The
Demon's Rook (2013/Cinedigm DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: C+
The
Demon's Rook is a surprisingly well made independent film that
has exceptional cinematography, production design, and direction.
Produced by Black Rider Productions and hot off its praise from Ain't
It Cool, Bloody Disgusting, and Tribeca Film Festival - the film is
pretty campy but not in a completely bad way.
When
he was a child Roscoe (James Sizemore and Emmett Eckert) was
frequently visited by Dimwos (John Chatham), an elder demon that
would visit Roscoe at night. One day, Dimwos lures Roscoe into a
portal that takes him to a strange world where Dimwos teaches Roscoe
various things, including his ancient language. Dimwos withholds
nothing from Roscoe, save one single secret that ends up becoming
Roscoe's downfall when he releases three especially deadly and evil
demons.
Roscoe
manages to flee by crossing back through the portal to the human
world but ends up taking the three demons with him. Once back in the
human world, Roscoe recollects his previous human existence and the
childhood friend he left behind, Eva (Ashleigh Jo Sizemore), who has
grown into a beautiful woman. This all causes conflict within
Roscoe, as this clashes with what Dimwos had led him to believe. Now
Roscoe must track down the three demons and battle them into
submission while also trying to deal with the evil they're unleashing
on the unsuspecting world.
All
in all, the film is an ambitious low budget filmmaking attempt and
has cool lighting (very Argento-esque reds, blues, and greens) and
makeup EFX on the Demons. The highlight of the film is a crazy party
scene where the demons show up and everyone starts killing each other
with several neat practical effects shots and carnage. I commend the
filmmakers for reaching back to the old ways of filmmaking and
straying away from digital effects as much as possible but feel like
this one missed the mark a little bit due mainly to the lackluster
performances by the cast.
Presented
in standard definition with a 1:85.1 widescreen, anamorphically
enhanced aspect ratio and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix - the film
looks and sounds okay for the DVD format.
Extras
include
Ghost
Witch - a short film by James Sizemore
Making
of a Demon
Filmmaker
Commentary
Deleted
Scenes and a Gag Reel
All
in all, this ambitious little horror movie isn't bad if you are
yearning to see a gorefest wrapped in a decent package. However,
it's not quite unique or stylistic enough to achieve cult status.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
