Main cast: Alicia Sanz (Arianne), Adan Canto (Darren), Zach Avery (Jaime), Chinaza Uche (Shawn), Jesse LaTourette (Shelby), Jonathan Sadowski (Terry), and Will Patton (Schuttmann)
Director: Brad Parker
Heh, Zach Avery was arrested for running a Ponzi scheme at about the same time as The Devil Below came out. This movie is one of those that was made by his production house. I wonder if the people involved in this thing got paid.
The story is a mix of tropes normally found in some found footage “idiots in the woods” film without the shaky cam thing, thank goodness, as well as some militaristic folk horror thrown in.
Basically, we have found researches led by Darren and their guide Arianne venturing into a quiet rural part of the globe in search of a mining town called Snookum Hills. The town has vanished off present day maps, and there were stories of mysterious fires and even more mysterious sinkholes opening all over the place before it seemingly disappeared off the planet. Darren believes that there has to be something in the coal mines that set off those fires.
The locals of the area are far from enthused about these newcomers, especially when they learn of the reason why these newcomers are here. Soon, there are vehicles ominously trailing their vehicle, and that’s just the start of the fun. Wait until they discover what they are looking for…
While the premise itself may be intriguing, if not exactly original, right from the start the movie feels kind of meh.
Arianne is the only character of the main bunch that has any semblance of personality, so she may as well has “Final Girl” stamped on her forehead. The rest of them, the guys, are bland and devoid of any memorable personality that I am only vaguely aware of Darren being the leader, one of them is the fat and annoying loudmouth that every movie of this kind tends to have, and one of them is black. Oh, and one of them is entirely forgettable aside from the fact that he’s played by Mr Avery.
I’m far more interested in the efforts of the locals to contain the threat in Snookum Hills Coal Mine, but at the same time, I am not convinced of the rationale by the owner of the coal mine, Schuttmann, for keeping everything hushed up. His crew members don’t seem too good at their job, judging from how many of them get killed in this movie alone, so it’s not like they are kicking ass. I can easily see a time when they lose control of the situation and doom the whole country with their “It’s okay, we have this!” attitude.
Still, these guys’ stories are far more interesting than four boring and not-too-bright blokes being babysat by the final girl. Sadly, it’s more of the latter in this movie, and consequently, it’s not a particularly interesting or memorable watch.
