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Overall Rating : 5.5/10
Directed By : Jeff Burr
Devon Sawa (Final Destination)
Ken Foree (The Devil's Rejects)
Kelly Hu (The Scorpion King)
Steven Schub (The Thirteenth Floor)
Supplied By : Starz! Media/Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Feb. 2, 2007
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| PLOT A pleasure-seeking group of twenty-somethings enter a strip club with no cover charge, only to discover that the satanic establishment requires them to check their souls at the door. Though the dancers at the club may be out of this world, there's a very good reason for their exotic and irresistible features. Now, in order to make it through the night alive, the gentlemen in this club will have to do battle with a hideous horde of blood-drinking she-demons whose power is drawn directly from the lord of the underworld. |
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| THE REVIEW The plot for DEVIL'S DEN is quite simple. Quinn and his best friend have just returned from Mexico with a case full of "Spanish Fly", the friend Nick tells Quinn that he doesn't believe the drug really helps in the picking up of women. To prove Nick wrong, he tells him he can prove it, and in that attempt, they find themselves at "Devil's Den", a road-side strip club. When they get inside, no charge is required for entrance, and they find that the women there are near perfect in form. Quinn becomes rather friendly with head dancer Jezebel, and he accepts a private dance from the beautiful woman - but when she takes him to the back for privacy, things get ugly literally and physically. It turns out that Jezebel, is vicious flesh-eating demon-like creature, along with the rest of the stripper staff. When his best friend Nick is killed at the hands of the vixens, it is up to Quinn and a Samurai named Leonard, an Assassin named Caitlin and airhead waitress named Candy to track down the Queen, amd once she dies, the others would follow. But what they don't know is, the Queen may be a little closer to them than they think... When I received DEVIL'S DEN in the mail, I expected the type of typical, Sci-Fi channel-esque release Anchor Bay are known for occasionally releasing - but DEVIL'S DEN, at times is quite entertaining and fun! Sure this movie alternates from serious to downright cheesy at times, but to me it had just the right amount of humor, and some fairly decent performances to keep my interest. Now to say this film is of award winning stature would be a lie for the most part, but just reading the films plot, will more than likely draw in the viewer's will to want to see. The idea of a strip club that is basically operated by the Devil himself - which is filled with a horde of female ghouls whom love the taste of flesh, sounded interesting to me...my only concern was...would they be able to pull it off. The answer to that would be partially, although a lot of fun, it does not quite play out the way I thought it would. The film begins much like any mainstream straight-to-DVD film but once the action begins, things begin to change. From the time we go from the over the top gore, to Quinn, the Samurai film geeks 'what-if' dream, about what would happen if his favorite Samurai action hero showed up to slay the ghouls, we then know that this is definitely a B-Movie. When watching DEVIL'S DEN, you do get the sense that even the actors know that their characters are a bit far fetched, but they make the best of them. None do this more than, Horror movie fixture Ken Foree does, however. No matter the film, Foree always seems to take his character and run with it making it his own - and perhaps that is why he has earned my, as well as countless other genre fans respect over the years.....yes ever with a sword, Ken Foree is still a bad ass. I also enjoyed Devon Sawa here, and seeing that yes he has done touches of Horror in his career, none quite like this... he was someone I was unsure of. In the film, Sawa is a bona fide film geek that on the inside feels he is as tough as the action stars he adores, but once put in the pit of action, we find he is more like a geek himself, minus the film part - which does supply many of the film's enjoyable comedic moments. Perhaps the most out of place performer here, is Kelly Hu. Although she was in X-Men and that was filled with action all around, in DEVIL'S DEN, I didn't get the sense that she was a natural on the action front...with no other way to put it, she just seemed awkward in this role. Directed supposedly by Jeff Burr under an alias, DEVIL'S DEN is film that has it's moments, the characters are likeable and it's ideas are fun, but most likely due to budget restraints and it's plot that becomes predictable half way into the film, it doesn't execute as a whole, and at it's full potential. |
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| GORE
METER 5.5/10 Quite gory, but like others whom have seen this, I expected more. well since the ghouls are flesh eaters, there's obviously flesh eating of course, and there is plenty of blood shed and multiple decapitations through out |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4/10 The film has a mixture of hip-hop and techno tunes |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM I did enjoy this film a great deal and had fun with it. It compares itself with the likes of FROM DUSK TIL DAWN and so on - it is in many aspects on the same level (as far as plot), but it is not as well executed. But with that said, it has many things that are redeeming for it - such as the performances by Sawa and Foree, fans of the two are sure to enjoy - I recommend.. This DVD will be available on February 13, 2007 |
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