The Devil's Rock (2011)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

People are voting emotionally.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The Devil's Rock: British Commandos, an SS Occult Unit in search of the ultimate Supernatural Weapon, Witchcraft, a shape shifting Demon. Yes, the Channel Isles were a fun place to be during WW2.Two commandos land by dinghy on a decoy mission to sabotage gun emplacements thereby misleading the Germans as to the likely D-Day invasion sites. But they hear female screams coming from a bunker investigating they find a Lovecraftian scene, half eaten German soldiers, a soldier who has committed suicide. A Grimoire lies on the ground.A surviving SS officer kills one commando and captures the other. Then we encounter the Demon who handily can take on the features of your loved ones. A summoning has gone wrong. The commando and SS officer are forced to cooperate.Great Demon, ripping heads off.Good War/Horror film, 7/10

Truth be told, then I had very little expectations to "The Devil's Rock", given the synopsis of this being a World War II movie with occult and demonic elements to it. But still, I had the chance to watch it, so I decided to give it a go and I sat down to watch it.It didn't take long before it dawned upon me that this was going to be a slow-paced and not overly impressive movie. But I stuck with it to the end, in a vague hope that the movie would kick up in gear and become impressive. But that was not to happen...The story takes place on the eve of D-Day, and we follow two commandos as they attempt to destroy a German gun emplacement. But things go horribly wrong and they discover that the German are conjuring up demonic things to aid them in the fight to take over the world.Right, well I will say that the storyline did have potential. Although this potential wasn't really utilized in this movie by director Paul Campion. There was just something about the movie never catching on, because I always felt like there was something missing from the movie, and that the movie never really got up into a gear which would make it interesting.The acting in "The Devil's Rock" was adequate enough, I mean for a movie such as this. You know what you are getting yourself into when you sit down to watch something like this, so the lack of award winning performances here should not come as a surprise.As for the special effects, well, let's just say that there were some special effects present, albeit not great ones. And for a horror movie with supernatural elements, then having believable special effects and CGI is a must.All in all, then "The Devil's Rock" was not a memorable or impressive movie in any way, and if you manage to watch it once, then chances are slim to none that you will ever sit down to watch it again.

I have to say that as with all occult films there are based lines of cheesy stories to say the least. But this one happen to give a nice boost to the horror genre in a most unique fashion. An island close to Normandy is housed by a creature called Ven Varas. A demon who uses lust as well as illusion to lure her prey in only to devour them like a piece of steak. In the middle are two soldiers who was assigned to blow up a gun that kept back most of the US's forces. During their sabotage they hear an ear piercing scream followed by a German soldier who runs outside to throw up from what he tried to explain was the most horrible scene a human should ever bear to witness.Seeing as this presented a problem to the two saboteurs they killed him to keep him silent. Now as they enter the bunker to investigate this sudden turn of events Grogan (Craig Hall) encounters a second Nazi soldier after his partner is killed. Both become unwilling partners to stave off an unholy demon called the Ven Varas but to Grogan's demise learns that the ritual to put her back into hell is just a ruse to keep her on earth a while longer with Grogan's life. Beating his ill-gotten Nazi partner off he realizes that the demon might be a constructive host to beating the German front men.As the Ven Varas knows Grogan's real intent she is not all that unwilling to eat her fill. With a last ditch effort he chains her to a wall in order for the real horror to begin as soon as he leaves the island. Whatever she was the Ven Varas knows the true nature of man through feeling or emotions. For many years of watching horror films I have to say this creature was very original in all aspects. No cheesy monotone mechanical voice overs or robotic sounding vibratos to give the demon its flavor. No I must say that this movie was very nicely directed with all manners of horror. Blood, gore was gratuitous as well as a nice story line to the demon's origins.I liked the music, the realm of darkness bound to an island as well as the very few individuals, which made up the plot to a thick paste. With very few actors rather than a hundred cast it gave this story a more surreal sense of true fear. Seeing all of the soldiers killed by the monstrous demon shows us that no man is safe from persecution. In some ways this story did resemble another fabulous movie called 'The Keep'. Where a demon called Molasar was hunted down and killed by another of his kind by the name of Glaeken Trismestigus. Both were of the same race but lived on separate sides of the tracks.Yet The Devil's Rock had more to offer than just special effects, it offered a good twist to the story. A nice trail to follow with Grogan and his offer by the demon. As well as seeing the ultimate way to die when his foolish German partner got his head eaten whole by Ven Varas in one gulp. I give this film ten stars for original plots, music, effects with blood and gore, and a gritty look to the scene as if to say this is all there is folks, accept your death since there is nothing else on this island.Paul Campion is a good director, his eye on shots are keen and precise. Giving the Ven Varas life on camera was an excellent image to behold and no overacting on the demon's part like all others tend to give. No offish or oafish movements, nor was there any signs of over the top movements like some mindless fish out of water. It was smooth, graceful and held terror in her stare like all demons should have. For those who like this kind of genre it has everything you can want and more. Great for over the ages of 17. Not for minors in any sense.

It's been a long time since I saw a horror film like this. By that I mean one that has a coherent and well thought out story told through believable dialogue.I've read a few bizarrely negative reviews here. When I say bizarre I mean some of the reasons for giving it low marks.Here are my two favourites:It's not going to make money – This is honestly the first time I've seen a film marked down on cost/benefit analysis.There's only three people in it – Really don't know what to say to that. Maybe Australia would be more up this person's street; I hear there's loads of people in it.Anyway, here are my positives:Well acted.Sets and setting looked great – stark, grotty and bloody. Everything a growing horror film needs.Didn't rely on cheap window rattling and supernatural wind 'Scares'. Made what the Nazi soldiers were doing more believable somehow.Resisted the modern-day urge to crowbar humour into the dialogue.The demon was played by a real person in makeup. Looked great as a result. You just know that a big budget film would have made it a ridiculous CGI creature with wild, over the top magic powers. It's a bit of a beef I have with modern films but I just think that actual people put in much more real and believable performances than computer graphics. And of course they look like they're actually there in the set, because they are.And the negatives:German soldier didn't have a German accent? I know the jury is kind of out on that one. Some people think that context is enough and an accent can be in poor taste or whatever. I sort of agree sometimes because I'm from Belfast and I've heard some really shocking attempts at the accent over the years. Maybe it's because I'm not German but I think I would have liked an accent in this instance.The gunshot wound – Now I know it might seem silly to question the plausibility of something like this in a film about a captive demon on a Nazi held island, but unlike the accent issue this one is all about context. In the context of the film all the occult elements make sense, but the Nazi soldier seemed to get a lot better after the bullet was pulled out. I mean I'm not a doctor but it just appeared that the bullet was the real source of pain and suffering, and not the gaping wound it created.Gina Varela looked fantastic as the demon but I would have liked to see more of her. She was naked and painted red and I think it would have added something to the disturbing nature of such a demon if we had seen more of her very fine body beneath the demon's face. This isn't some sad need to see T & A; I could have just watched some mindless rubbish like the new piranha film for that. I found it really got under my skin that she was still attractive as the demon. Could have made more of that perhaps.Overall:Loved this film. Really good example of what can be achieved in the horror genre by just doing old skool film making well.Unlike others who enjoyed this film I've given it ten out of ten, not because of the disproportionate negative reviews, but because it was just right up my street.