Art of the Devil (2004)

Too much of everything

Better Late Then Never

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is the Thai answer to all those black magic horror films made in Hong Kong during the 1970s and '80s. The plot is virtually the same, involving a jilted lover and her efforts to punish the man who abandoned her by resorting to black magic (the same plot was used in 1981's BEWITCHED). However, while those films have gone down as gruesome classics of horror cinema, ART OF THE DEVIL is a somewhat lacklustre retelling of the same story.The problems lie in the technical details. This is a poorly edited film and the director doesn't seem to want to make the events that play out very clear. It's also overlong, with the second half of the movie introducing an unbelievable plot twist as the villainess goes after more innocent folk – this time her lover's ex-wife! It's little more than an excuse for more gruesome deaths but the novelty quickly wears off.The cast isn't particularly good for a film of this calibre. There's plenty of overacting – especially from the villainess - and little subtlety, aside from the actor playing the investigative reporter. There ARE some good gruesome bits, one involving the old joke with a victim having an evil presence under his skin, and his efforts to cut it out. Of course there are also moments of bad taste, as is the norm for this genre of production. A guy vomits up eels in one unpleasant scene while the nastiest bit involves the rotting corpse of a baby being used in a ritual. Such moments come few and far between however, and this is a case of style over substance. In the end it's a disappointment, feeling like a half-hearted attempt to emulate the classics of old.

This film trilogy now known as "The Art of devil "is really like in Mexico, the first film in countries Latin America and Mexico this film is known as "The Fingers Twists of the Devil, "the second movie as" The Art of the Devil "and I must say that is my favorite! Then I read "The Art of the Devil 2" As you heard the first: 'The crooked finger of the devil " has nothing to do with the second "Art of the Devil" and the last 2: "The Art of the Devil" and "The Art of the Devil 2" if the second supplement is the first sequel for all those who have not seen the movies that invite you to visit the following Spanish page: http://joanamolko.spaces.live.com in the movies section

But only as high as a 6.First off, I have to say that my copy of the DVD will not play the original Thai audio, so I am stuck with the horrible English overdubs. I kept the subtitles on anyways but had to laugh at how different they were from the spoken lines. Sometimes the dialogue was more detailed and sometimes the subtitles were.So due to the fact I had to listen to the overdubbed version, I cannot comment on the acting as a whole. Most of the physical acting was decent, with body language and whatnot, but nothing really stood out.The Story: Pretty decent revenge/black magic story. The woman has an affair with a married man, gets pregnant, wants hush money, gets gang raped by the married mans friends, demands more money, gets bitch slapped around and then wants revenge. You're sort of torn about how you're supposed to feel about the main girl. She's sort of a slut and seems a bit like a gold digger, but she was also cast aside by the baby's daddy and raped by his friends. So you can see why she wants revenge but not to the extent she takes it, which is why she makes a good villain. She's a very pretty girl but can definitely pull off the evil look to her. The story gets a bit confusing at first since a lot happens in such a quick time with little explanation, but picks up a bit more later. She kills one part of the family and then moves on to the other side (It' sort of confusing to explain). You never connect with any of the characters except for Nam (the other main girl), so when a character dies, big deal. The twist (if you can call it that) is a bit weird, but very typical for a horror film. The little albino girl (or maybe she was just Swedish) was a bit creepy which I'm sure was their intentions. What, or who, the albino girl represented can be disputed. I won't go into detail as not to spoil too much.Now for some of the technical aspects. Some of the graphics were very bad, but I'm guessing this was somewhat a low budget so understandable. The physical graphics as in the gore (spitting up bloody razors, nails coming out of the head, the eels, stabbing, etc) was pretty good, something that if was digitalized, would have made this worse. Some shots were very well done but a lot seemed amateurish.Now was it entertaining? Yes, it was. Worth a rent if you can deal with cheesy horror films. Just make sure the Thai audio track works, or you may just laugh a lot at the English overdubs (especially the scene where the mother is being haunted by the previous family killed by the girl).6 out of 10 for being entertaining, with some good gore and a decent story

"Art of the Devil" is Thanit Jitnukul's first stab at horror which tells the story about one family's disaster after the father's mistress uses black magic to get revenge against him.The back of my VCD says:a mysterious and bizarre murder of a millionaire's entire family grips the attention of the public.Not a clue is uncovered; not a person can be fingered as the killer.The mysterious and gruesome deaths baffle everyone.A crime reporter goes to investigate the case, which leads to a beautiful lady.How can he convince others that she is the mistress of the occult,a witch who is skilled in the art of the devil."Art of the Devil" offers some gruesome effects including eels vomiting and bloody regurgitation.The acting is mediocre,but the film is quite interesting.Still there is not enough tension for my liking,but if you like horror films which deal with black magic you can give it a try.7 out of 10.