One thats been on the backlog for a good while now, When Vinegar Syndrome announced a 4k release of 'Devil Times Five' I decided to take the plunge and finally pick it up…admittedly, its taken me a little while since its release to get to it…But thats by the by.
The plots relatively straightforward, a group of friends head up to a mountain retreat thats under heavy snowfall to iron out the details of the opening of a new Sanitarium. Theres some tension between the adults for various 'slights' and personality clashes thats just about managable given the distance and space of normal society, but in the cabin conditions, things become a bit pressurized.
Complicating and inflaming matters further however, a minibus containing 5 mentally ill murderous children is run off the road (under MYSTERIOUS circumstances that may have involved the murderous children being…murderous.) killing the driver and a nun who was acting as security. The children wander through the snow, eventually find the retreat, and…by playing dumb and pretending to just 'be kids' the adults willingly let them in, and try to reassure them help will be on the way.
And what follows is about 50 minutes of increasing tensions between the adults that bubble over due to cabin fever, with an added level of terror and fear as the adults all slowly start to get picked off one by one by the kids…in a film that I can only really suggest either features VERY stupid adults, or VERY clever kids…
I'll be honest, I was a bit disappointing by this one, after the initial pitch and some time on the backlog, I had high expectations, expecting something like 'Mikey' or 'The Children' in terms of consistant pacing and over the top kills. But the reality is, this is more of a slow burn psycho-drama with horror elements, which takes a good while to spin up, and once it does get going, does reward the viewer…But doesnt quite meet expectations.
The script itself has glimmers of good moments across the runtime, odd dialogue snatches, some of the kills are interesting, and the third act finally revs up to something a bit more in line with expectations. But that first act is PAINFULLY slow to get started, splutters into gear through most of the second act but is fighting to keep momentum till closing. The characters are all a little undercooked, and you REALLY have to suspend your disbelief for a big chunk of this in terms of the choices the characters make throughout this. Because if you apply logic for even a moment, you'll start tailspinning.
the pacing is lumpy, there isnt so much of an act structure present, the first act is pretty clean…but the 2nd and 3rd feel a bit homogenized. Tonally it feels like it wants to aim for something like 'Theater of Blood' in terms of being dark with a tongue in cheek element…but it doesnt quite nail the humour, nor does it really get dark enough. its campy on and off…but never quite feels consistent enough to nail it.
I would talk about the direction and cine here in depth, but being honest, the technical specifications for this film are problematic to say the least. Theres a few solid set pieces that do work in the films favour. But the edit is INCREDIBLY rough, theres an overreliance on slow motion or just…freezing the frame of the film for seconds at a time…for reasons that arnt fully explained. One kill is played entirely in slow motion and runs for at least 2-4 minutes…unbroken. Which is painful honestly to sit through.
Its definitely a distinct look and feel…but something can be 'distinct' and 'unique' and still be kind of rubbish…
As mentioned, the edit is hard work, cuts happen too soon or too late for most of the runtime, B-roll is just…tossed around, whether it makes sense or not. as mentioned the slow mo and freeze frame stuff is in abundence and really pulls the viewer out of the experience….its a frustrating piece. 'Distinct'…but frustrating.
Not helped either by a mixed ability cast thats split down the middle between blunt, campy and WAY too over the top…and not in a fun way, to just about okay…but a little dry. There isnt really any standout performances, nothing I can point to to say this is worth watching for this particularly scene/moment…its just middle of the road and backsliding from start to finish.
And the soundtrack, is basically one melody with about 7 varients, that plays almost on a loop for the full runtime. It works for the film and is somehow edited in better than the visuals. But its mind numbingly overused and will haunt me as an earworm for the rest of Halloween….
All in all, It didnt meet my expectations, thats not a bad thing inherently as there were moments that I thought were fun. But even so, there was a LOT of missed opportunities here. It really just wasnt for me ultimately…I think this could possibly pair as the 'lesser' film in a double feature with something like 'Sleepaway Camp'…But unless you REALLY dig your 'Killer Kids' movies…you probably can afford to give this one a miss.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/devil-times-five/
