The Devil's Rock

This was not bad at all.

The narrative was a bit weak admittedly, more explanation of the occult rituals would have been nice. The ending was also the classic writers getting tired making something quick up.

A more clever ending had been appreciated.

Overall the acting was really good. Try yourself to play a red painted demon and keep a straight face :) The two male leads, well the only ones really, delivered well.

Camera work and editing was good, though in a way that is to be expected from shooting in small spaces.

Overall, good effort from everyone involved and if you have popcorn and a nice hang over this is absolutely rent-able.

This film is badly marked down in my opinion. There are other films "outpost" being one title which stand out in this genre of Nazis and the occult and this has the ability to match them all with solid acting performances. This is also really for a more mature audience unlike "Dead Snow" which in my opinion has a slight comical factor about it. When you consider the small cast and the time spent on screen by the actors the plot is held together solidly. For its genre please give this film a viewing and you will be pleasantly surprised of its quality. I have not heard of any of the actors but they all gel together convincingly.The suspense building up is unbelievable.

Thanks for reading and go and enjoy the film.

THE DEVIL'S ROCK is a little-known but more than effective Kiwi horror flick set during the dark days of WW2. It's one of those films that links the Nazis with the occult, exploring their penchant for black magic with a very dark storyline, although unlike most it doesn't go down the obvious route and just real with Nazi zombies. This time things are a lot odder, and dare I say it, more effective.

The film is oddly set on the Channel Islands, as a couple of soldiers infiltrate a Nazi bunker and discover that a massacre has just taken place. What soon unfolds is a plot involving devil worship, black magic, and the summoning of a powerful demon with a taste for human flesh. For a low budget movie, this is decent: for most of the running time we're trapped with three actors in a single location, and yet it never feels stale or boring.

I'm not saying that THE DEVIL'S ROCK is a masterpiece, because it isn't. The acting and script are only average. Matthew Sunderland gives the best performance as the conflicted Nazi colonel, and it's a shame when his character turns out to be far more ordinary than you expect from the set-up. Still, there's plenty of flowing gore on offer here, alongside effective demonic scenes that bring to mind the best of the Dennis Wheatley classic, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT. Horror fans should enjoy themselves.

This film stands on the strength of the actors as there is very little movement from the bunker which the Allied soldiers have come to put out of action.

I watched in rapt attention to the performances of the Nazi Colonel and the New Zealand Captain as they struggled to subdue the demon and keep a step ahead of each other.

I am indeed a horror fan and would love to see more character driven films such as this one. I believe it was put out by the New Zealand Film Commission, I should find out what else they have made.

The gore effects were top notch as well, I am puzzled by the people who feel it was too long and feel it was drawn out, maybe the sci-fi channel is more their speed, this is quality film making with superb actors (and actress) shot in an extremely atmospheric and convincing manner.

7 out of 10

Like the other reviewers, I'm a bit surprised at this movie's low rating. It's not the most amazing horror movie I've ever seen, but it's good enough for a 6/10 or 7/10.

The directing is a bit uneven, but there are some quite striking visuals. The writing, while a bit clichéd, is still competent. For a movie I was expecting to be barely watchable, it was a very pleasant surprise.

I suppose the obvious comparison would be with The Keep, where a group of Nazis unearth an ancient evil, then seek to banish it, when they realize they're over their heads. This certainly isn't a pretentious movie, and it seems to have no illusions about being high art, but it is a bit heavy on the exposition and dialogue. If you have a short attention span, you might want to skip this movie, because the violence and gore aren't really as prominent as it leads you to believe ("Saw with swastikas" is not a very good description of this movie).

For a B movie, it's really quite enjoyable. Just don't go in expecting a big budget and slavish attention to detail.