November 04, 2006
Dust Devil
A cult gem and one of the best DVD bargains of the year.
Starring: Chelsea Field, Rober John Burke
Rating: 7/10
Directed By: Richard Stanley
Runtime: 115 minutes
Starring: Chelsea Field, Rober John Burke
Rating: 7/10
Directed By: Richard Stanley
Runtime: 115 minutes
There have been few directors that have suffered the wrath of the studio system worse than Richard Stanley. In 1990, his film Hardware was butchered by the studio set to release it and his follow up, Dust Devil, lost almost a quarter of its runtime before making its way to a handful of screens in 1992.. His next project, the horrendous Island of Dr. Moreau remake, didn't even make it as far as the editing process as he was replaced in the director's chair early on. For those reasons, it should come as no surprise that Stanley has yet to make another film which is a shame as his two features and a handful of early documentaries show him to be an exciting and promising filmmaker.
The fine folks at Subversive Cinema obviously saw the promise of Stanley's earlier works as they've done a fabulous job of packaging Dust Devil along with a three of Stanley's early documentaries into one of the best DVD packages of 2006. Not only do they provide the director's original cut of the film (remastered and beautiful) but they've also gone to the trouble of providing a work print cut that includes an additional 5 minutes of film and a separate CD containing the film's wonderful Morricone-like soundtrack. Five discs for under $25. Of course, even a bargain like that wouldn't add up to much if the contents weren't worth watching but, thankfully, in this case, they are.
Robert John Burke plays the title character, a demonic figure that travels the South African countryside praying upon the weak and suicidal. In addition to the Dust Devil are two other characters whose paths are certain to converge with that of the Dust Devil. One is a grieving detective (John Matshikiza) coping with the death of his family and the other is a depressed young wife (Chelsea Field) on the run from an abusive husband. The acting from all of the actors is quite good and Stanley opts for minimal dialogue to complement the film's sparse settings. The look of the film is stunning and hints at the career that Stanley could have had while the score by Simon Boswell is, as stated earlier, absolutely stunning.
If you are a fan of horror or just a fan of good movies then Dust Devil is worth adding to your DVD collection and at a price less than a night out at the movies, there's no reason it shouldn't.
The fine folks at Subversive Cinema obviously saw the promise of Stanley's earlier works as they've done a fabulous job of packaging Dust Devil along with a three of Stanley's early documentaries into one of the best DVD packages of 2006. Not only do they provide the director's original cut of the film (remastered and beautiful) but they've also gone to the trouble of providing a work print cut that includes an additional 5 minutes of film and a separate CD containing the film's wonderful Morricone-like soundtrack. Five discs for under $25. Of course, even a bargain like that wouldn't add up to much if the contents weren't worth watching but, thankfully, in this case, they are.
Robert John Burke plays the title character, a demonic figure that travels the South African countryside praying upon the weak and suicidal. In addition to the Dust Devil are two other characters whose paths are certain to converge with that of the Dust Devil. One is a grieving detective (John Matshikiza) coping with the death of his family and the other is a depressed young wife (Chelsea Field) on the run from an abusive husband. The acting from all of the actors is quite good and Stanley opts for minimal dialogue to complement the film's sparse settings. The look of the film is stunning and hints at the career that Stanley could have had while the score by Simon Boswell is, as stated earlier, absolutely stunning.
If you are a fan of horror or just a fan of good movies then Dust Devil is worth adding to your DVD collection and at a price less than a night out at the movies, there's no reason it shouldn't.