Of The Devil

An opening scene of dubious relevance in which a scantily clad young woman is sacrificed in the basement of a rock club and some uncertain organ (possibly a spleen) is removed from her. A former priest whose relationship with his curvaceous wife obscures a troubling secret. A young boy who is fascinated by butterflies – until one of them bites him and he immediately suffers a seizure.

Told that he has only weeks to live, his parents, who profess to love him deeply (as they should – though not brilliant, he’s a damn sight better than most child actors in this sort of fare)m are ready to do anything which might give him a hope of survival – up to and including taking him down to Mexico, where the US likes to keep its primitive imaginary, to have him treated by a shamanic surgeon who works for the cartels. This at the suggestion of a doddering elderly neighbour played by Eileen Dietz, who had an uncredited bit part in The Exorcist and is the film’s biggest selling point. Naturally there’s a price to be paid for this sort of thing, and it isn’t just cash, which they boy’s family seem to have plenty of, even if they only have one set of clothes each. When badly CGI’d crowns start flying into the windows en masse, it’s clear that something sinister is afoot.

That’s about it for this second directorial feature from prolific genre actor Kelton Jones. If it’s your kind of theme and you don’t mind the dodgy dialogue or bargain bin attempts to scare, you might well enjoy it. Most of the actors acquit themselves adequately and the narrative, though wholly lacking in depth, delivers what fans will be waiting for exactly on time, like a well structured piece of pornography. The candles look electric (possibly an insurance consideration) but there are all the spinning crucifixes you could want, and whilst the big costume revelation looks so silly that Jones sensibly keeps it in shot for only a few seconds, it makes sense in context.

If there’s a serious disappointment here, it’s the exorcism at the end. This successfully takes the narrative where it needs to go, but it’s the scene which the whole film has been building up to, and a few blurred, swirling images and some shouting don’t really cut it. it also makes heavy use of the film’s weakest performer, Daniela Palavecino, though it’s probably not her fault that she spends most of her time whining and whimpering, her character so intensely overwrought over little things that it’s surprising she remains conscious for the big ones. It’s difficult to believe that anyone would really want to spend a lifetime with this woman. 90 minutes is quite enough.

Of The Devil will give you your OTT occult horror fix if there’s nothing else available. You won’t feel the need to watch it twice.