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Set in the Channel Islands on the eve of D Day, two New Zealand commandos are sent to destroy German gun emplacements to distract Hitler's forces away from Normandy. On arrival, they discover a Nazi occult plot to unleash demonic forces to win the war.
Visual Effects created by WETTA.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
This is a well made, small budget flick from New Zealand and it has a setting that is becoming a new sub genre, that is the Nazi's and the occult. It starts the day before D-Day, when two New Zealand commandos have been sent to the Channel Islands as part of Operation Overlord and the subterfuge that was employed by the Allies. They are to blow up gun emplacements in a bid to make the Germans think that the Islands will be the staging post for the invasion of Europe. So far, so plausible, as they near their target they can hear tortured screams coming from the bowels of the cavernous outpost. Captain Ben Grogen (Craig Hall) decides it might be one of their men being tortured and so goes in against the advice of his Sargeant.
In some horrors you always want to know why do the `heroes' go into the big scary mansion where the lights don't work, instead of running as quickly as possible in the opposite direction. What director Paul Campion makes you realise is that it is foolish but heck you would probably do the same thing, so cliché avoided. A word about Mr Campion, he has worked as artist and painter on oodles of films including `The lord of the rings' trilogy but I think this is his first in the directors chair.
Well they go into the pit and to tell you any more would be a plot spoiler.
What I can say is that they do not find any of their comrades and most of the Germans are already dead, so what they do find is a whole lot worse. The German commander is Col Klaus Meyer (Mathew Sunderland) who is a member of the SS on one of Hitler's special missions to investigate the legendary witchcraft of the Islands. His role is pivotal to the plot development and as some have commented he does have a rather English accent, which is forgivable as a lot of Germans were educated in England, but it is really because he is not actually a German actor. This is full of unpleasant gore, scares a plenty and images of the occult as well as more blood than an average abattoir. It is tense and gripping right from the start and does not let up throughout, which is a very big achievement especially as this is 96 minutes long.
I am not a huge horror fan, but this is one that has appeal on many levels, if you liked `The Outpost', or `The Keep' you will want to see this. Scary, claustrophobic, dirty and intense, I think Mr Campion should be rightly proud of what he has managed to achieve.
In some horrors you always want to know why do the `heroes' go into the big scary mansion where the lights don't work, instead of running as quickly as possible in the opposite direction. What director Paul Campion makes you realise is that it is foolish but heck you would probably do the same thing, so cliché avoided. A word about Mr Campion, he has worked as artist and painter on oodles of films including `The lord of the rings' trilogy but I think this is his first in the directors chair.
Well they go into the pit and to tell you any more would be a plot spoiler.
What I can say is that they do not find any of their comrades and most of the Germans are already dead, so what they do find is a whole lot worse. The German commander is Col Klaus Meyer (Mathew Sunderland) who is a member of the SS on one of Hitler's special missions to investigate the legendary witchcraft of the Islands. His role is pivotal to the plot development and as some have commented he does have a rather English accent, which is forgivable as a lot of Germans were educated in England, but it is really because he is not actually a German actor. This is full of unpleasant gore, scares a plenty and images of the occult as well as more blood than an average abattoir. It is tense and gripping right from the start and does not let up throughout, which is a very big achievement especially as this is 96 minutes long.
I am not a huge horror fan, but this is one that has appeal on many levels, if you liked `The Outpost', or `The Keep' you will want to see this. Scary, claustrophobic, dirty and intense, I think Mr Campion should be rightly proud of what he has managed to achieve.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
First of all a call out to whoever decided to emblazen 'Saw with Swastikas' across the cover of 'The Devils Rock'.
Lazy and misleading; it's nothing like Saw at all!
Maybe who ever wrote this just loves alliteration; how about "Finding Nemo with Gnashers" for 'Pirahna', "Parenthood with Problems" for 'The Exorcist' or "Goodfellas with Giggles" for 'The Hangover'.
Anyway, 'The Devils Rock' is a very different horror film which confronts the demon/devil sub-genre in a solid, non-cheesy way. The acting is very good and the claustrophobia of the underground network (in which alomost the entire film is set) works very well.
An original take on the ending of the war, it is exectuted very well with gore a plenty along the way. The downside for me is the abrupt ending and the fact that very little actually happens throughout. Action packed and fast moving it isn't, a slow burner it most certainly is.
The special affects are commendable and the 'devil' looks very realistic. There's not enough good, old fashioned demons in horror these days!
I didn't love 'The Devils Rock' and there are far better horror films out there. That said, there's no huge flaws and the whole film is pretty neat and tidy. Worth a watch for sure, but for me it was just a little pointless, especially with the film grinding to a halt when it seemed to just be getting going.
Lazy and misleading; it's nothing like Saw at all!
Maybe who ever wrote this just loves alliteration; how about "Finding Nemo with Gnashers" for 'Pirahna', "Parenthood with Problems" for 'The Exorcist' or "Goodfellas with Giggles" for 'The Hangover'.
Anyway, 'The Devils Rock' is a very different horror film which confronts the demon/devil sub-genre in a solid, non-cheesy way. The acting is very good and the claustrophobia of the underground network (in which alomost the entire film is set) works very well.
An original take on the ending of the war, it is exectuted very well with gore a plenty along the way. The downside for me is the abrupt ending and the fact that very little actually happens throughout. Action packed and fast moving it isn't, a slow burner it most certainly is.
