The Devil’s Rock – (2012)
It would be rare to find a movie that has only three characters yet, could intrigue me the way that The Devil’s Rock did. I knew little about the movie. The cover art resembled a Marylyn Manson video. But shortly into the film, I noticed that I was hanging on to every word. It is not a high-action, horror-war movie, or a Nazi-zombie flick. It is an intimate film that engrosses you with tense dialogue and sharp characters.
The film takes place on the day before D-day, during WWII, in 1944. Two British soldiers are assigned to neutralize a German bunker on one of the French Channel Islands. As they approach the bunker they hear the screams of a woman prisoner. Upon entering the complex they discover most of the German soldiers and Nazi’s to be dead. The only surviving officer, Colonel Klaus Meyers, quickly dispatches one of the Brits but captures soldier, Ben Grogan, alive. Grogan discovers that Colonel Meyers is the head of the Nazi division that investigates occult powers for the purpose of using them to win the war. However, it seems that the Colonel’s newly occult conjured guest is a bit unruly and has gotten the better of his team. He now has to convince Grogan to help him perform a ritual, which takes two people, to send the demon back to where it came from. To complicate matters, the chained-up demon takes on the visage of an innocent, British woman, and contradicts everything the Nazi colonel says. The film turns into a screw-turning, three-way battle of wits that keeps you on the edge. (I’ve left a few details out so as not to be a total spoiler).
This is a well-written script with strong characters and exceptional acting. The impressive looking demon is a fine example of what good prosthetics and make-up can do and proves that you do not need overblown CGI or even a large budget to make an effective horror movie. (Scy-fy channel should take a lesson from this film and ‘can’ all the lousy CG). I like that the make-up still retains the features of the character and is not overdone. This film reminds me a bit of The Exorcist III, with George C. Scott because the plot of this film is driven by dialogue. If you liked that film, and/or House of the Devil, you will most likely enjoy The Devil’s Rock. I was pleasantly surprised.
parlor of horror 