Feed the Devil

If you can get past the clumsy, clichéd opening scene (and I almost didn't) you will discover both an atmospheric, serious, technically well-made, frequently interesting film and, at the same time, a film with major weaknesses that is also frequently tedious and confounding. Do the good points outweigh the bad? It would depend on what is most important to the individual. The stupid, reckless behavior of the characters (necessary to drive the film forward) is justified by the fact that they are depicted as stupid, reckless people. However since they are also neither interesting nor sympathetic (which are more important to me than that horrible Hollywood phrase "likable") it is impossible to care or be concerned for them. They are presented believably (sadly, I've met similar types) - and believably performed by the actors - but that's never going to allow for the necessary third act switch to hero mode and even as victims I found myself on the side of "whatever is in the woods" more than once. Yet overall the mood is always strong, and the mystery grows unnervingly, but then it is diluted by too much repetitive action (caught, survived, escapes, caught, rinse and repeat) and the inexplicable occurrence of sustaining injuries that never seem to last more than a few minutes - or until, another round of survived-escapes-and caught again. Disagreeable, and boring, characters, lapses in logic, and even very confused and inconsistent geography and staging do nothing to help the film, but I return again to the impressively ominous and creepy tone; much of the photography and editing is excellent and there are some very nice and original developments (a mute woman wandering by the side of the road who attaches herself to the characters as if entitled, and who may be viewed as a victim or a threat, is by far the best) that makes it difficult to simply disregard the film or suggest everyone bypass it. With the exception of that opening scene (which feels like it was tacked on from another movie) there is enough violent threat, scares (not the easy-cheesy jump-scare type) and creepy scenes to appease even a discerning watcher of genre films, but the question remains; do the good points outweigh the bad? And I'll admit that I felt one way immediately after the movie ended, and another way by the time this review was written.

Wannabe drug dealer Marcus (Jared Cohn), his girlfriend and her sister go looking for a crop of marijuana that they have been told about in the Alaskan wilderness but when they get there they encounter evil supernatural forces. The UK DVD promises so much, somebody rating it a 9/10 movie, blah, blah, blah but watching this was a miserable experience. For a start Marcus is such an unlikable character, every other word is the F word, this quickly become tiresome. The acting in the movie is terrible and I gave up trying to fathom out the mess of a plot. There are a few gory bits and the scenery is nice, otherwise I would advise avoiding this turd. Utterly terrible.

This was a mess of non-sensical disjointed stuff. There is no story to speak of and not even an attempt at acting. Someone wanted to make a movie about survival in the woods against I guess was a "somewhat supernatural" entity. Their hero however was the one that was supernatural. He is a total unlikable jerk that gets impaled multiple times, stabbed and beaten various times, and I think his tongue got cut out. So, he gets all these mortal wounds, but just shakes them off, spits up blood like Bruce Willis and keeps going. Nothing in this makes any sense, especially the ending.

'Feed the Devil' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing and quite creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws present in them are here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Feed the Devil' is very weak, with a plethora of problems (fairly big ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There are however a couple of decent, even good, qualities in 'Feed the Devil'.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky and there are some nice location shots.

It starts relatively promisingly too, it was the one part of the film that grabbed my attention and didn't bore or annoy me.

'Feed the Devil's' story does feel over-stretched and too much of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their irritating and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the uncomfortably stiff acting.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace goes to a standstill after the promising opening and drags on forever, never recovering. The second half is interminable. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness and the complete lack of tension and suspense.

A lot of 'Feed the Devil' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper.

There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while everything is just so unimaginative and more odd than scary Some badly sagging momentum too, one feels they're going round in circles without being told anything and it is just dull. The direction is pretty leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music doesn't really fit.

Concluding, very weak and didn't just leave me hungry, it left me starved. 3/10 Bethany Cox

This has to be the dumbest movie ever. The main character is an ignorant drunk with a stupid trashy girlfriend and her equally stupid sister. They set out for God knows where based on a map drawn on a napkin, in a beat up pickup truck. The rest is just nonsensical garbage.

Pass on this mess.