The special affects are commendable and the 'devil' looks very realistic. There's not enough good, old fashioned demons in horror these days!
I didn't love 'The Devils Rock' and there are far better horror films out there. That said, there's no huge flaws and the whole film is pretty neat and tidy. Worth a watch for sure, but for me it was just a little pointless, especially with the film grinding to a halt when it seemed to just be getting going.
Firstly whoever thought that using the tag-line "Saw with Swastikas" was a good idea is an idiot; it was taken out of context from a web-site review. That act of advertising lunacy almost made me avoid this movie and I would have missed what is a perfectly good old-fashioned horror movie.
The Nazi fascination with the occult is well documented and has been used in many movies from Raiders of the Lost Ark to Hellboy etc and in books by many authors including Dennis Wheatley and James Herbert and countless comics over the years.
The plot has been outlined before but basically two New Zealand commandoes are on a decoy sabotage mission the day before D-day, they land on one of the smaller Channel Islands where the Nazi's have a base. After setting their explosive charges they hear screams, fearing it is an allied soldier being tortured, and against the advice from his friend, Joe goes into the tunnels to try and rescue the prisoner. On hearing gun-shots Ben follows him and finds that the truth is far more sinister.
It's a well-paced movie using just four main characters the two NZ soldiers along with a suitably evil SS Colonel (Matthew Sunderland) and the female prisoner (Gina Varela) who happens to look like Ben's dead wife.
The gore lies mainly in the effects of the dead soldiers; it has no relevance to Saw in any way, if anything it actually underplays the gore at times. The creature effects aren't spectacular but they are more than effective enough for what is a lesser demon. There's even a passing reference to H P Lovecraft's Great Old Ones.
The ending even leaves enough scope for a sequel.
After being fooled into watching so many torture movies that were thinly disguised as horror it was a pleasant change to watch a proper horror movie, helped by the fact that writer Paul Finch has done some proper research on the subject. He has also written several of my favourite tales in the Black Books of Horror series and specialises in horror stories with a factual historical background.
This is one film I will definitely be watching again.
The Nazi fascination with the occult is well documented and has been used in many movies from Raiders of the Lost Ark to Hellboy etc and in books by many authors including Dennis Wheatley and James Herbert and countless comics over the years.
The plot has been outlined before but basically two New Zealand commandoes are on a decoy sabotage mission the day before D-day, they land on one of the smaller Channel Islands where the Nazi's have a base. After setting their explosive charges they hear screams, fearing it is an allied soldier being tortured, and against the advice from his friend, Joe goes into the tunnels to try and rescue the prisoner. On hearing gun-shots Ben follows him and finds that the truth is far more sinister.
It's a well-paced movie using just four main characters the two NZ soldiers along with a suitably evil SS Colonel (Matthew Sunderland) and the female prisoner (Gina Varela) who happens to look like Ben's dead wife.
The gore lies mainly in the effects of the dead soldiers; it has no relevance to Saw in any way, if anything it actually underplays the gore at times. The creature effects aren't spectacular but they are more than effective enough for what is a lesser demon. There's even a passing reference to H P Lovecraft's Great Old Ones.
The ending even leaves enough scope for a sequel.
After being fooled into watching so many torture movies that were thinly disguised as horror it was a pleasant change to watch a proper horror movie, helped by the fact that writer Paul Finch has done some proper research on the subject. He has also written several of my favourite tales in the Black Books of Horror series and specialises in horror stories with a factual historical background.
This is one film I will definitely be watching again.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
gore with a bore
AFTER READING UP ON THIS I HAD TO BUY IT FILM ITSELF IS OK BUT NEEDED MORE SOLDIERS TO BE KILLED MOST OF THE KILLING HAS BEEN DONE LEAVING YOU WITH JUST 5 CHARACTERS BEFORE THE... Read more
Published 4 months ago by bow bags
Definitely worth watching
I really enjoyed this, I wasn't expecting it to be as good. The story is basically this. 2 kiwi commandos have a mission on the eve of D Day to blow up a gun emplacement on the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Will
Worth a try
I'll skip the details as they've been supplied by other reviewers and focus on what's good about this movie to make it worth watching. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ian Williams
Session Nein!
!!!WARNING. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!
1944. Two New Zealand commandos mount a daring raid on a German bunker on Guernsey on the eve of the Normandy landings. Read more
1944. Two New Zealand commandos mount a daring raid on a German bunker on Guernsey on the eve of the Normandy landings. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. Jonathon T. Beckett
Excellent Horror
Agree with the reviews so far posted. Was a very enjoyable film, had my wife at times hiding behind her hands during the juicy bits. Would highly recommend.
Published 10 months ago by Saf
Enjoyable film, shoddy DVD
I have to agree with the others positive reviews, that this is an enjoyable film, and it is really nice to see all practical effects (with only one or two cgi enhancements during... Read more
Published 10 months ago by MD
Support Paul Finch!
There are a number of reasons for praising this hugely enjoyable little film from New Zealand-the claustrophobic atmosphere of dread, the clever integration of location and studio... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mr. Robert A. Low
Good Old Nazi/Horror
I was lucky to view this earlier than the release date thanks to Metrodome Distribution who asked me if i wanted to review it & to be honest i hadn't heard anything about it before... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Hound of Horror
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