Review: Devil Music

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

Devil Music (aka 61: Highway to Hell)

Directed by Luke Jackson and Jeremy Jackson

Tomcat Films / Unanimous Pictures / Prankster Film Co./ Godfrey Entertainment /
Three Weeks in a Helicopter / Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Entertainment

97 minutes, 2017 / 2019

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdb2b.com

When it comes to Faustian tales of selling one’s soul to the devil, it seems many of the stories revolve around musicians who want either talent, or to make it in the music industry. Here’s another one, originally released in 2017 as 61: Highway to Hell (I can see so many trademark infringement possibilities in that old title, I’m not surprise they changed it). The reference, of course, is related to the place where Blues musician Robert Johnson (d. 1938) supposedly signed on the dotted line with the devil, before becoming a founding member of the 27 Club.

Reed Amos

For this tale, we meet the Los Angeles-based rock band Richter Scale, who may be awful, but we don’t hear them play for quite a while; we just learn they can’t get a local gig.  And they’re getting up there in age, over the 30 zone. But worse, they’re clichés. What I mean by that is kind of what singer-songwriter Christine Lavin was talking about when she sang, “Prisoner of Her Hairdo.” For example: Rondo (Reed Amos), the lead singer, songwriter and key ego (thinks he’s equal to the likes of Jim Morrison), wears sleeveless white tees, an oversized head bandana like Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies, and is addicted to Monster energy drinks. The guitarist, The Hunted (Nick Thune), wears eyeliner, punk hair, weird and tight clothes such as silver lame shorts, and is a deadpan Cliff Clavin-type know it all. The bassist, Rick (Gavin Astle), has dyed blond hair, seems to be nearly always shirtless, and is desperately into high school girls. The drummer, Jeff (Travis Wilson) is the most normal and straight of them all, and hardly seems to fit in with these guys. The “fifth Beatle” here is their long-suffering manager, Wroblewski (Rob Neason).

The original poster

The adventure begins when Wroblewski suggests the band head down to Mississippi to sell their souls to the devil, a la Robert Johnson (the film hints at Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan, among others, doing the same). And while the whole central theme of this release is the road trip down from LA to the infamous crossroads of Highways 61 and 49, that’s not what the movie is about. Instead, it’s actually focused on the odyssey itself and this is more of a buddy travel comedy as we see the relationship between the band members and their personalities clash, while being crammed into a borrowed RV while they drive, drive, drive.

As any touring band will tell you, life on the road is tedious, and this film plays on that, with sort of a Henry Rollins’ Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag (1994) kind of travelogue. People who come to this film expecting a horror bloodfest like The 27 Club (2019) are in for a disappointment, but I actually found the film kind of funny in the sheer banality of it all. I mean, these guys all work at boring day jobs such as fast food and a Home Depot kind of hardware box store, and are going nowhere fast. A subtle feature I like is how modern culture is framed through the eyes of people at this level of the social strata. If you think about a film like American Psycho (2000) where the main character is fixated on high-end gear, clothing and food, these guys actually have the same fascination, but with gas station food, chain stores, and the like. It’s actually quite amusing. There is almost a Tarantino-esque mystique to the dialogues about bland culture that I’m willing to bet most of us can associate with more than hearing Patrick Bateman (of American Psycho) discussing Gucci and Huey Lewis and the News.

Tobin Bell

Along the way, not only do we get to see just what kind of people this band is composed of, but also part of why they are a failure on many levels. A cop who pulls them over refers to them as “Circle Jerks,” more as reference to it’s original meaning (in a non-literal way; a relative used that term the same day in the same way to a certain politician) than the California hardcore band, but the name drop still implies the writers are handing us a reference nugget. Another gem is a response upon the mention of Roger Waters, that is quite subtle. I had to rewind and then pause the film to laugh. Along the way they do manage to pick up a couple of teenage girls (Erin Axtel and Mandi Kreisher) to bring along on the tour bus, but they are losers even with that.

Other than Wild Eye Releasing trailers, there aren’t any extras, but there is a decent soundtrack that is a mix of traditional Americana and Blues, and a more modern rock beat sound.

Now, normally I would not mention the ending, and I won’t reveal too much, but since the star cameo is met at the crossroads – namely Saw himself, Tobin Bell, I will very briefly say that this was an excellent touch to complete the road trip, and worth the wait. This probably won’t warrant a sequel, despite some of the acting power, but I’d love to know the next chapter.