THE WOODS (2006) Movie Review

THE WOODS (2006)

Heather is a rebellious teen who has been brought to an isolated all-girls school deep within an old forest in an attempt for her to learn some control over herself. Heather is none too keen on the idea, and attempts to worm her way out of it, but to no avail. She meets the headmistress Ms. Traverse, befriends shy Marcy, and likewise becomes the object of torment by the school’s alpha student, Samantha. On her first night sleeping there, Heather has a horrific nightmare, as she has visions of the surrounding woods and begins to hear voices. And though no one will come out and say it, Heather feels an aura of the supernatural lingering around the school as days turn to weeks. When a student goes missing, and Heather learns of the legend of the school, she begins to suspect that there might be some truth behind it. As her intuitive nature leads her on, Heather comes to realize that school may in fact be run by a sisterhood of witches.

Lucky McKee follows up his 2002 sleeper horror hit MAY with this supernatural ode to witchcraft, sisterhood, and rebellion. However, as McKee’s film is drenched in European-styled slow-building suspense and filled with three-dimensional fleshed out characters, rather than the long haired ghosts and torture chambers, fans had to wait almost three years for his film to be quietly ushered onto DVD. It is quite a shame, as McKee’s film seems an attempt to bring back into the horror spotlight a more lyrical and dreamlike tempo which has been widely absent from modern American screens, and has more than a passing resemblance and paid respect to SUSPIRIA.

Throughout cinema's history and in storytelling reaching back into Shakespeare’s MacBeth and beyond, the woods and forests have always been a source of the unknown, of horrors untold, of mysteries waiting to unfold, of spooks and specters, witches and warlocks. In modern days, forests have housed unstoppable killers and unseen evil forces. McKee taps into this subconscious fear of the woods quite aptly here, sending his characters into the underbrush both in day and night, and allowing his camera to idle through the shadows and silhouettes of the treetops. The effect is both hauntingly calming and frightening. McKee even goes so far as to bring in Bruce Campbell in a supporting role, an actor who will always be synonymous with haunted forests, to ratchet up the viewer’s embedded terror of what lurks beyond the tree line.

David Ross, who makes his writing debut here, makes a stylistic choice to set his tale in 1965. This decision gives the film a unique twist on the story as it plays out. Given the year and the isolation of the school, the setting has a very natural and earthy feel to it. Technology is given very little screen time, and much of that is during Heather’s car ride in. The classrooms, and especially the dormitory, doesn’t look like they have been updated in the one-hundred plus years of the school’s operation, and give the setting more of a haunted castle aura than that of a learning institution. Second, is the dawn of rebellion that was blossoming in the mid-60’s youth, and the distrust for all authority. This subtext plays a crucial part of Heather’s being, and adds texture to her anti-authoritarian stance against both the teachers and her parents.

Ross also takes his time to give depth to his supporting cast. He keeps the horror and suspense subdued through most of the first hour, limiting it to a few nightmares of Heather’s, and a fantastically paced goosebump covered ghost story that one of the students tells as a way to explain what lies in wait in the woods and its connection to the history of the school. But when he unleashes the woods in the final act, they are more terrifying and lifelike than ever before seen. Though most of the gripping, thrashing, and constricting plant life is CGI, it is wonderfully brought to the screen and meshes with the physical set and actors, serving to enhance rather than distract. And when Heather finally gets a hold of an axe, it brings forth a quick and satisfying bloodletting that plays not only for shock, but as a logical conclusion to the story that is multiple layers thick.

Just as the extreme and graphic horror of the mid-2000s was a backlash against the watered-down “near beer” horror of the late 1990s, so too does it seem that character driven horror seems to be clawing at the throats of the James Wans and Eli Roths at the time of this film's release. And though THE WOODS did not get the widespread initial recognition it should have, perhaps it be looked back upon fondly as a forebearer of what was soon to come. Or it may just have to sit and wait patiently on the rental rack, waiting for the next unsuspecting soul to get too close, so that THE WOODS may grab its next victim.

KILL BABY KILL (1966) Movie Review

KILL BABY KILL (1966)

After the death of a young woman in an isolated village in the early 20th Century, coroner Dr. Iswai is brought in by the inspector to do an autopsy to try and determine if the death was suicide, accident, or homicide. Circumstantial evidence rules out suicide, but the townsfolk are terrified to speak about what has happened. The town's burgomeister intones that the supernatural is involved, and that there is a conspiracy surrounded the local Villa Graps. After Dr. Iswai performs his autopsy, much to the town's disapproval, he returns to the inn he is staying at and witnesses a magical protection ritual performed on a young woman, who claims to have seen the ghost of the dead girl that haunts the village.

