(DVD and Digital; IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT/RAVEN BANNER FILMS (76 minutes/Unrated); 2014)
Do you guys remember a time when all of the bad things, scary things, dead things and evil things – pretty much all types of bad mojo – in movies were never really seen, just kind of implied? Those types of flicks tended to be scarier than the “leave nothing to the imagination” school of film-making that has controlled the movie screens since THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in 1974. While THE DEVIL INCARNATE does have a couple of fairly graphic scenes, it is still, basically, a throwback to those horror and thriller movies that forced you to use your imagination. The individual’s imagination can be far more nightmare-inducing than watching that nightmare played out right in front of your eyes; that’s what makes those old treasures and, by extension, THE DEVIL INCARNATE, so much fun to watch.
First time director L Gustavo Cooper (a military brat turned pro skateboarder turned producer of films about pro skateboarding) has given us a tense, violently psychotic mash-up of ROSEMARY’S BABY and THE EXORCIST, with liberal doses of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT thrown in for good measure. The story focuses on newlyweds Trevor and Holly (Rod Luzzi and Graci Carli), on their honeymoon in Florida and videotaping the experience as a keepsake. Most of the movie is of the “found footage” variety, taking the videographer’s perspective, which makes the remainder of the scenes that much more effective. Tiring of to many hours on the road, Holly convinces Trevor to take a detour for a little sight-seeing adventure. They end up in a shabby, out-of-the-way little town where they are frightened by an apparent street junkie (Walter J Colson) who begins to babble about monsters and all types of misfortune ahead for the couple; he scares Holly, evoking the name of a local mystic – a fortune teller with immense dark powers. When Holly asks how to find the woman, the man says to “just follow the spirit.” Trevor laughs off the experience, certain that the guy was sending them to someone who paid him to deliver customers to her door.
Undeterred, Holly is more determined than ever to visit the fortune teller (Barbara Van Fleet). After wandering about, not knowing their destination, their car dies… right in front of – you guessed it – the mystic’s house. The woman is bat-crap crazy and begins to scream and shriek in an unknown tongue, sending Holly fleeing out of the house. Trevor follows, holding an innocuous looking amulet he was examining as his bride ran out of the back room. The wild woman (witch, spiritualist, voodoo priestess… whatever) chases them outside with a dire warning about what has taken up residency in Holly’s womb. Following a harrowing health scare, Holly’s pregnancy is confirmed. The newlyweds arrive at their final destination: Trevor’s family home. With Trevor a few months away from fatherhood and his sister, Marissa (played to the hilt, with a wink and a grin by Emily Rogers), a few months away from college, the Davidsons have made the homestead a wedding present to the couple. Marissa, a snarky teenager with a penchant for the melodramatic and dark clothing (and, yes, I realize that I just described ninety-nine percent of America’s teenage population), becomes the linchpin of the narrative as she is given the responsibility of video-taping the planned baby shower and the events leading up to it. She discovers the forgotten amulet in a box of items destined for the attic for storage and, thinking it looks cool (and unwanted), she keeps it. Many of Marissa’s suspicions, fears and fantasies are brought to light through video chats with her friend (an even snarkier teen played by Bailee Bennett). She reluctantly confesses her attraction to her brother’s wife; she has secretly been videoing her dressing, bathing, having sex with Trevor.
As the pregnancy progresses, Holly‘s physical health and mental stability begin to decline. She begins keeping to herself, missing meals and avoiding Trevor’s family. Marissa begins to notice the erratic behavior, which escalates at the baby shower: Holly is captured on camera grabbing her father-in-law’s crotch, then attacks her estranged aunt with a porcelain doll the woman brought as a gift. The next day, though they weren’t completely finished packing up their belongings, Trevor’s parents make a hasty exit, leaving Marissa behind to help out. Speaking with her friend, Marissa tells of the odd behavior; as the friend begins question her about Holly’s past, she realizes that she really doesn’t know anything about her. Once more playing the voyeuristic videographer, filming Holly soaking in the tub, Marissa is discovered. Rather than being upset, Holly seduces her but suddenly begins to intone the same weird phrases as the old mystic. The following day, Holly drives Marissa to check out a college. She begins asking her about her family, her maiden name and where she grew up, but when she shows Holly that she has repaired the broken porcelain doll, Holly begins acting strange – trance-like – and tries to push Marissa out of the car while moving at over a hundred miles an hour.
With the new-found information, Marissa’s video chat friend delves a bit deeper into Holly’s past, discovering that she had been abused and raped in a foster home; she also finds a cryptic reference to the amulet. Things happen rather quickly from that point and telling you more wouldn’t be prudent. Suffice to say that the open-ended finish leaves a lot to the imagination… some would say, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered but, for me, that’s the beauty and the horror of the film. While it is unrated, I would be reticent to allow anyone under the age of sixteen or so to watch THE DEVIL INCARNATE. It is, however, a great way to spend an hour and fifteen minutes on a dark and stormy night… if you’ve got the stomach for such fare.