebel" (Dawn Olivieri) casting looks his way, Quinn invites her to his table and, when she accepts his offer of a drink, manages to slip one of the pills into it without her noticing. Sure enough, the Spanish Fly produces immediate results and within minutes she is leading him to a quite spot to continue their romantic encounter. Meanwhile, an attractive woman by the name of "Caitlin" (Kelly Hu) has noticed the two leaving through the back door and has decided to follow them for reasons that remain unknown at this time. However, when she finally catches up to the two of them, she notices Quinn fighting for his life against a hideous creature that is attempting to devour him-and there are even more creatures of this type that have suddenly appeared as well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this movie certainly had potential as both the initial plot and the presence of several attractive actresses like Kelly Hu, Dawn Olivieri and Karen Maxwell (as the waitress named "Candy") certainly provoked my interest. Unfortunately, my interest waned to a great degree due to the number of uninspired action scenes repeated over and over again. Likewise, the transformation of the beautiful actresses into hideous ghouls didn't help either. In any case, other than a few moments here and there, I found this movie to be rather dull for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

As mentioned countless times already, "Devil's Den" really can be considered to be a "From Dusk Till Dawn" knock-off... But that doesn't mean it can't be fun, right? And indeed, I had as much fun with this one as I had with watching "The Hazing" (2004) the week before. Both can be considered good fun horror party flicks. No vampires in this den, actually, but ghouls instead. No big twist halfway through the movie, but ghoul action from the get-go. No elaborate plot whatsoever, but still a few nice character twists. And Ken"Beyond the Dawn of the Texas Sleepstalking Dentist-Reject"Foree is in it. And for the teenage ladies, there's Devon Sawa (but I must say the dude seems to have gained some weight since "Final Destination"). And guys, I don't need to tell you that there's indeed some pleasant femalish eye-candy in this one, right? Yes, this movie will very likely not go very far into horror history, but it's still a certified fun B-movie watch. The same kind of fun I recently had with "Bloodsuckers" (AKA "Vampire Wars"), now that we're talking vampires and ghouls.

(2006) Devil's Den HORROR/ COMEDY

Conventional lower budget version of "From Dusk Til Dawn" clone which the two are almost identical! With Quinn (Devon Sawa), Caitlin (Kelly Hu) and Leonard (Ken Foree) go to strip club called "Devil's Den" down in Mexico, only to confront a bunch of ghouls. The film starts off as a gore fest to a simple minded comedy toward the end, especially the final dual between Hu and the queen of ghouls who for some reason doesn't even call out her ghoul cohorts. Inconsistently convenient and conventional which the director of this film and the producer may have collided!

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.

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