The Sudbury Devil

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Brad S. R @RT07389644 02/11/2025 A truly exceptional independent horror flick—other filmmakers should take note. See more Benton G @RT11708620 01/17/2025 This film punches way above its weight, showcasing serious talent on a budget. The film is fun, gory, thrilling, irreverent and poignant, while also definitely being bizarre. It’s a first run for some incredible filmmakers with lots of potential - for all the bad reviews calling it student material or not to waste $3.99, I’ll just say you can identify who the lovers and supporters of independent film are and who the blockbuster boot licking normies who stumbled upon this gem while they were lost on their way to the next marvel film are. This film gives me hope in the industry and the state of independent film. See more Pam F @RT48553352 12/20/2024 This movie is a hot mess. It's like it was made over a weekend during summer film camp. I'm only writing this review to save people from wasting their money. See more Joe S @RT71139102 07/01/2024 Went in without expectations. Was so corny it felt like satire. I just had to write a review to try to save the next person wanting to give it a try. Big senior-in-highschool-photography-final vibe. Weird choice in costumes. Scene pacing doesn’t allow you to get invested in or be surprised by anything. I think so far everyone that’s reviewed it is a fan of bad horror movies, which is alright and all, but I gotta save someone from spending the $3.99. See more Joseph K @RT06872296 09/21/2023 Here's the thing: I love The Witch. It's a creepy, subdued occult horror film that's fantastic to watch around either Halloween or Thanksgiving. But it's also a pompous art-house flick that refuses to take any chances. It's terrified of making its affluent, ascot-and-horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing, Thomas Pynchon appreciator audience squeamish or uncomfortable in any way. Instead, it gives them a nice, moody, thoughtful space to rub their chins and tastefully appreciate the carefully constructed horror, giving them time to dispassionately contemplate the horrors of colonialism and unrestrained patriarchy along the way. The Sudbury Devil does not want you to be comfortably contemplative. It wants to smash your teeth out with a sucker punch, then straddle your head while you're down and rub its stinking, unwashed pussy in your bleeding face. I'm not being overdramatic with my imagery here. This micro-budget film is LOADED with violence and sex, quite often at the same time. There are scenes of disembowelment, masturbation, throat-cutting, dismemberment, and just the grossest, most unappealing animalistic rutting you've ever seen. Seriously, the sex is depicted as being just as filthy and repulsive as the gore. This is witchcraft as seen through the eyes of a pair of devout Puritans: feral, grotesque, the degeneration of Christian man to his baser instincts, led there all the way by evil, wanton Woman. But at the same time, those same unhinged cultist witches are given a huge amount of sympathy by the film. This is not a Christian exploitation film; it actually wants you to relate at least as much to the sinners as to the Witch Hunters. The cultists may be absolutely disgusting on the surface; but prick the surface, and beneath you'll find the traumas of the Great Beast whose numbers are Imperialism, Colonialism, Patriarchy, Capitalism, and Charismatic Christianity. At its heart, The Sudbury Devil is a vehemently anti-establishment film, one that is deeply concerned with the cosmic horror of modern liberal-conservatism and American fascism, and its abominable roots that were digging their way into the bedrock of the future US just as this film takes place. I don't want to go into too many specifics; other reviews have pointed out some really fantastic scenes in the film, moments of introspection and horror on the part of the characters that could only have come from the pen (well, keyboard) of a thoughtful and passionate screenwriter. Andrew Rakich, the writer and director, wants to shock the hell out of you, to make you squeamish and shake you loose from comfortable, dispassionate contemplation; but he's doing it with a purpose. He's got a message for you, and you're not going to like it. The film isn't perfect, of course. It's a micro-budget feature, and it does show: for all the fantastic acting, writing, directing, editing, even the great practical effects, 90% of the film does take place in the woods. And those damn woods do get tiring to look at. It's a minor gripe; but there really is only so much you can do with bare winter trees. The scenes of the woods are occasionally broken up by flashbacks, not to mention a good deal of psychedelic editing and effects, in the second half especially. But the shoestring budget is still lurking in the background of the flashbacks, as these also take place either in the woods, on a (Gulf Coast?) beach, or, in once case, a room so murkily lit that only the characters and a table are visible. Just don't expect The Sudbury Devil to have the same budget and quality as The Witch. Both are passion projects, and it shows in the fastidious attention to detail in both; but Eggers had the backing of a studio, where Rakich only had a handful of friends and an intense dedication to his vision. (One other minor note: the computer effects, while mostly fine for what they are, do give a couple of the final shots a cheesy, 90s Outer Limits vibe. But it's not a big deal, because by then you're either gonna be sold on the film or you'll have turned it off in disgust.) I hope this film gets some sort of purchasable release soon, even if it's only digital; because this film is probably going to take a place alongside Ravenous and The Witch in my growing list of films to watch around Thanksgiving. (It's not gonna replace Ravenous as the annual Thanksgiving Day special, though, I doubt if anything ever will.) See more Nikolas K @RT22379732 09/18/2023 "An obnoxiously political film... about America's foundational rot." That aside, it's a film admirable for its dedication to historical esoterica. It is authentic, artistic, at times quite hard to watch, and even more often hard to understand and appreciate. It's characters are potent, visceral, and well performed, but by design never likable. Gore and sex abound with near reckless abandon. This is a historical "deep cut," most likely to be enjoyed by fans of Robert Eggers, and very ravenous progressives. See more Read all reviews

The Sudbury Devil

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