This is a mixed bag of the good the bad and the downright ugly. It's a real hit and miss affair... and, unfortunately, is mostly miss.
The story isn't anything we've not seen before. The Devil buys the soul of our hero and sets him out on a tour of duty chasing down his adversaries. Of course, since this is good old Lucifer we're talking about, there are a few double crosses along the way. Not too bad a tale, though as I said, nothing new.
The Good... I really did enjoy Robert's portrayal of Ol'Scratch himself. He gives off an air of jubilance and arrogance, which suits Beelzebub well. Kove gives a strong performance as "The Mentor", which is a pretty well thought out character as he's as cunning and tricky as a fox. Shame he only appears halfway through. Then there's Maya Tremblay as Muna, the female shaman. Though she's silent for the most part, she's still a strong enough actress to give a character to her portrayal.
The Bad... Rose as Liz Russell is the apotheosis of this film. When we first meet her she is pretty terrible... then a couple of scenes later, she's quite good... throughout the film her acting ability jumps between the two, making the film awkward and disjointed. The directing is just too average. It's not terrible but it's not good either. The horse chases could have been handled a lot better than they were. The same can be said about the fight sequences too. They needed to be better choreographed and acted and filmed. This is where the film is let down the most as these are meant to be exciting but they're not that interesting or invigorating to watch. The music... the director opted for a classic western overture feel. Which may have worked had they had a full orchestra. Then there's the pace of the film. I always thought westerns played too slowly and that was why I loved the spaghetti style better. But this is a supernatural western and as such should have been eerier, tenser, and more atmospheric... but it just felt like a second-rate '50's western, which in this case is bad.
The Ugly... Oh, My God, I don't know which was worse, Matthew Ziff's wooden acting, as the antihero, Kyle "Hawk" Hawkins, or his weak Clint Eastwood accent, which he slipped into when he needed to play the hardened hero. Though, even Matthew Ziff looked like an Oscar nominee for "Best Actor" when he played opposite his mom Lorraine Ziff, who plays the bad girl Zathera; a supernatural being with the ability to pull a person's life-force from them and has the ability to shape-shift. The other thing that was off was the second evil-smiting team. There really wasn't any need for these to be in the film at all. It just appeared a way to get Russ, who played Ezekiel Roak, into the film. It also seemed that we should know these people and have an already formed opinion about them. If that's not the case then they could be planning a spin-off movie with these characters. Either way, it just reeked like a month old Stilton, left out in the sun.
So if you're a fan of westerns, with a supernatural twist, this may be up your street... though I would recommend you wait for a snow day and only then if you've exhausted all other viewing possibilities.
The story isn't anything we've not seen before. The Devil buys the soul of our hero and sets him out on a tour of duty chasing down his adversaries. Of course, since this is good old Lucifer we're talking about, there are a few double crosses along the way. Not too bad a tale, though as I said, nothing new.
The Good... I really did enjoy Robert's portrayal of Ol'Scratch himself. He gives off an air of jubilance and arrogance, which suits Beelzebub well. Kove gives a strong performance as "The Mentor", which is a pretty well thought out character as he's as cunning and tricky as a fox. Shame he only appears halfway through. Then there's Maya Tremblay as Muna, the female shaman. Though she's silent for the most part, she's still a strong enough actress to give a character to her portrayal.
The Bad... Rose as Liz Russell is the apotheosis of this film. When we first meet her she is pretty terrible... then a couple of scenes later, she's quite good... throughout the film her acting ability jumps between the two, making the film awkward and disjointed. The directing is just too average. It's not terrible but it's not good either. The horse chases could have been handled a lot better than they were. The same can be said about the fight sequences too. They needed to be better choreographed and acted and filmed. This is where the film is let down the most as these are meant to be exciting but they're not that interesting or invigorating to watch. The music... the director opted for a classic western overture feel. Which may have worked had they had a full orchestra. Then there's the pace of the film. I always thought westerns played too slowly and that was why I loved the spaghetti style better. But this is a supernatural western and as such should have been eerier, tenser, and more atmospheric... but it just felt like a second-rate '50's western, which in this case is bad.
The Ugly... Oh, My God, I don't know which was worse, Matthew Ziff's wooden acting, as the antihero, Kyle "Hawk" Hawkins, or his weak Clint Eastwood accent, which he slipped into when he needed to play the hardened hero. Though, even Matthew Ziff looked like an Oscar nominee for "Best Actor" when he played opposite his mom Lorraine Ziff, who plays the bad girl Zathera; a supernatural being with the ability to pull a person's life-force from them and has the ability to shape-shift. The other thing that was off was the second evil-smiting team. There really wasn't any need for these to be in the film at all. It just appeared a way to get Russ, who played Ezekiel Roak, into the film. It also seemed that we should know these people and have an already formed opinion about them. If that's not the case then they could be planning a spin-off movie with these characters. Either way, it just reeked like a month old Stilton, left out in the sun.
So if you're a fan of westerns, with a supernatural twist, this may be up your street... though I would recommend you wait for a snow day and only then if you've exhausted all other viewing possibilities.