Review - Here Comes the Devil (2012 - Dir. Adrián García Bogliano)

I'd really enjoyed Bogliano's Cold Sweat, so I was looking forward to this, his next film. I was a tad on the disappointed side to see that times have obviously got harder for Bogliano. The budget for Here Comes the Devil  must have been a fair bit less than Cold Sweat. It's closer in style to a soap opera than a film. Saying that, it's the kind of soap that I'd like to watch.

A family is on a little trip to Tijuana when they happen upon an ominous boulder strewn hill. As often occurs the two children go off to explore the hill while Mum and Dad partake in some saucy business in their parked car. The children don't come back. Mum and Dad are understandably put out by this turn of events and involve the local police. And I'll leave the plot there, because what follows is probably not what you would expect.

Here Comes the Devil starts off in true exploitation style with a completely unnecessary scene of two ladies treating each other to massages of an intimate nature. After a brief violent occurrence these characters are pretty much forgotten about. Also in true exploitation style are the crash zooms that Jess Franco would have been proud of. What we have so far then is a soap heavily tinged with expoilation. But is it any more than that?

To be honest that would have probably been enough for me but there is more to had from this film. As I was watching I always thought that I knew where it was heading. Yet I didn't. It didn't usurp my expectations in any major way that would have really piqued my interest, but it did enough to make it more than the average horror fare. One moment at the end in a cave had me convinced that I knew what was going to happen next (in true Scooby Doo style this time). What followed actually caused a little shock that left me suitably impressed.

For a horror film there's not that much in the way of gore, it's more a dread filled feature. What bloodletting there is, is quite well done though. A scene with Mum and Dad and a local panty-sniffer ends with a gore sequence that looks like it comes straight from a Fulci film (admittedly, it's not quite as drawn out, but what is?). This excessive scene shows that the director isn't afraid to gore out and the sense that something bad may happen in the latter half of the film is all pervasive.

In the end Here Comes the Devil would have benefitted from a larger budget to sort out the look and the acting. As it is, its cheerful disposition and plot let it get away with a fair bit. I have to say that I enjoyed it, although not quite enough to lift it into the upper stratosphere of a seven or more out of ten. For Bogliano's next project it would be nice to see him given some more cash (just a smidgen, but enough to do a professional job - we don't want to spoil him).
6/10
evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:
Cold Sweat, Pieces.