The Demon's Rook (2013)

Simply A Masterpiece

best movie i've ever seen.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Bloody, gory, hilarious, sexy, campy, repetitive. These words are all you need to know about this movie. If Evil Dead (or Ash vs. Evil Dead) had a weird Wiccan cousin, this would be it. In the true art of low budget B-movies this delivers in every way. It's not just some other half-assed low budget movie as I was beginning to think were all that were left for our future. The Devil's Rook was made by a group of thoughtful and passionate young people who obviously had a lot of fun doing what they were doing. And while they did well, the actual storyline of the movie drags on, this would be a good party movie because it's mostly eye candy so you can talk through it without missing anything. Also, it has plenty of good nudity!

A demon from another dimension kidnaps a boy and tries to raise him as his own. But when the child becomes an adult, he begins to resent the demon and travels back home. Other demons follow him back to earth and raise an army of zombies. The monsters invade his hometown and kill everyone they come across.The Demon's rook is clearly made by a big fan of horror and special effects. There are a lot of impressive creature designs and splatter scenes at display here. The prosthetics and masks used in the film have a neat retro-vibe to them and are a breath of fresh air in a time where cgi-overuse is frequent in modern cinema. The cinematography is very stylish as well and reminiscent of films like Creepshow and Suspiria with all it's colored lights.But it seems the director was so occupied with trying to make a film that looks good, he forgot about making a coherent story. The plot is somewhat difficult to follow at times and there are too many scenes that only consist of one-dimensional characters being introduced and then just get killed minutes later.The hero and his girlfriend are fairly fleshed out and developed, but nearly all of the secondary characters are slasher movie stereotypes such as rednecks, bimbos or drunks. There is a female artist who seems to have some kind of psychic link with the demons, but this is not developed much or explained. Which would have been more interesting to see instead of another scene of an expandable teenager getting eaten alive.The story also could've needed more buildup and a better climax. The ending is very anti-climactic and the villains are defeated ridiculously easy.The Demon's rook is a gory retro-styled splatter with lots of practical effects that will entertain horror fans, but viewers who crave a film with more interesting characters and a more well-constructed story might skip it.

So the writer/director is also the star of the movie. Plus he's obviously having a lot of friends/relatives in it too. Not professionals that is. Now you can take that as a criticism or run with it and admire the passion and the love for the art the man has. That is up to you. And I don't really want to know if the comedy was intended or not. It feels like it wasn't in a way, but it's so bad sometimes that they must have done it on purpose.Whatever the case, technically this would rate much lower. But was it a hoot watching at the Frightfest in London? The answer is yes. Not because it is good and I have to stress that out once more, but because it is weird and it is bad. You'll know pretty fast, if you can stomach the no budget appeal of the movie or not. Looks like quite a few people here are digging ... we got a hole, see? Just don't fall for it ... (no pun intended).