All too often, low-budget indie flicks come with an unspoken caveat. A caveat that precludes the viewer from too high a critical eye. We are left able to make almost only patronising comment on the product, ignoring the ropey acting because the script was no good, or reasoning the lack of tension was due to a collusion of poor editing and directing. The indie aficionado will always find something to place a film in the pantheon of the gods, but the lay person is left to remark ‘It was ok. If only they had more money’.
The Devil’s Well should get a full theatrical release up and down this fine country. There is nothing here that you wouldn’t see in a production financed by one of the big studios. In some cases better. Jason Blum, you need to watch this. That caveat can kiss The Devil’s Well’s sweet, sweet ass.
A year on from the disappearance of one half of a paranormal investigating couple, a documentary unit go in search of Karla Marks around the site of the titular well. Believed to have murdered his wife, this is Bryan Marks’ chance to clear his name.
The first third of the film is told through talking heads – the police, family members, Bryan himself – before slipping in to more familiar found footage territory. The best comparison would be Blair Witch meets AHS: Roanoke meets Most Haunted, but that would do the film a disservice. Where Roanoke tried (and failed) to do the documentary thing, The Devil’s Well absolutely nails it. During the talking heads sequence, the actors give the perfect uneasy vibe of real people unsure how to behave in front of a camera. The latter part of the film continues this with note perfect examples of a director, tech guy, etc. without ever falling back on woeful genre stereotypes. A true ensemble piece, everyone gets their moment on camera and all of them hit the mark.
There are no big kills to provide the scares; instead, the simple plot, fantastic editing and understated direction do all the work here, so deftly as to almost go unnoticed. Writer/director Kurtis Spieler has created an intelligent, creepy, cult movie in the finest sense of the word. Classic, too, in that it doesn’t rely on gore splattered deaths or jump scares to provide the thrills. Instead, it just slowly ramps up the tension all the way to the end and even then doesn’t really let you go.
You can watch this without having to worry about being forgiving, because you won’t need to be, and the film certainly won’t ask you to be. This could, and really should, stand proudly next to the likes of Insidious, Paranormal Activity and other modern horror franchises. In an era when that F-word is bandied around all too often, in the case of The Devil’s Well, we can only hope.
THE DEVIL’S WELL / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: KURTIS SPIELER / STARRING: BRYAN MANLEY DAVIS, CHRIS VIEMEISTER, DAVID ALEXANDER, KRISTEN SEAVEY, JON GREGORY, LAUREN SOWA / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 23RD