After seeing the sorcery performed, Dr. Iswai becomes obsessed with bringing logic and reason to a town he believes is merely being crippled by poverty, ignorance and superstition. Meanwhile, the inspector has gone missing after taking a trip to Villa Graps, and Dr. Iswai follows in his footsteps to the crumbling mansion. It is there that he crosses paths with Melissa, a little blonde girl who seems to disappear before his very eyes. When he once again returns to the village, the story about the little girl is finally revealed. And as the night slowly slips by, with death floating through the foggy air, Dr. Iswai soon discovers that not all things can be explained with science and reason.

Filled with classic imagery of gothic horror, from cobwebs and candelabras to shadows and yellow light, KILL BABY KILL (originally released as OPERAZIONE PAURA which translates to Operation Fear) is made unique by director Mario Bava's use of color schemes and a perpetually moving camera, which swirls, pans and dollies through the scenes like an ghost. Bava also filmed mostly on location in several small Italian villages, which adds a level of creepy authenticity to the period piece, in that such places do exist, and such events could very well take place within the cracked and crumbling buildings.

Beyond the set piece atmosphere, subtle practical effects play an important part generating and maintaining the uneasy mood that drifts along in the picture. It should be noted that Mario Bava's father, Eugenio Bava, was a cinematographer and the father of Italian special effects. Mario, who worked for Eugenio before making a name for himself, uses the many secrets of the trade he learned as a cameraman to create the full array of effects that seep into all of the viewer's senses, from reverse photography to swinging cameras, and colored gels to warped glass. They are inexpensive, yet effective tricks that create a very unnerving feeling.

Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, whose long and lustrous career has taken him across all of Italy's trademark genres from spaghetti westerns to gialli, is right at home here in the lead role. His crisp and striking features, coupled with the character's modern suits, fits the bill perfectly as the supernatural skeptic as he is set against his co-stars dirty peasant-like appearance. As the film goes on, he subtly brings out a spectrum of emotional nuances as his logic begins to lose out, before going for broke in the final sequences.

Much like SLEEPY HOLLOW would do almost thirty-five years later, the story here pits a man whose heels are firmly dug into science and logic against a town where curses and the supernatural do exist, and it is hard to deny that this film had an effect on Tim Burton. Likewise, it is hard to deny that the story here, which was co-written by Bava, was influenced by 1963's THE HAUNTING. Indeed the first half of the film here is set-up with masterful ambiguity, so that it is quite unclear whether there is anything supernatural happening at all.

For those unfamiliar with Bava's work, KILL BABY KILL may be an ill-advised place to start. Despite the title, there is very little killing in the film, and despite the fantastic and grisly opening murder, almost no gore. Bava's more accessible BAY OF BLOOD or BLOOD AND BLACK LACE would be a good place to start, before returning to and appreciating this one. What this film does offer, however, is pure atmosphere that will have fans of ghost stories and slowly-unwinding plots sleeping with their lights on. Bava himself was a firm believer in ghosts, and his love of the supernatural permeates each oddly-angled scene and multi-layered image.

Whatever title you may know this film as, with the film featuring several name including CURSE OF THE LIVING DEAD, it is an important piece of cinematic history and an influence of filmmakers over the last quarter century. Much of Bava's work was steeped in the supernatural and the unexplained, and among them this can easily be ranked as one of the highest. Bava made films that he would personally enjoy as a viewer, and thus was able to turn his movies into personal art pieces, regardless of the finance gain or loss. For that, he is truly to be respected and remembered as a filmmaker.

THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN (2007) Movie Review

THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN (2007)
(aka CARVED)

Rumors have been circulating from child to child in a small Japanese town that the Slit-Mouthed Woman has returned. She is an entity that appears for children alone, wearing a long raincoat, holding a giant pair of sewing shears, and has a horribly disfigured face with a jagged slash from ear to ear. After asking the child "Am I pretty?" she takes the child back to her hideout to cut up in her own image. When a child disappears from the playground, the entire town goes into hysterics, and when a second child is kidnapped, a teacher from the school, Ms Yamashita, witnesses the Slit-Mouthed Woman before both disappear.

