Dust Devil (1992)

You won't be disappointed!

Good concept, poorly executed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

South Africa's all-time horror classic Dust Devil (1992) spins a genuinely chilling tale of a supernatural shape-shifter roaming the Capetown area in the form of a particularly vicious serial murderer (played by Robert John Burke). With police in pursuit of the phantom slayer, the bodies pile up in this atmospheric genre bender (thriller and western) and Chelsea Field peels down most pleasingly, as does Terry Norton.Conflict between the production company and the director (Richard Stanley) resulted in several cuts to the film, and, as a result, it seems a bit disjointed.

A demonic seducing serial killer is on the lose in South Africa and a troubled cop sets about to separate fact from fiction to catch the killer. Director Richard Stanley delivers a more refined, satisfying and rounded film than Hardware. Dust Devil (Final Cut) benefits from its predominantly South African location shoot, the interesting sweeping landscapes contain the dreamlike lasting atmosphere. Simon Boswell 's eerie haunting score coupled with Stanley's visuals presents an exceptional experience. There's dark dusty rooms, windswept desert roads, canyons and dream sequences. A nod should go-to Steven Chivers great cinematography. The scope of the screenplay is wider and more psychological than as physical, it's less commercial and more art-house similar to Mulholland drive. There's' an interesting ambiguity to the characters and story created by Stanley. There is a fine supporting cast. This is probably Chelsea Field's best role and her South African accent is quite good, however, oddly she can be stilted at times. Oddly both Field's and Robert Burke's line delivery doesn't always flow whether this is due to the actors chemistry or script it's hard to tell. Burke's exchanges aside he gives an excellent, mesmerising, creepy and imposing performance as the Dust Devil. Notable is Zakes Mokae (who sadly passed away in 2009), he is on fine form as investigator Ben Mukurob. Mokae also provides an interesting voice- over narration that adds to the films layers.Although the pace maybe a little slow there's still exploding heads, body parts and the serial killer element to possibly appease. Despite the supernatural, rituals, witchcraft and mystic elements for the most part Dust Devil is fixed in reality reminiscent of Angel Heart and David Lynch's works.It's a wonderfully shot, slow burning film containing symbolic themes - relationships, suicide and self destruction to name a few. If this appeals, Dust Devil will deliver for you.

So you know how I feel about movies I've never even heard of. When I saw that DUST DEVIL: THE FINAL CUT had not one or two, but FIVE discs in the set, I was really skeptical. The ONLY reason why I was willing to cut it any slack was because of the director, Richard Stanley. I do remember seeing his sci-fi/horror/action cult favorite, HARDWARE, back in the good old days of VHS, and it kicked MAJOR butt-cheeks back then.Here's the deal: apparently, DUST DEVIL went through the usual headaches and hardships during filming, Bottom line: a finished 'director's cut' of this movie as of now, does not exist. What Stanley and his co-conspirators had to do is piece together a rough version, using additional scenes pulled out of a work print. It's very similar to what had to be done when a "completed" cut of THE WICKER MAN was reconstructed.The result is an erratic, but visually stunning piece of work, but it goes pretty deep into the metaphysical and supernatural aspects of native folklore in the country where it's set...Africa, particularly South Africa. Translation: people in this movie spend a lot of time talking, including the narrator. Sure, lots of stuff happens, but there's also a lot of time in between those events, so if you don't feel like putting up with a lot of dialogue, you might want to save this film for another time.Robert John Burke (the ROBOCOP series, OZ and RESCUE ME) plays the title character, who is also called "The Shapeshifter." If he seems very familiar to you, he should be. He's a figure that runs through a lot of the mythologies of different cultures and has been used to represent both Good and/or Evil in many popular books and movies. But make no mistake about it - this 'Dust Devil' ain't here to help anybody but himself. He's a demon trapped in our world in human form, feeding off the souls of the lost and the lonely who have given up on everything but life itself, gathering strength until...well, as far as I could tell, it was never all that clear WHAT he was trying to do - return to his shadow world, or eventually take over ours. Anyway, Burke plays the role really well, and he's believable as a charismatic force of evil who can convince his victims to stick out their necks while he pulls out his shiny axe...or knife, in this case. As it happens, there are two souls on a collision course with Mr. DD: a police detective, Ben Mukurob (THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW'S Zakes Mokae) whose wife left him after the tragic death of their child, and a woman named Wendy Robinson, (Chelsea Field of PRISON and THE LAST BOY SCOUT), who has just left her clingy husband, Mark, (Rufus Swart), after he finds out she's been having an affair.With his job the only thing he has left to look forward to, Ben dives into the investigation of the murder of the Dust Devil's latest victim with a vengeance. Adding an extra layer of substance to the story are indicators that the story takes place not long after the fall of apartheid, but the residual effects can still be seen in Ben's grudging relationship with the uniformed officers he supervises, and the friendship he has with his immediate superior, Captain Beyman (William Hootkins, everybody's favorite "red shirt" from HARDWARE and a little flick called STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE). When symbols at the crime scene indicate that the murder has undertones of ritualistic sacrifice and black magic, Mukurob consults a shaman he knows named Joe Niemand (John Matshikiza), who warns him that forces are at work that he shouldn't be screwing with...unless he's ready to go all the way. Meanwhile, Wendy runs into a mysterious, Western-garbed stranger hitching rides. She picks him up, and at first, she's attracted to the handsome and unusual "dude from Texas." Until some freaky stuff happens that indicates he's not quite who she thinks - or is that hopes? - he is.There comes a point where he reappears to her, when you figure that a) this Wendy chick is one screwed-up piece of work, or b) this guy really does have a power to attract his victims beyond all reason. Because most women I know at this point (and you'll know it when it comes) wouldn't care if this guy was Brad Pitt - they'd be beatin' feet out of there faster than Usain Bolt going for a one-minute mile.Wendy's husband Mark goes looking for her, and he runs into some trouble that has nothing to do with supernatural events of any kind. But eventually, the paths of all three people will cross at some point and all of them will encounter the Dust Devil...though not all of them will live to tell about it.I wish I could say that including the shots from the work print does the movie justice, but the transition between clean, sharp cuts and the fuzzy, murky segments from the dailies doesn't allow the movie to weave the completely seductive and creepy spell that Stanley was ultimately after, and it makes you wonder what the finished film would've been like if he'd been able to gain all the resources and money he needed to give it that proper 'polish.' As is, though, it's still pretty heady stuff. Casual fanboys sniffing out a "Triple-B" movie (Babes, Boobs and Blood) may want to wait for the next Eli Roth extrava-GORE-za, and leave this one on the shelf. I'm just hoping that whatever he does next, Stanley will be given a proper budget and the leeway to see at least one more film through to a completed AND finished version of what he envisions.

DD is not a run-of-the-mill horror film, and that certainly can't be a bad thing. A serial-killer premise, but fantasy-based i.e. not your typical "Copycat" type of garbage. When you make your serial-killer a demon, then you have all the excuses you need to make him near-invincible - unlike the plethora of modern-day horror thrillers in which the very human killer seems to have God-like powers. Set in Namibia, which helps give the film a more-or-less unique look and feel. The movie does tend to move very slowly in the first hour, but the decent soundtrack and the visuals mostly make up for it. At times I couldn't get past the funny South African accents.Just one noteworthy objection: why didn't they cast the first female victim as the star of the movie and killed off "Wendy" at the beginning instead? The former is much prettier...I didn't quite buy the casting of Marianne Sagebrecht as a pathologist. She is your classic Putzfrau or fat housewife.