The Devil's Rock

Set in the Channel Islands on the eve of D Day, two Kiwi commandos, sent to destroy German gun emplacements to distract Hitler's forces away from Normandy, discover a Nazi occult plot to unleash demonic forces to win the war.

Okay, I have to admit I had low expectations on this one. I had heard no buzz on it, the cover looked sort of cheesy, it has no names that I recognized. That was probably unfair, but I am just getting so used to the average horror film being crud. This is better than the average horror film.

The cinematography is beautiful, let us just get that out there. Such a great use of light and color. And the demon-Nazi connection? A good execution of that. We have seen some Nazi zombies, and we know that the Nazis had some interest in the occult... but I daresay I cannot recall the last time this was executed so well. This might not be quite as good as "Dead Snow", but it is in the same range and they would make a great double feature.

Where does this film sit in the history of New Zealand horror? While the budget is clearly higher than Peter Jackson's early endeavors and possibly even "Black Sheep", I feel like this one might take a while to catch on (if it does at all). Horror fans like a good-looking film as much as anyone, but they also like the humorous and cult horror films. While not devoid of humor, this is not like the tradition that Jackson started...

I have to agreed with davidfurlotte (user review from 20 July 2011). This is definitely a B- horror movie if we talk about special effects (don't worry there is enough gore, blood and eye, brain…), but the story and good acting makes it more A-horror movie type. Even if there was not many special effects the story line make it more believable then other similar movies. I did enjoy the movie to full content and I do like good movie (A or B movie) with good suspension, blood, gore and specially solid acting and story line!!

I am kind of disappointed in IMDb rating or people who rate it so low 3.9 …. 3.9 only :-( this movie deserve more and it gives more it should be at least 6.5.

There are better exercises that play with a similar idea as is this movie. Still this is not a bad movie at all. I got to watch this at a special preview at the Empire in Leicester Square. The director and some of the stars were there to watch the movie with a "kraut" (forgive the pun if you can).

Speaking of language problems, I talked to the director after the movie was over and asked him about the German language used in the movie (as can be seen on signs too). Overall a good job, that his researcher did, but there are a few minor mistakes that you might spot, if you know your German language. Overall a decent job on creating atmosphere too. A classic example of "B-movie", that will entertain people who like this stuff :o)

The Devil's Rock: British Commandos, an SS Occult Unit in search of the ultimate Supernatural Weapon, Witchcraft, a shape shifting Demon. Yes, the Channel Isles were a fun place to be during WW2.

Two commandos land by dinghy on a decoy mission to sabotage gun emplacements thereby misleading the Germans as to the likely D-Day invasion sites. But they hear female screams coming from a bunker investigating they find a Lovecraftian scene, half eaten German soldiers, a soldier who has committed suicide. A Grimoire lies on the ground.

A surviving SS officer kills one commando and captures the other. Then we encounter the Demon who handily can take on the features of your loved ones. A summoning has gone wrong. The commando and SS officer are forced to cooperate.

Great Demon, ripping heads off.

Good War/Horror film, 7/10

Like the other reviewers, I'm a bit surprised at this movie's low rating. It's not the most amazing horror movie I've ever seen, but it's good enough for a 6/10 or 7/10.

The directing is a bit uneven, but there are some quite striking visuals. The writing, while a bit clichéd, is still competent. For a movie I was expecting to be barely watchable, it was a very pleasant surprise.

I suppose the obvious comparison would be with The Keep, where a group of Nazis unearth an ancient evil, then seek to banish it, when they realize they're over their heads. This certainly isn't a pretentious movie, and it seems to have no illusions about being high art, but it is a bit heavy on the exposition and dialogue. If you have a short attention span, you might want to skip this movie, because the violence and gore aren't really as prominent as it leads you to believe ("Saw with swastikas" is not a very good description of this movie).

For a B movie, it's really quite enjoyable. Just don't go in expecting a big budget and slavish attention to detail.