HERE COMES THE DEVIL

A family happens to pass near a hill where it is said a curse resides. While the parents have sex in the car, the two children go to play on the hill. Night falls, the two children have not yet returned, and the parents contact the authorities. The whole night passes, and the next morning, the two children return to their parents as if nothing had happened. But in reality, something happened on that hill, and inexplicable phenomena begin to occur, while the parents become more and more convinced that someone forcibly detained the children during the night and abused them. From Mexico comes this anomalous independent horror film that relies on a suggestive title and a wave of positive reviews on most major sites and magazines dedicated to the genre. In fact, 'Here Comes the Devil' does not leave the viewer indifferent because it manages to convey a sickly atmosphere that captures attention and makes one uncomfortable. Whether it's the unusual setting, namely a desolate Mexican wasteland, hot and dusty, reminiscent of 'Dust Devil' by Richard Stanley, or the morbid way in which the erotic element is introduced. The fact is that 'Here Comes the Devil' knows how to make one uncomfortable. The beginning is stunning and brings it close to 'High Tension,' with a couple of girls engaged in their first homosexual experience who are surprised and slaughtered by a maniac who has entered their home and then goes to die on the nearby hill. Time jump and introduction of the protagonists, a Mexican family in which the two parents are so full of sexual desire that they leave their children unattended to give in to their passion. The insistent way in which the director focuses on the erotic dimension from the first minutes is a statement of intent, even if one cannot help but notice the clumsiness with which this element sometimes emerges. Even the long dialogue in the car between the two parents, who abandon themselves to a shameless description of their erotic desires and their respective first times, makes one smile for the embarrassing vulgarity that brings the scene closer to a comedy than to an erotic one. The erotic element continues to be predominant, and between frequent nudity, doubts about the children's virginity, and the consequent hunt for the pedophile, the film approaches pure horror only in some instances, bringing on stage two 'changed' children who show the symptoms of demonic possession. Excluding exorcistic derivations but rather approaching the lesson from 'The Thing,' 'Here Comes the Devil' heads towards a pitch-black ending that concludes with coherence in that search for morbidness and sickness. The director and screenwriter Adrián García Bogliano (among the creators of 'The ABCs of Death') conducts the work with sought-after minimalism and attempts to recreate, often succeeding, the rawness of 1970s independent horror. Not always helped, however, by the actors and especially by the Italian dubbing. 'Here Comes the Devil' is a film that alternates highs and lows with extreme frequency, but, in the end, knows how to be remembered. In Italy, 'Here Comes the Devil' arrived directly on DVD thanks to the Indie Pictures label, which provides a really minimal version of the product. No extra contents, but a more than satisfactory technical aspect with excellent video, sharp and clean, which is accompanied by an audio section not always exceptional but satisfactory thanks to an Italian track in Dolby Digital 5.1. Add half a pumpkin.