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Film: The Devil Comes at Night
Year: 2023
Director: Scott Leaver
Writers: Ryan Allen, Adrienne Kress and Scott Leaver
Starring: Ryan Allen, Adrienne Kress and Jason Martorino
Review:
This is a movie that I didn’t hear about until listening to a podcast. Mr. Venom is a voice that I respect so when he spoke highly of this movie, I put it on a list of ones to check out before completing my end of year list. I was able to stream this through Prime, so that made it easier. Other than that, I knew the title and thought it sounded interesting.
Synopsis: a washed-up boxer searching for his inheritance must fight for his life when he’s trapped in his deceased father’s farmhouse by a local cannibal cult.
We start this off with Ben (Ryan Allen) being brought into a house that is dark. The man dragging him is Jack (Elias Zarou). Ben passed out and he’s left there as Jack must find something. A note is left about what to do when he wakes up. This house belonged to Ben’s father who passed away recently. Their plan is to find the safe, use the combination that Ben was left, take the money and leave.
Jack doesn’t want Ben to turn the lights on, but when this big guy wakes up, he is disoriented. His hand hurts and he has two broken fingers. Ben is a former boxer. Jack was his trainer. Ben is a recovering addict and he doesn’t know what happened to get him to where he is. He is also bothered when there’s a knock at the door. It turns out to be the neighbor, Ted (Todd Campbell) and his wife Lisa (Dana Fradkin). They want to have a drink with Ben, thinking he’s moving in. He takes one, but declines, telling them that he doesn’t partake. This upsets them when Ben refuses to come to their house.
The night gets weirder from there. Mason (Jason Martorino) shows up to place a scarecrow in the backyard. Ben’s father Arthur already paid him. Ben tells him that it won’t be needed and he can keep his money. This starts banter back and forth, where Mason is going to put it up. If Ben wants to pay him then to take it down, he can. Ben also finds Amy (Adrienne Kress) hiding upstairs. They try to make sense of what is happening as people in town are acting strange. They are converging on this house, but oddly enough, they cannot enter. There is a past here as to why and what this cult needs. They will stop at nothing to get it, including killing anyone who gets in their way.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I’ll start is that this is a contained horror film that ticks boxes for me. First, this story takes place in one house. It uses different parts like a living room, kitchen, bathroom, the front porch and a cellar that you go outside to get to. That works for me. We also have a cult and potentially possessed characters coming for Ben and Amy. There is vibes here of something like Messiah of Evil, just using this one location. We also bit social commentary here as well.
Now that we have that information set up, let’s delve more into this. We have three ‘good’ characters here. Ben is back in his father’s house trying to find money. There is a good reason for it and it worked for me. He also learns more about his family to try and figure out what is happening here. Also, how he fits in. There is a secret that I thought was solid and how it factors into the ending. Amy is there to help him and she knows Arthur. Jack is a character that causes Ben to keep fighting. I’d say that Allen and Kress do well in carrying this story. The only issue I would point to is that the dialogue is a bit stiff at times. I felt it got a bit repetitive.
Then let’s go over to the cult. We don’t learn a lot about them. Mason is their ‘leader’. What I like there is how he fits in with something from the past. It makes sense why he would be in the position that he is in. I did like the banter between him and Ben. What is creepy is that this cult is cannibalistic in that they want to eat Ben. There is also a reason that they cannot get inside of the house that our duo is hiding in as well. I thought that was an interesting idea along with how it factors into the climax. This last bit will lead into the commentary.
This movie explores the idea of racism. Now I do think this is going to turn people off since they come out and say it. What I’ll say is that I do feel there are moments where Ben jumps to conclusions, but I will say that it does seem that he is right though. This town that it takes place close to does seem to be more rural. Mason doesn’t like Ben for another reason, but I can see how it is interpreted as being about race. My last thought here is that I’m white so I can’t tell another individual how to feel about things, but it goes more to who Ben’s grandfather was and as to why the cult is after our lead.
Since I’ve already said a bit about the acting, let’s finish that. I’ve already said that Allen and Kress were good in their roles. Martorino was good as Mason, the leader of the cult. I love the back and forth with Ben. They feel like two guys, trying to get under the other’s skin and get one over. I’ve had interactions like this so I can connect. Zarou was solid as Jack. He is here more to keep Ben fighting to survive and save him. Shawn Ahmed, Campbell, Fradkin and the rest of the cast were fine for what was needed. I do love having this cult here.
All that is left then is filmmaking. This isn’t working with the biggest budget, but I appreciate what they did with it. Having one location helps save money. It also becomes a siege narrative. There is an element of religion there that works. I thought the cinematography was solid. The framing was fine along with it. We do get solid effects. It looked like they were done mostly practical with a bit of CGI mixed in. No issues there. Other than that, I thought the soundtrack was fine without necessarily standing out. One thing I liked about the design was the characters talking through doors and windows. It is muffled and it is used to help draw people elsewhere.
In conclusion, this is a solid lower budget film from Uncorked. We have a solid premise by trapping two characters in an isolated house and having a cult hunting them down. There are supernatural elements at play. I thought the acting was solid. The only gripe would be parts of the writing. This was made well enough. The cinematography, framing and the practical effects leading the way there. For me though, I just wanted a bit more. That’s not to say this is bad. If what I said sounds interesting, give this a watch.
My Rating: 6.5 out of 10