Devil's Den DVD: Review By Mushy

Quinn (Devon Sawa) and Nick (Steven Schub) are two pals who are on their way back to the United States from Mexico. These two have just scored a grip of Spanish Fly, and they decide to stop off at a nudey bar called the Devil's Den. Thinking they are going to get more girls than they can shake a stick it, these guys get a whole lot more when it turns out that the ladies are not human beings at all. A fight to the death ensues, with Nick and Quinn joined by the likes of Caitlin (Kelly Hu), Leonard (Ken Foree), a Samurai and even an incarnation of the Devil.

This movie seems like little more than an excuse to make an exploitation film. While I guess that can and can't bode well for some projects, ultimately it seems like Devil's Den isn't offering us anything we haven't seen before.

Belly of the Beast: The Making of Devil's Den

I had really hoped that this DVD was going to be saved by some of the special features. Unfortunately, we were not off to a good start with this section of the DVD. Like the film, it doesn't look bad, it's just that there isn't anything that special about it. It seems like they pieced together talking head footage with production footage, and that was simply done in an obligatory manner. I just think they could have done this segment from a more interesting angle.

Blooper Reel

Blooper reels are blooper reels, and while I only looked at this for a few moments, it seems that a lot of happy accidents and fun mistakes were had on the set. We see actors messing up lines, dealing with having an effect applied to them, and all other manner of things that usually make these sorts of reels. I might be wrong, but I happen to think that horror movies are ripe for these sort of things because A) there are outside elements like props and effects that are never perfect and B) the subject matter screams for a lightening of the mood.

Photo Gallery

This is a mix of photos from the movie itself and the film. There isn't anything too special about these things, and if you have watched the film and the Making Of, you can most likely skip this. The pictures are of good quality, but I always feel like these galleries are sort of thrown on the DVD to give the appearance of there being more special features than there really are.

DVD-ROM Screenplay

Audio Commentary

Mitch Gould who wrote, produced, and apparently stunt coordinated this film, is joined by producer John Duffy and Devil's Den composer Jon Lee on this track. While I was wondering where the director was, these guys engage in a lively discussion in which they break the film down and explain how it's look and effects were achieved. They talk about shooting in one location, what the actors were like, and basically, since the composer is there, he explains how he went about scoring this film with the attendant images.

Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) - Enhanced for 16x9 TVs. This film has a sparkling quality about it. I don't know if it ever played theatrically, but it looks really good on DVD. All of the colors stand out in a really fine way, but this movie doesn't look like your average straight to DVD title. It's as if it has been enhanced somehow. I had thought this might wear off as I continued to watch the film but cinematographer Viorel Sergovici never let up in providing great images.

The audio on this DVD was as solid as the picture. There wasn't anything that blew me away, and I don't think people with amazing sound systems are going to be knocked out by what is presented here, but everything was in it's proper audio order. Sometimes when things get so chaotic, the audio ends up becoming a jumbled mess. This film didn't seem to be doing anything special within the medium, it did present the audio in a way that put it on par with the picture.

This packaging features Devon Sawa, Kelly Hu and Ken Foree with a shot of the ill fated Devil's Den behind them. The back gives us some images from the film, a brief description, a Special Features listing and some minor technical specs. While it may not look like one to view, everything about this film's packaging screams straight-to-DVD. Sadly, I think this film could have been more than that.

Seeing that Ken Foree was in this movie I had very high hopes for Devil's Den. I was expecting this tale of two guys going into a bar to maybe get elevated a bit. Sure, I knew that eventually these lusty ladies would turn out to be very bad, I just thought it might happen with a tad more originality. If all you want are some hot chicks, a lot of blood, and eventual chaos, then this film will give you exactly what you need. If you are looking for style, substance, and perhaps a charming wit you would be better off looking elsewhere.

I know that I am in trouble as a movie watcher when I am viewing a film, and I feel like I know everything that is going to happen. To director Jeff Burr's credit, I don't think he set out to make a bad movie, it just feels like he wanted to throw so many ideas into this story, that there was no way this film couldn't help but become a celluloid mess. While I know that they probably set this movie in one location to keep costs down, I still think that they could have done things in a more original way.