Here comes a sexually-driven Indie that's bound to become a cult classic among foreign horror buffs. Adrián García Bogliano wastes no time in unveiling just how much sexuality will drive the film, opening on an explicit sex scene between two women. If you're an extreme gore fan, you'll get a few scenes to enjoy. But Here Comes The Devil is much more than an on-the-surface slasher or paranormal fright.
The plot is simple but Bogliano lets the story wander off in some really interesting directions. A family drives through Mexico and stops at a rest area near a large hill. The two kids want to venture up the hill to play and their parents allow them to do so while they fool around in the car. After the kids don't return by the curfew given by their mother, the parents are stricken with fear and grief. The cops inform them that they can't begin the search until the next morning. Lo and behold, the kids pop right back up in the morning, but there is something different about them. Something wrong.
Apart from the sex and violence that you usually get from horror films, it's the Mexican folklore that drives the mystery and horror like something out of a Rudolfo Anaya novel. It is the little things that make Here Comes The Devil so intriguing, allowing us to uncover the mystery with the parents at a deliberate and well structured pace.
To some, the forthrightness of sexuality and esoteric undertones may seem a tad excessive in relation to little children; but it is far from being labeled as tasteless. It is strange and fantastical, and held together by some great performances from Francisco Barreiro and Laura Caro.
If you classify yourself as a horror genre fan, this isn't a film to miss out on. It is now in select theaters and available on iTunes.
Review by Ryan Kramer