During World War II, two New Zealand soldiers, Grogan and Tane, make their way to the Nazi-occupied trap of Forau Island, in the hopes of drawing Hitler's attention away from Normandy. Once near a fort, the two men are drawn to screams for help, both male and female. Unfortunately, Tane is killed, while Grogan is knocked unconscious by a Nazi colonel. As he comes to, Grogan's assailant tells him of the true source of what these Nazi forces had been plotting: demonic conjuring.
I'd like to preface today's entry with a collective wag of the finger to Netflix. A mere hours after my viewing of The Devil's Rock, I've found that it has been removed from the "Instant Stream" option. Those of you who know me know that most of my past marathons consist of relying upon the usage of streaming sites such as Netflix themselves, along with sites such as Youtube, Crackle, and the like. Hopefully, over the next year or so, I'll attempt to organize next year's list, which will largely consist of home video releases, which are obviously free of removal and limited-time restrictions.
Right off the bat, The Devil's Rock won brownie points with me by setting itself during the time of World War II, something I don't see that often during many modern horror films. You would figure that a setting and time period such as that is ripe for the picking considering the fascination with the occult that Hitler had, and the atrocities that the Nazis themselves committed. But as the plot synopsis above would tell you, the plot background is a bit more alluring than just the simple "Nazis are evil" jargon.
The introductory fifteen minutes, in terms of dialogue, exposition, and even pacing, feel almost lifted from a video game, which may or may not be a bad thing. But after it passes, and we enter the "rock" in question, we get to the nitty gritty, which is meant to focus on our two main characters: New Zealand soldier Grogan and Nazi Colonel Meyer. Obviously, the two are nothing alike, but given the filmmaker's decision to predominantly focus on just the two of them for most of the film's running time, it helps to build character and develop their backstories. They make a decent mismatched pair, and before you can think about playing some sort of silly 80s buddy sitcom theme, make no mistake, this is clearly an "enemy of my enemy" situation, and in this case, one of them is still a filthy Nazi.
But the inclusion of the occult isn't something that should come as surprise to those more well-versed in fantasy cinema, or at least in films dealing with Nazis. The obsession and "link" between nazism and the occult began with my introduction to the Hellboy series, and before you cry "read a book that isn't a comic book you whippersnapper" or something like that, I'll just politely ask you to be quiet for the time being. The demon, which chooses to stay in one form throughout most of the film's fairly quick running time, looked a little similar to a female version of Satan from Legend, but maybe not as defined. She really does her damndest to tempt these two, and man does it take a lot for you to think "listen to the Nazi for once dude."
The Devil's Rock does feel somewhat short, and does suffer from a somewhat lower budget, but it is a pretty fine effort when it comes down to it, especially when you consider the somewhat misleading, though admittedly enticing DVD cover chosen for its stateside/Region 1 release. It might not be the most accurate comparison to make, but I felt the same way with this as I did with something like 2002's Dog Soldiers, though it obviously doesn't deal with werewolves and is nowhere near as gory (and like that film, you might benefit from subtitles once in a while). Still, like that picture, it is a pleasant surprise that seems to come out of nowhere, with little-to-no hype, no real plot holes, and a fairly satisfying ending. Be sure to stream....erm......find it somehow.
Tomorrow, the ladies are coming back to life with FRANKENHOOKER!
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