DVD
Review | Dust Devil (Region 2)
Written by: Kage
Alan
I was excited many months back when it was
announced Richard Stanley’s “Hardware” was finally going to be
released on DVD. Unfortunately, for reasons I was never able to
discover, the studio canceled it. Grr… Well, if you can’t get
satisfaction from the studios here, then it’s time to look elsewhere
and while there is a Region 2 release of that film, I was more than
pleased to also see a release of Stanley’s second feature, “Dust
Devil”. The beauty of this German disc is that while the box
indicates it’s the truncated and dismal 87-minute version released in
North America, it’s really the extended 104-minute cut!
There’s something evil in South Africa and we’re
not just talking politics here. Just as most cultures have their
superstitions and beliefs in devilish entities, so do they. The natives
believe that the violent winds that seem to blow in from nowhere are
signs of a creature called a Dust Devil. In the case of this film, it’s
a ancient being, now a hunter (Robert Burke, “Robocop 3”), who travels
the world, often visiting small towns where magic still exists and where
he brings his wrath down upon the people there. We’re talking major
brutality and while he may often look like a man, he’s not, but he does
suffer the passions of a man. You know what that means, don’t you? He
likes the ladies.
When Wendy (Chelsea Field, “The Last Boyscout”)
leaves her husband and hits the road in her little car, she has no idea
whose attention she’s attracting. Sensing an opportunity to corrupt
another human being and satisfy some of those passions, the Devil
hitchhikes his way into Wendy’s world and prepares to sacrifice her.
Unfortunately for him, a local policeman (Zakes Mokae) has been tracking
the carnage the creature has been leaving behind. Also, thanks to some
local magic, he may just have a clue how to stop the Devil before
another life is taken.
While the 87-minute cut of “Dust Devil” was still
an opportunity to see Stanley’s work, this extended version really
fleshes a number of plotlines out and allows for greater character
development and motivation. Be warned, however, that this is a film
that takes its sweet time getting anywhere. The payoff during the
finale is well worth the wait and Simon Boswell’s score once again
wonderfully accentuates the setting and tone of the piece. This is a
film to be watched and appreciated, not to be taken as fluff and
dismissed as eye-candy. Can you tell I’m a fan of Stanley’s work?
Laser Paradise in Germany has released “Dust Devil”
in its original Widescreen format. That’s the good news along with the
film being the extended cut. The bad news is that it doesn’t look like
they put much effort into cleaning up the transfer. Consequently, there
are flecks and specs throughout and many of the darker scenes, of which
there are a number, tend to be on the grainy side. Audio quality fares
better, though you will want to switch to the English language track,
which is the film’s actual soundtrack and not the dubbed track North
America used. Surprisingly enough, there are some extras included on
the disc too. Aside from a trailer, there’s also 17½ -minutes of
behind-the-scenes footage. It’s pretty raw looking, has a timecode on
it and looks like it came from VHS, but it does offer interviews with
the cast and crew as well as some information about the director
himself. That alone makes this bit worth it.
You may be wondering where you can get a hold of
this wonderful little find. I’ll tell you! There’s a terrific company
in Ohio called Xploited Cinema (www.xploitedcinema.com)
that stocks all sorts of import DVDs. The majority of them tend to be
within the horror/thriller, cult and rare genre, so if that’s where your
tastes lie, it’s a great site to find some of those rare titles
available overseas. For fans of Richard Stanley’s work or thrillers in
the darker vein, “Dust Devil” is a welcome addition to anybody’s DVD
library.
Film Rating:
B+
DVD Special Features: B-
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