Yamashita becomes obsessed with finding the young girl, and when she crosses paths with a fellow teacher, Mr. Matsuzaki, she learns much more than she bargained for. Matsuzaki believes that the Slit-Mouthed Woman is actually his mother from thirty years ago. He describes the constant abuse he and his siblings took from the fists of his chronically ill mother, and fears that she has since returned to the land of the living to kill him as well. Following the consistently corroborating rumors that they have heard from the children, Matsuzaki comes to the realization that the Slit-Mouthed Woman has once again taken up residence in the now abandoned house where he used to live.

The power and destruction that rumors and gossip can have when they spread like wildfire and morph into what is perceived to be truth takes on an unstoppable physical manifestation in this horror tale from director and co-writer Koji Shiraishi, who pulls pieces from a well-known Japanese folk legend for his tale. Shiraishi begins the film with an ambiguous energy that is not unlike the chicken-or-egg question. It is never revealed whether the Slit-Mouthed Woman strikes first, which start the rumors, or if the rumors start first which brings her into the real world. In either case, the Slit-Mouthed Woman draws her power from the collective gossip and fears circulating around the town. In that sense, she is very much Japan's answer to Freddy Krueger of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, with a maternal twist. She is an unstoppable force that can not be killed. She has no true physical form, and can only be seen when she possesses the body of a caring mother.

Koji Shiraishi, who has spent his entire filmmaking career in the warm embrace of Japan's horror community, is no stranger to shadows and jump scares. He utilizes these skills into a very subtle yet driving force within the context of the film here. His camera slowly pans and creeps along doorways and walls, obstructing the view just enough to make you anticipate the next shocking moment. However, the most horrific moments and the most difficult scenes to watch come from the flashback sequences of Matsuzaki's youth. Here, as a human, Matsuzaki's mother is truly a monster. Shiraishi lets his camera linger as the woman walks from child to child, striking with her fists. The muffled sound of each contact will send pangs of helplessness down through your soul, and Shiraishi holds just long enough for the viewers own protective instincts to kick in before turning away. This is where the film finds its greatest success, and it is these scenes that will most likely stay with the viewer longest.

Although children seem to be the targets of this entity, it is the mothers of the town that are the true victims. They become powerless and helpless to stop their children from being taken away, even when they attempt to protect them with their very lives via maternal instinct. That these caring mothers are possessed by the Slit-Mouthed Woman, who then in turn maims and murders, is the ultimate perversion of maternal care. This monster's only instinct is to lash out, hurt, and kill not only her own children, but any child that has a loving environment. Teens have long been fodder for slaughtering, but only in very rare instances do young children become victims in modern horror. In the world of this movie, young children are not safe from harm, and the film's creators take a daring step over a line that has been repeatedly drawn in cinema.

Within the murder and maiming sequences though, almost all of the actual penetration and cutting is done just off camera. Instead, sound is used to its greatest potential here. Horror crafters have long known that the mind can create a vision far more terrifying than anything that can be faked, and Shiraishi is certainly no exception. The grisly sounds the Slit-Mouthed Woman's sewing shears make will send shivers down the spine. Most people have probably been cut by scissors at some point in their life, and that real-life connection to pain makes the scenes just that more agonizing to watch. We are shown multiple mouth-gaping shots of the Slit-Mouthed Woman throughout the film, which are quite convincing. These are not the neat and surgical cuts of ICHI THE KILLER's Kakihara, these are jagged slashes, with the skin looking like it has even been torn beyond the initial cut.

The subject matter at hand is quite subjective. While those viewing who do not have children will most likely focus on the more supernatural mystery end of the film's spectrum, parents watching will no doubt be focusing on the plight of the worrying parents. More sensitive viewers may want to avoid this one, as this is a fairly mean-spirited film and though you'll get some good scares out of it, there is little entertainment value to be found here.

ONE MISSED CALL (2003) Movie Review

ONE MISSED CALL (2003)

Yoko has just received a bizarre voice mail… from her own cell phone two days in the future. She can distinctively hear her own voice on the message followed moments later by a bloodcurdling scream. Yoko writes it off as some twisted prank, but two days later while talking with her friend Yumi, who had also listened to the chilling voice mail, the events of that foretelling message play out and Yoko is later found dead from an apparent suicide. Soon more of Yumi’s friends begin to receive similar phone calls, and similarly meet their predestined doom.

