Devil's Den (2006)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Absolutely Fantastic

Absolutely brilliant

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

As mentioned countless times already, "Devil's Den" really can be considered to be a "From Dusk Till Dawn" knock-off... But that doesn't mean it can't be fun, right? And indeed, I had as much fun with this one as I had with watching "The Hazing" (2004) the week before. Both can be considered good fun horror party flicks. No vampires in this den, actually, but ghouls instead. No big twist halfway through the movie, but ghoul action from the get-go. No elaborate plot whatsoever, but still a few nice character twists. And Ken"Beyond the Dawn of the Texas Sleepstalking Dentist-Reject"Foree is in it. And for the teenage ladies, there's Devon Sawa (but I must say the dude seems to have gained some weight since "Final Destination"). And guys, I don't need to tell you that there's indeed some pleasant femalish eye-candy in this one, right? Yes, this movie will very likely not go very far into horror history, but it's still a certified fun B-movie watch. The same kind of fun I recently had with "Bloodsuckers" (AKA "Vampire Wars"), now that we're talking vampires and ghouls.

Wow! This one's bad! I can't say I've sat through crap like this in a while. Strictly for Ken "Dawn of the Dead" Foree, and possibly Zoe "Grindhouse" Bell completists only, "Devil's Den" is the brainchild of stuntman/writer Mitch Gould, who should definitely stick with stunt work. Directing chores fell to Jeff "Stepfather II" Burr, who had his name removed from the project, but forgot to do the same with the laughably pretentious making-of featurette included on the DVD. Tough luck for him. The plot is slim to none: two dolts smuggling Spanish fly (???) stop at a fleabag strip joint that turns out to be populated by bimbo ghouls. A bloated Foree, who's obviously taking a paycheck, plays some sort of government agent who tracks down monsters, and Kelly "The Scorpion King" Hu is a government assassin. Devon "Final Destination" Sawa plays the dolt who survives the initial ghoul attack, and spends the rest of this yawner proving that he badly needs some cosmetic dental work. The gore is unremarkable, the naked boobies are few and far between, and the screenplay would give Syd Field apoplexy; mediocre is far too generous a term for this cheapo "From Dusk Til Dawn" ripoff. If this direct-to-video bomb really cost $1.5 mil, I'd sure like to know where the money went. Probably the catering service. You've been warned.

So much of the negative reviews I've seen on this film, come from the fact that it borrows quite liberally from Robert Rodriquez's From Dusk Till Dawn. You have the strip club in the middle of nowhere, the only difference is it substitutes Demonic Succubi chicks, for Vampires. One of my main reasons for recommending this film is Ken Foree of Dawn Of The Dead fame, who gives a fun performance, with plenty of screen time. Also if you like Idle Hands, Devon Sawa is basically playing that again here. At first I wasn't so sure i'd like his character, but he becomes endearing as the film roles on. Rounding out the cast Kelly Hu, also makes for a likable heroine. The Cast has excellent chemistry, and although unlikely, I'd love to see a sequel, which it was left open for. If you like the premise of Devil's Den, you won't be disappointed. Plenty of action, humor, gore, and a little T and A, makes for good times. It isn't anything new, but as far as rip offs go, it's well above average.

First lets get one thing straight- this is a low budget movie. Second- it is the best low budget movie you'll rent in a long long long time. Good characters, good dialog, good action and mostly just funny. Devon Sawa does a really convincing job of playing the freaked out reluctant hero, and Ken Foree- who can not like Ken Foree after Devil's Rejects. In fact any movie with Ken Foree and the word devil in the title is going to be a good one in my opinion. Kelly Hu is very hot and so are a lot of the other girls in the club- at least before they get real ugly. Plus there's a special treat for Zatoichi fans. If you know any of those old movies then you know the actor they got to play him does a perfect imitation. Just watch his face and eyes.Bottom line this movie is more entertaining than anything in the theaters right now.Of course 300 isn't out yet.