DVD Review: Devil's Tower (2014)

 Starring:

Roxanne Pallett

(Her from Emmerdale)

Jason Mewes

(The one who plays Jay in all Kevin Smith's movies)

Frances Rufelle

(Who represented Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994)

Jessica Jane Clement

(Lads-mag favourite)

And some other people

  When teenager Sarah Maccoll (Pallett) is violently ejected from her home by her alcoholic mother (Rufelle), she is hurriedly rehoused by the council in the notorious Albion Court.     Initially it's not so bad but then odd things start happening.  Unpleasant accidents. People disappearing. Strange voices. Stranger things on the TV.

 Can Sarah and new friend Sid (Mewes) work out what the hell is going on?  

 After the initial, bloody intro, Devil's Tower settles down to that old horror standby - "Young woman moves into a new home and spooky shit happens".

 Well that's what it starts out as, anyway. 

 It's made very clear that Albion Court is a bit of a shithole. There's drug dealers lurking outside, squatters camping out in the empty flats and the entire top floor is an abandoned, rubbish-strewn no-go area. 

 There is a caretaker but he's a surly, cynical old man with delusions of authority and a disturbing addiction to the security cameras that are everywhere.

 I'm guessing the  director wanted to say something about the 21st century obsession with watching others through a screen. He's not exactly subtle about it and it gets more blatant later on.

  There' s also a bit of time spent on introducing Sarah's new neighbours as well as getting into a bit more depth on Sarah's relationship with her mother (Rufelle). 

 It isn't pleasant. 

  Interestingly, the most suspenseful scene in the entire film is when our young heroine makes a sneak visit back to her old house to pick up some stuff. The girl is clearly bricking herself at the thought of running into Mummy Dearest. And once Mum makes her appearance, you can see why. 

 So far, so good. 

We've introduced our heroine, given her some new people to play with, including potential love-interest Sid  and oversexed neighbour  Kate (Clement) then established that something is very wrong in Albion Court. 

Here's where our opinions might start to diverge wildly.

We get to find out what exactly is going on up on the top floor as Sid's mate gets a reality TV makeover with a big, sharp knife. 

 And it just looks silly. 

All the tension and unease that had been building up so far just deflates.

Don't even get me started on the frankly bizarre dream sequence/dance routine Pallett and Mewes get lumbered with a bit further on. What the hell that was all about I have no idea. 

Then  Devil's Tower decides to ditch Urban Ghost Story and become a Zombie movie instead.  

No, wait. First we get some gratuitous shagging and some random lesbians. Then we get the Zombies. 

Lots of people get chomped, Sid and the caretaker break out the choppy, choppy tools and Sarah gets proper heroic. The end.

Or is it?

  I wanted to like this film and God knows all the cast did a good job. Roxanne Pallett goes from somebody in dire need of a hug to feisty in believable fashion, Jason Mewes shows us why he's so much more than stoner hero Jay and Frances Rufelle's drunken, sneering, bullying Kim MacColl is a monster even before the supernatural stuff happens.   

  Decent cast. Decent idea. Decent setup and some good moments all through the film. The zombie attack isn't bad at all, for instance. 

I just thought it could have been better. Maybe letting us get a good look at the Big Bad so early on wasn't such a brilliant idea after all. 

Here's the trailer so you can make up your own mind

That's all folks.