As rumors circulate through the teenage population, and a tabloid television show latches onto the phenomenon to make a quick buck, Yumi meets a mysterious young man named Yamashita, whose sister met the same fate as Yumi’s friends. With little to go on, the pair begin a frantic search for clues that could lead to the source behind the calls, and soon focus on the disappearance of a woman from six months ago. But when Yumi receives a soul-crushing voice mail from herself being murdered two days in the future, the young woman knows that she will be next, and nothing will be able to protect her apart from subduing the vengeful spirit that has been plaguing the phone lines.

Read my full review at Geeks Of Doom!

THE VICTIM Movie Review

THE VICTIM (2006)

When struggling actress Ting is asked by the police to act as the victim in a string of police reenactments, Ting is at first worried that doing so may upset the spirits of those that she is to impersonate. But after an assurance by the police lieutenant that this is the right thing to do, she readily agrees. Soon Ting finds local celebrity for her ability to get inside the victim's personality, and she becomes more obsessed with doing research for her next role.

Ting's desire to portray the dead victims reaches its summit when a reenactment for the case of the brutally murdered Meen, who was a former Miss Thailand, is set up. Ting studies Meen's speech patern, her way of walking, and the way she dances. Ting even goes so far as to visit the alleged scene of the crime to truly try to understand her "character". But this is when Ting begins to feel an eerie presence surrounding her, and begins to see flashes of Meen's face, and even thinks that Meen is trying to physically direct her so that Ting can impersonate her better. But is it Meen trying to help in order to solve her murder, or is there a sinister ulterior motive to her interactions with Ting?

As with many supernatural Thai films, THE VICTIM taps into the Buddhist beliefs which hold a religious majority over the country for its inspiration in respecting spirits and fearing their wrath should the living ever anger them. Many of the Thai citizens take ghosts and spirits as matter of fact of life, even going so far as to present information given by ghosts as print and television worthy, and firmly believing the art of spirit photography whereby ghosts' images can be captures on film. Within these contexts, the prevalent fear of disrespecting the deceased by not honoring them with truthful representation offers the springboard from which director Monthon Arayangkoon leaps from.

Although Arayangkoon has only made one movie previous to this, the monster film GARUDA, he shows an eagerness to create a unique tale that will not only appeal to his native country but also be accessible to an international market. As with GARUDA, THE VICTIM certainly is at its most enjoyable for those that have a more thorough knowledge of Thai superstition and legends in general, and Arayangkoon wastes no time in exposition trying to get any outsiders up to speed. However, there are plenty enough spooks and scares that will elicit universal fears in newcomers to Buddhism, and at no time does anything get too spiritually "technical" to confuse or put off the general viewer.

The spooks and scares, by the way, are quite effective. While nothing is terribly groundbreaking in terms of what Arayangkoon employs, which is all pretty standard double imagery and atmosphere sounds and shadows, how he uses it gets right underneath your skin and stays there festering. And in many cases, it is the reactions of the characters on screen that evoke the true terror, rather than the build up. These are people who are believe without a shadow of a doubt that there are ghosts, and they are well aware of the consequences for disturbing them. There are no scenes in which one person tries to persuade another they a spirit. If they say they did, the response is not "you're crazy" the response is a wholehearted "well what do we do now?"

While Arayangkoon does resort to a few loud bang jump scares, the goosebumps are at their most effective during several key sequences that are sets up with lead actress Pitchanart Sakakorn. In perhaps the standout sequence of the movie, she is engulfed by a sea of souls, while a repeating motif of her dancing warns that her actions are not those of her own. Sakakorn has spent most of her young acting career in Thai horror, and with a face that was made to look fearful and terrorized, it is her slow realization that she is being possessed and there doesn't seem to be anything she can do to stop it will leave the hairs on the back of your neck standing.

THE VICTIM does take one huge leap of faith with its audience, and that is its make-it-or-brake-it twist which comes halfway through the film. It is a jarring sudden turn that practically restarts the entire movie and makes you question everything that you've seen up to that point. While the twist essentially slams the brakes hard and then has to accelerate back to cruising speed, Arayangkoon holds everything together while he makes you evaluate what has happened up until then as he dissects information and provides new insights before delivering a thoroughly creepy and satisfying ending.

