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DEVIL STORY (1985)
aka DEVIL'S STORY
aka Il était une fois le
diable
Directed by Bernard Launois
Shocking Videos DVD-R
Reviewed 11.01.06
Buy
It From Shocking Videos!
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
The French have their talons in
me. Always have, always will. As
a result, I'm usually on the lookout
for another Ogroff,
which, if you didn't know, happens
to be the apex of trash-horror cinema
en Français. Let's clink
glasses. A distant second has been
discovered.
If you're not on the floor in hysterics
after the first hour of Devil
Story aka Devil's Story,
abandon hope. Come to think of it,
thoughts of abandonment are a good
starting point. Devil Story,
the first and final horror film
from enigmatic director Bernard
Launois, abdicates any inkling of
normalcy. It's a compact, night-in-the-life
campfire tale that fixates on exploitive
juvenile absurdity. As a bonus,
it's also completely hilarious.
Was that Launois's main aim? Who
knows. Any film that can fork over
three minute scenes of blood-barfing
AND an all night, satanic horse
hunting sequence ("Goddamn
that sonuvabitch horse!") deserves
the blurry lines it asks for.
Is this Ogroff, The Early
Years? For the first ten minutes,
a malformed boogeyman in a Pea Coat
scours the French countryside, murdering
random travelers. Blowing blood
out of a tube is the main focus
here. Soon after, a couple's car
breaks down, a cat yelps at them,
and they arrive at an impressive
castle, which is inhabited by a
couple of old farts. The geriatrics
speak of The Equinox; Days as long
as nights! Horse neighing! Ye olde
plundering! Turns out, the mad killer
and his gypsy mother not only live
on the plains and kill people, but
they also own a mummy. He walks
through a cemetery. The old man
(in camouflage) spends the entire
film blasting a shotgun and lobbing
insults at a "devil horse".
A woman runs around. The killer
falls through a brick wall. Was
it all a dream? Lord, no. The legend
continues.
Language barrier? Please. Although
dubbed in English, Devil Story
eclipses all native tongues. Goopy-mouth
fixations, protracted cheap 'n'
nasty gore, and incessant horse
neighing, screaming, and grunting
need no interpretation. The film
contains none of the gutter poeticism
that lurks in the corners of noted
French trash from Jean Rollin and
Jess Franco. Bad stunts, overly-enthusiastic
dubbing, Florida license plates
(?!), a synth soundtrack to a marathon;
Devil Story screams America.
Think of it as a Nathan
Schiff interpretation of Dungeon
Of Harrow without the dullness
of that 1960s loner. In other words,
sheer good times. Launois should've
ixnay'd on the horse neighs, but
hey -- nobody's perfect.
The road to France is always open.
As long as that path turns up hot
junk like Devil Story,
I will forever travel upon it.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
English dubbing, Turkish subtitles,
and French credits; sounds good
to me. The print, obviously sourced
from a pristine Turkish tape, looks
and sounds terrific; bright colors,
nice clarity, and clear mono sound.
Major cropping during some scenes
was a slight drawback, but c'mon!
Are you ever going to see another
version of this film anywhere?
EXTRAS
The film ran 72 minutes. Precision
does not require supplements.
FINAL THOUGHTS
You love blood-barfing. Who doesn't?
See tons of that and more in Devil
Story, a film that has no interest
in achieving goals, but succeeds
through fluky disorder. Delightful
French trash. Worth owning. |
Trust this man
Baby Ogroff
Breathe in the Frenchness
Mummy stomp
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