Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
We meet John (Jason
Brooks) as he and a couple of buddies go digging around looking for an ancient
Aztec relic. In Kentucky, I’m just sayin’. He is happy to risk his and the
others’ lives looking for this thing thanks to brow beating from his dad (Will
Shatner, in a brief, scene chewing cameo), despite the negative affect it has
on his wife (Jeri Ryan, still lookin’ good!). The story behind the relic search
is a bit convoluted, having something to do with an ancient curse on John’s
family back from the days when his family were Spanish conquistadors (Shatner?
Latino?).
Along with his suddenly supportive wife after
years of demanding he give up the search, John takes her along with his teenage
kids, Dana (Ciara Harris, aka the Yellow costume in the recent Power Rangers
Super Megaforce in 2015) and Eric (Robert Scott Wilson, who spend a few
years on “Days of Our Lives”), both playing well-younger than their years.
There are definitely
some issues I have with the film, one being that it seriously needs some deeper
editing. There are just too many shots of people walking through the woods,
usually between the car (or camper) and the cave, especially when the family is
winding their way back to the cavern. We get it, it’s far. Also. there are
certain scenes that are repeated numerous times, especially flashbacks to the
Aztec days.
The last thing I would like to quibble about is Shatner’s
character. It seems like the script can’t make up if he’s a good or bad person.
He certainly browbeats his son to the point of taking enormous risks, and yet at
other times he’s made to look like a loving father. Personally, I wanted to
seriously smack the dad, or at least send him to the Forbidden Zone of the initial
Superman films (yes, I know, wrong franchise). For what it’s worth,
Shatner also co-produced and co-wrote the film, though the latter I’m assuming
is acknowledging his going off-script and winging it.
Images from the Internet
Devil’s Revenge: Special Edition Blu-ray and
Soundtrack CD
Directed by Jared Cohn
Cleopatra Entertainment / MVD Entertainment
88 minutes, 2019
There are certain
activities that I will never put on a bucket list, including skydiving,
downhill skiing, and spelunking. If you don’t know what the last thing is, it’s
crawling into caves, like they did in The Descent (2005); note that this
opinion predates that film.
 |
| Jason Brooks |
It seems John’s little
expedition may have deadly effects on some of his crew, but even worse than
that it has “woken” something evil, that essentially looks like some people dressed
like Aztecs and wearing demon masks. Aztec artifacts and the dangers therein were
also handled in American Mummy (2014).
Soon John is either being visited by evil
Aztec spirits or he is hallucinating a la The Oxbow Incident, but
some more people end up eviscerated and John wisely (sarcasm) takes his
family back to the cave, to get the relic and destroy the curse on his family
that seems to have never manifested before he went spelunking in the first
place. Thanks, dad!
 |
| Jeri Ryan |
I would like to point
out that I am a fan of the director, and in fact had a mini-Jared Cohn
Halloween Eve with some friends, with Halloween Pussy Trap Kill Kill (2017)
and Devil’s Domain (2016), both reviewed on this blog at some point.
The special effects
vary widely in their effectiveness. The creatures look cool, especially the
head honcho when he is howling in profile (is he the devil to whom the
title refers?). However, the explosions and blood look digital and not very
well done; when things get blowed up real good, it looks like Battlestar Galactica-
era FX. I didn’t mind that too much, but it was a bit distracting from the
story.
 |
| William Shatner |
But to me, the weakest
point is the writing by Maurice Hurley (d. 2015), who was head writer for the
first season of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and creator of the Borg
storyline. For example, there is Shatner showing up near the cave in a golf
cart, of all things. Another is the questionable use of a large number of explosive
devices inside the cave, without any damage to the cave itself; surely
there would be a cave-in from the percussion of such volatile materials (not to
mention the echo effect). Besides, would these devices have any effect on Aztec
demons who have returned from the grave for so-called revenge? And what’s with
the use of the word “Devil” in the title when none of these creatures are
actually Satan (Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec god of evil, is not mentioned)?
 |
| Aztec demon |
The digital extras from the Blu-ray include the trailer, a
bunch of other Cleopatra Entertainment trailers, and a 4:20 slideshow of mostly
behind-the-scene stills that is among the better slideshows I’ve seen; there
are some great shots of the Aztec creatures/demons that give more detail on
what they look like. Also included is a second disc of the soundtrack, which
sounds decent. Last, the slipcover has four-paneled artwork.
For those into trivia,
there is lots of Star Trek people floating around here: of course there’s
Shatner; next up is Ryan, infamous as ex-Borg-ite Seven of Nine in “Star Trek:
Voyager”; and Brooks has a bit part in 2009’s Star Trek reboot. Last is
the writer, mentioned above. Here, you might say the crew has gone to inner
space, rather than outer space
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