Released under the Asia Extreme genre arm of Tartan Video, THE VICTIM is presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer with its original Thai dialogue in Dolby Digital 5.1 along with English and Spanish subtitles. Among the special features is a curious featurette which has been dubbed a "Making Of" but in reality is a much more interesting documentary about ghosts that were supposedly on the set. Much like in the actual movie, still shots of footage are purported to show faces in the shadows as scene were being photographed, while filmmakers go on record saying they are being followed by spirits. Between the ominous voiceover and grainy footage, this is almost as creepy as the movie itself. The DVD is rounded out with Tartan's usual suspects, including the original trailer for THE VICTIM, previews for other Tartan releases, and the always thrilling Asia Extreme promo reel.

BAD BLOOD Movie & DVD Review

BAD BLOOD (2006)

When Xavier Monteiro inherits his an estate deep in the countryside of Portugal, he decides to move his family, including his three children and grandchild, out of the city that they have known all of their lives to the rural village to start a new. Although his family is less than thrilled about the prospect of country living, they go with Xavier without a struggle. When they arrive at their new home, they find a town that is still deeply beholden to Catholicism and rooted in superstitious beliefs, who are not accustomed to change, further dissuaded by Xavier's lack of faith and devotion to scientific thinking.

Not soon after the family gets settled into their new home, they all begin to feel a strange presence and begin to hear voices when no one else is in the house. Xavier's students, who invite him to a seance as a form of entertainment and to try and lighten the mood, get the opposite effect when the psychic mentions a moment from Xavier's past that no one else is aware of. But the real shock comes when Xavier and his wife speak to one of the town's elderly priests, who divulge to them the history and truth of their new home, and the curse the seemingly haunts it.

Read my full review at Gorezone!

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CELLO Movie Review

CELLO (2005)

Mi-Yu is a music theory instructor with a caring husband and two lovely young daughters. Today is Mi-Yu's birthday, but it is a also a day that brings back haunting memories when she learns that Hae-Yeong, the younger sister of her former classmate, Tae-Yeon, will be performing in the area. Along with the performance program, Mi-Yu receives an audio cassette from Hae-Yeong. That night, on her way home, she listens to the cassette and not moments after the classical music begins she begins to pass out and is nearly hit by a truck. She is unaware that this is only the first of a series of events that will slowly unravel around her because of the tape.

The following day, Mi-Yu takes her older daughter, Yoon-Jin, to the doctor. On the way home, they stop by a musical instrument shop, and Mi-Yu is compelled to buy Yoon-Jin a cello and begin to teach her to play, though Mi-Yu no longer plays herself. That night, a spirit which has invaded Mi-Yu's home shows herself for the first time and begins her reign of terror. As Mi-Yu's family begins to die, a connection is made between the cassette and the new cello, and she must slowly remember and come to terms with what happened to Tae-Yeon when they were younger, and also come to terms with what is happening in the present.

This is the first film for director Lee Wu-Cheol and writer Jeong Wu-Cheol. The creative duo are obviously influenced by elements from both American cinema and recent K-Horror and J-Horror films. The opening pre-credit sequence borrows a page from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, as classical music is interposed over a very bloody and dying woman, which lays the groundwork for the viewer to link music with death through the rest of the movie. The physical cello itself takes a note from THE RED VIOLIN as it is never fully disclosed as to whether the actual instrument is possessed or cursed.

The supernatural portions of the film all seem cribbed from the recent Asian horror films, including Japan's RINGU (this time with a cursed cassette, as well as a few stolen camera shots) and JU-ON (the female spirit has a white face and heavy black eyeliner) and Korea's PHONE (Mi-Yu receives phone calls on her cell through out the movie). These references do not go so far as to plagiarize, but merely stay within a tried and successful safety zone that the viewers will be familiar with.

On the technical side, Lee Wu-Cheol uses classic haunted house-style light and shadow to great effect as it plays with the eye and makes the mind expect voids to be filled with ghosts. As with any haunted house story, especially one focused on a musical instrument, audio plays a big role through the film. Startling musical cues amp up the jump scares to keep the pulse pumping, which are contrasted by quiet musical ambiance during dialogue. His cinematography is quite ambitious, and successfully uses it to tell the story as much as the dialogue. The use of repeating shots make earlier scenes of the film really pay off when it is discovered just how influential the spirit has been over Mi-Yu and her family.

Added all up, this is a strong first outing for the director and writer pair who seem to be playing by the K-Horror rule book for now, and sticking to their film school textbooks on how to make a scary movie. Only future cinematic outings will tell if they have what it takes to create their own style and originality.

