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Overall Rating : 3 1/2 /10
Directed By : Johnny Yong Bosch, Koichi Sakamoto
Karan Ashley ("Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" TV Series)
Johnny Yong Bosch
Reza Bahador
Joel Greco
Supplied By : MTI Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick Blalock
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| PLOT A horror-stricken and superstitious community is terrorized by a serial killer intent on hunting down couples in Canyon City. Plagued by a 10-year old legendary story of the mysterious murder of Devon Anderson, this community still harbors curiosity when the current victims and the evidence surrounding their murders appears to be very similar to what happened to Devon and the parents accused of murdering him. Did Devon Anderson die? That is the question. How did Devon's love struck, deranged, abusive parents get off for his murder when all the evidence pointed to them and who killed them. This legendary event does more than strife this tiny city but also leaves a trail of questions and enough obscurity to keep a community still scarred, obsessed by the tragic event and concerned that it is happening again. With more people dying and all the similarities mounting, the legend of the DEVON'S GHOST has surfaced and has sent an already suspicious community into a tailspin. |
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| THE REVIEW Devon's Ghost, when I heard about this, the name as well as the story did seem a bit interesting. It's not until I found out later that two former Power Rangers, Karan Ashley and Johnny Yong Bosch were involved in this film, that in itself, no matter how bad it sounds made me question such a film. This story is about a young boy, obviously named Devon, who grew up in an abusive home with alcoholic parents. One day day the parents in a fit of rage brutally murder the young boy. Over the next few years the two alkie parents as if they deserve it... become local celebrities because of the crime they committed. It seems that just when they thought everything was fine and they were about to be acquitted the parents themselves are killed by a mysterious being(hmmm wonder who that could be?) Not only are the parent's murdered but their high paid attorney, who happens to be the main character's father, is presumed missing. With 10 years passed it seems that the little boy had never perished at the hands of his parents and is back for his own sick revenge. This story sounds, pretty good right? Well yeah....but what looks good on paper isn't always gold on camera and this my friends is an example of just that. First off it is one of those "only in the movies" type scenarios, as all of our cast of central characters are supposed to be playing 17-18 year olds, when in fact they look all over, or approximately the age of 30. The characters have names like Josh, Symphony, Genesis and Freedom... all but the first one makes me tend to believe that their parents were all Woodstock attending hippies of the 60s. Besides the names, what we get from them is a lot of below average over-acted performances, much expected considering that the two main actors' main experience is acting on a kid's television show wearing tight as ever jumpsuits and ridiculous helmets. The overall look of the film was a bit above the bar for B movie standards i'll give it that, but I must admit that I felt as if I was watching an after school special, or something of that nature. This has a feel as if it was geared toward a younger audience, and not for hardcore horror fans, that have seen it all and expect something different each time you get into a movie. This movie really offers nothing new to the genre, it really does kind of mirror other films, for example Devon's returning back to the scene after 10 years, seems a lot like HALLOWEEN does it not? The one scene in which Devon as a child sees his parents arguing and then he is beating by his father....Well that reminds me a lot of when Lester is beaten and killed by his Mother's drunken boyfriend in the move SCARECROW. Although this film truly offers nothing new nor original, some of the killing scenes were pretty cool. But perhaps the most coolest thing that this movie has, is the weapon used by Devon. Devon wields an aluminum baseball bat that has been modified so that there is now a saw blade on the end. Imagine how much damage that could be done with one of those! Now I have heard that Blockbuster Video has given this film a 5/5, and with that I say, that Blockbuster must be really desperate, they are already deceiving people with that "No Late Fees" scam that have going on there, so their ranking doesn't surprise me. Also a few people gave it 8s and 10s, those people should really reevaluate what they watch. But this is just my opinion. To me, this film had the story and build up to be a hit, but it's toned down atmosphere and mediocre acting really seem to decline DEVON'S GHOST's overall appeal to the audience. |
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| GORE
METER 4/10 The gore is there and it maybe the best part of the whole movie, but on that note it's not all that great. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 3/10 The film's soundtrack is almost non existent, the typical rock music is all I seem to remember |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Although this film is labeled as a Rated R flick, the whole vibe of the movie was more like a PG13 rating... which may or may not leave you disappointed depending on your mood. As I mentioned previously this film definitely could've been better. |
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