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen, with the original Korean soundtrack in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. English and Spanish subtitles are included and easy to read. There is an audio commentary track by the director, which is quite technical and somewhat flat, a short behind-the-scenes featurette which offers interviews with the cast and crew, and several trailers for other Tartan titles.

KILLER KILLER Movie Review

KILLER KILLER (2007)

Seven convicted killers, locked away in a ward reserved exclusively for murderers, awaken one morning to find their cell doors open, the guards missing, and the compound surrounded by an impenetrable wall of mist. At first the convicts merely wonder out loud where all the guards have gone, why the compound seems to have to fallen into disarray overnight, and what to do with the unbalanced psychopath that is kept in the basement cellblock. But when the men begin to drop dead one by one, they blame each other, unaware that there is an entity in the shadows, a killer of killers, picking off the inmates in the exact same way that they committed their murders. [Read The Full Review at Gorezone]

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DUST DEVIL (1992) Movie Review

DUST DEVIL (1992)

In the barren desert wastelands of South Africa roams an ancient, shape-shifting demon that is bound by human form, who searches for the souls of those that have given up on life. With these souls, the Dust Devil, as he has become known in storytelling and mythology, will be able to return to spirit form. After his latest victim, the Dust Devil sets back out on the road. He is picked up as a hitchhiker by Wendy, a woman who has just left her husband and is now traveling toward the sea as she tries to rediscover herself. As the two continue on their road trip through the hellish nothingness, the Dust Devil waits patiently for Wendy to finally give up on life, and to steal her soul away.

Meanwhile, police officer Ben Mukurob is on the trail of the Dust Devil, who he believes to be nothing more than a brutal serial killer. However, as the clues are dissected, they point to black magic and mysticism. Mukurob is highly skeptical of this, and turns to his friend Joe for help. Joe gives him the complete story of the Dust Devil, who he believes is in their midst, over several meetings. Once convinced that the supernatural may be at work, Mukurob sets out into the desert to hunt down his prey, unaware that his target is not one easily caught, nor can he be stopped like any mere mortal. Eventually, he catches up to the Dust Devil and Wendy, in an abandoned town that is slowly being swallowed up by the desert. It is here that the three will finally face off, and here that only one will walk away.

"The dreams came first. The dark man, his face hidden, his hat pulled low, his coat gathered around him, standing alone in the wasteland," director and writer Richard Stanley states on the origin of the Dust Devil character. When Stanley finally caught his dream on celluloid, his realization was very much like watching a dream. His camera slowly creeps through dust, wind and shimmering heat as it follows the main character, who although is trapped in a physical form, still has some control over the elements. There are no visible effects that affect the weather, only the natural chaos of southern Africa's climate that is filmed and edited to appear as if under control.

The storytelling writing of Stanley, although minimal, is sharply done, and more importantly, intelligent. This is a movie that lays down rules of the "universe" this film takes place in within the conversations of Mukurob and Joe, and great attention is paid to staying true to those rules to the finaly conclusion. Much of the film is told through imagery. DUST DEVIL is a very visual movie, in that you must read what you are seeing. Not everything is given to the viewer through exposition, and must be discovered and interpreted through sight. There are no filler scenes to pad out the running time, each scene and more specifically each shot, is designed with an artist's eye to keep the plot and ideas moving and evolving. You could even go so far as to define the camera as an omnipresent character, watching everything play out.

Robert Burke, who fills the shoes of the Dust Devil, filters his character's actions and expressions through the mysterious stranger template created by Clint Eastwood in his many westerns, particularly the more ghastly versions seen in HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER and PALE RIDER. His outfit, a full-length duster coat and wide brimmed hat, doesn't hurt in making these associations more concrete. He does avoid coming off as a Clint-wannabe, and builds up through the film a very unique character that is both strangely compassionate and menacing at the same time. He has but one goal to obtain, and is willing and patient enough to wait an eternity to accomplish it.

This review is based upon a viewing of DUSTDEVIL: THE FINAL CUT, which has just been released on DVD by Subversive Cinema. Richard Stanley worked personally with the staff of Subversive Cinema to over see the completion of his film, and this cut represents the true feeling, direction and story that Stanley wanted to achieve. Upon its initial release back in 1992, it was severely cut and edited (almost all of the supernatural plot points were removed) by Miramax who had obtained distribution rights for the United States. Now, it will finally be widely available for the arthouse horror crowd to discover it for the first time. And for those that thought you have seen DUST DEVIL, prepare to finally see the real film.